Majorica pearls are fake, aren't they?

[Amanda]

My darling Granny was certainly of that opinion, anyway. She remarked when we went on a family holiday to Majorca that they made well-known, fairly good-quality fake pearls, there.

However, this seller isn't aware of that, it appears, or is trying to conceal it behind some weasel-wording:

"Pearls are organically grown and very close to natural"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Majorica-Whi...10869758625261

[jshepherd]

Definitely fake!

Majorica pearl: Imitation pearl created by coating a glass nucleus with essence d’orient (see). The pearly essence is made from guanine crystals extracted from scales on the undersides of certain fish.

This is from the Pearl-Guide.com glossary of terms.

http://www.pearl-guide.com/glossary-of-terms-m.shtml

For those who haven't seen the glossary yet, I spent about 3-4 months putting it together a few years back and I believe it is the most comprehensive on the Internet. But it may be time to add new terms such as Edison Pearls, Souffle and the like.

[Amanda]

Ah, thanks, I'll beatle over and have a look.

My Granny asked us to get her some pearl studs from Majorca while we were there, to wear for gardening. She felt undressed without pearl studs, but didn't like risking her nice ones. She thought they were a good compromise (that was in the early 90s, I suppose she'd go for freshwater, now).

[jshepherd]

They are expensive for faux pearls and the auction's base price is actually quite good. Walking around Palma you see them in jewelry shops everywhere. They can be stunningly beautiful.

[pattye]

I emailed the seller, let's see what he replies. He also has them listed in the wrong category (fine jewelry).

[Amanda]

Yes, I remember seeing tons of them, but I don't think they were ever described as real. Mind you, I was about 12 at the time, it's 20 years ago, now!

[pattye]

Seller also has a grey strand, but they are called man-made in the listing.

[Amanda]

My dearly beloved infant would say, "it's silly or naughty, Mummy". And he'd have a point.

[est190]

Interesting way of listing them: "Pearls are organically grown and very close to natural" This is definitely misleading. From what I understand and as described by Jeremy, Majorica pearls are made by dipping a glass bead in a paste made from fish scales. The paste itself is organic in "organic" and they pearls look "very close to natural". The "very close to natural" is a pretty good indicator that the pearls are not natural. The listing may be technically correct (save the glass bead core that is used in the pearls), but it may be misleading and doubt it would pass muster with the FTC (not that they monitor these types of listings). Just another reason to be careful with ebay. That said, they are very pretty and if you know what majorica pearls are (and aren't), it looks like a good deal.

[pattye]

Majorica even copies ringed pearls: http://www.lordandtaylor.com/eng/wom...ndtaylor/29497 They make it clear this necklace is man made.

[Caitlin]

Wow! I'da said those were freshwaters pearls. Look at the variety!

[pearlescence]

They are definately fake. There is a big factory on Majorca. You can actually visit it and see the pearls being made. Since Majorca is a popular tourist destination from the UK I come across these souvenirs all the time.
Best quote 'These are definately genuine pearls, I've been to the factory and seen them being made'

[est190]

Majorica even copies ringed pearls: http://www.lordandtaylor.com/eng/wom...ndtaylor/29497 They make it clear this necklace is man made.

Nice find Pattye. Did you catch the description from lord and Taylor's site:

"Don the timeless beauty of this organic man-made necklace from Majorica. Featuring an 18 Kt. gold and rose gold vermeil plated sterling silver clasp and multi-colored 14MM organic man-mad pearls, enjoy this graceful organic man-made pearl necklace. Item comes packaged in a classic Lord & Taylor gift box."

I guess the "organic man-made" nonsense is actually from majorica!

[pearlescence]

Oh Lordie, it just gets worse <bangs head on workbench>

[Pearl Dreams]

Calling them organic because they contain organic matter (fish scales) is certainly a stretch.

The earlier Majorica strands were better imitations than the strands I've seen in the past few years; the current ones have a garish pseudo-orient. My mother has a strand from the early 1970s that she loves (partly for sentimental reasons as my grandmother gave it to her) and I wore a strand of Majoricas at my wedding. For our first Christmas after we were married, my husband gave me a 7mm, 30 inch white strand of Majoricas that I still enjoy wearing occasionally.

It's true that you can get a very nice freshwater strand now for less than Majoricas cost, but before the Chinese started turning out round CFWP, Majorica imitation pearls were a relatively good fashion alternative to Akoyas. As far as imitations go, they are very well made, with 30-40 layers of essence d'orient. I recall looking for an Akoya strand at our local mall stores back in the mid-90s. I wore my Majoricas for comparison. The stores all had poor quality, thin-nacre Akoyas with little luster selling at over $1000 (they were not selling round freshwaters in those days), and my Majorica fakes actually looked better than those real Akoyas when laid side by side. Only Michael jewelers had an Akoya strand that looked better than my fakes. After that discouraging trip, I decided to hold off on buying genuine pearls.

But now that the high quality freshies are around, it no longer makes sense to buy Majoricas. However, if one likes vintage costume jewelry, the strands on eBay can be fun to own if they were cared for well, but remember that imitation pearls can be damaged by the use of perfume and hair sprays too, and many of these older strands don't have their original luster (spoken from experience.)