Blue Tahitians

[ljja]

Here are the photos of my beautiful pearls. The photos don't pick up the blue but in certain lighting they can appear almost a light navy blue. [ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH] I acquired them from an estate and paid $1000 for them. They They appear nearly flawless and are 13 mm. I think I did good picking these up. What do you think?

[pattye]

Yes, beautiful and large pearls! When I saw your photos I was struck by the similarity between some pearls I have in 12-13mm. Here is a photo.



How do you feel these compare with yours? These are tissue nucleated color treated freshwater pearls. These have a much "bluer" color than most Tahitians.

[ljja]

I'm new to the pearl world and have become quite smitten with pearls. I'm so happy I found this site. Is there a way to tell if they are freshwater or true tahitians? The color in yours appear more evenly matched then mine but still hard to tell. The lady I bought mine from said they were real Tahitians although I've learned that the word Tahitian can mean any colored pearl. Would getting an appraisal determine what type they are? Either way what do you think mine might be worth?

[pearlescence]

Hi and welcome
The word Tahitian does NOT mean any coloured pearl. Let's make that very very clear from the start. And that is so wrong that you can safely ignore anything that whoever said that says.
Looking at your photos in some they do look like Tahitians and in some I was thinking freshwater. Certainly blue Tahitians exist - I've seen them as blue as the blue in this website, but they are exceptionally rare.
Even if your pearls are freshwaters $1k for a big round near flawless strand of multis isn't bad, especially if the clasp is gold
Where are you?

[KarinK]

Hi Wendy,

Trying to get my facts right here You see some of the pearls as slightly potato shaped, which would indicate freshwater pearls, where off-round Tahitian pearls would be more likely to be drop-shape?

- Karin

[pearlescence]

I was looking more at the pearls as a whole - they look very different in some of the photos

[ljja]

Thats very helpful. I did buy some pearls on Ebay described as "Tahitian" with a price to match. When they arrived it was clear I had a string of pretty little potatoes and returned them. The blue strand are all perfectly round so I'm inclined to believe they are the real deal. I'll plan to have them appraised just to be sure.

[pattye]

Hopefully some of the other forum members who have seen many more Tahitian strands in person than I have, will chime in here. It is unusual for a strand of genuine Tahitians to have no graduation, in my opinion. And to match a Tahitian strand for color and size like yours, very very difficult and rare. Also rare, but less so, to find this round and large in color treated cfwp.

Please let us know how your appraisal turns out!

[Caitlin]

Those are fantastic pearls! I have some 12mm FWs that look more like yours than Pattye's strand does.

If they are freshwaters, they are worth every penny of the thousand dollars. But that bottom left photo passes as Tahitians. If so, you seem to have gotten a mighty rare strand for the money. The color is very rare and the lack of divots, makes it high quality. The other photos, especially the top right one could be freshwaters.

I have started threads before on how well some freshwaters copy Tahitians. This one could be a masterpiece of deception. I think if this were really a Tahitian it would be triple what you paid for it, BUT either way, you made out.

Please let us know any further developments.

And BTW, every word Wendy said about using Tahitian as a name for a color is true! It is entirely unethical.

[Alex]

wow !! those photos are pretty amazing, although a big differnce between the 'lit' and 'unlit' pics

I think Karin's post about the 'potatoe' versus the 'drop or baroque' may sound a warning bell.....

but would love to hear the final outcome of these pearl's true origin

[waimeamomi]

Wow, hard to tell. I'd like to see a close up on white, with just a few pearls. When you say "perfectly round" that sends up a red flag to me. Perfectly round 13mm Tahitians on a strand with no graduation would be a very, very, very unusual find, and even an uniformed appraiser would price them higher than that. There's something off to me about the color, but again lighting makes it tricky. I'm also wondering if these might be Majorca "pearls" which are not pearls at all. What's the weight like? 13mm Tahitians would have some heft to them. Anyone else?

[GemGeek]

Unless an appraiser has a lot of experience with appraising a wide range of pearls, they may not be able to tell the two types of pearls apart. To me they look like beautiful big dyed freshwaters - that's not a bad thing - just that you can't count on them being what you thought they were. I agree with Sheryl, a nice closeup on a white paper towel would help. Preferably in indirect daylight. This is like being online detectives!

[pearlescence]

I'm glad it isn't just me who is undecided!
There are ungraduated strands of Tahitians around, you just have to buy them loose and put the strand together yourself. (see P website - though I tend to buy really big ones and then faint away when I find out how much they cost even loose singles and undrilled) It is the best best way to get exactly the necklace you want though.

[ljja]

They definitely are not Majorca. I have a strand of those. Doing the tooth test, my blues have that grittiness, the Majorca are smooth as glass, which they are. My blues also have a nice heft to them. I'll try for another photo outdoors. Its tricky getting the light just right indoors.

[ljja]

These were taken outside. I also remeasured and they do graduate slightly from 11-13mm.

[ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]