are they freshwater or akoya?

[Ellagant]

Hi,
I am new to this forum and hope I am posting correctly. I got these pearls, a set of bracelet and necklace that is about 4-5mm size each. it says 14k RTI on the clasp. I bought them off a man who used to be a jeweler. I can't find anything on the brand. I only found an etsy listing http://www.etsy.com/listing/43092802...earch_type=all but someone said they don't feel freshwater, so I am wondering what I got.

[pattye]

Hi Ellagant and welcome,

Great sleuthing to find the etsy listing-a bit difficult to tell from your photo, but the pearls do appear round in the listing. They would be Akoya pearls, nucleated with a mother of pearl bead. We would need a close up photo of a section of pearls to make a judgement about quality. Perhaps you could take a couple more photos using the macro setting (flower) on your camera.

[Ellagant]

here are a few images I just took, hope that's what you need to see

[pattye]

Giving this a bump so others can offer an opinion too. I'm still leaning in favor of Akoya pearls. I don't see any noticeable blemishes either. Thanks for the additional photos! I hope you'll enjoy wearing them!

[imanit]

Because of the shape (many off round) i think that they are freshwater pearls.

[Ashley]

Wow that's a toughie! I'm leaning towards agreeing with Ivona- due to the irregular shapes I'm voting Freshwater, but very lustrous and pretty freshwaters

[pattye]

So~if they were freshwater, they would probably be mid-90's or later? The photos are greatly magnified, since the pearls are only 4-5mm. Lower right photo, they look round to me, but in the photo on the brown, much more like freshwater~would love to see these in person!

[Ellagant]

Thank you for your help. I hope to take them to a pearl dealer and find out. I wonder what the price on these should be. Because they are so small it is hard to tell on the type they are. I got into jewelry making after making a website for a client. She taught me how to make jewelry. I am currently trying to make my own website for me as I do teach it in college. Now if I could teach jewelry making in college. Sorry I got a bit off topic.

[jshepherd]

They appear to be a nice, small set of freshwater pearls.

[Caitlin]

And good luck with your teaching aspirations!