Please help to identify: SSP or freshwater

[Dizzie]

For a while I was looking for a nice white strand of pearls in the larger size. Now I was offered this strand: slightly baroque, 11,5-12,5mm. Pearls seem to have some decent luster and the size is not typical for FWP, but with all the nuclear -bead pearls you never know. Clasp is 14k gold if that makes a difference.

Unfortunately I only have one decent photo of the strand, so I hope it is good enough to see the details.

I would greatly appreciate if any of the experts on the forum could chime in and help me to identify the nature of the pearls. I am quite intrigued by this strand and need to make a buying decision or rather to decide what maximum price would be acceptable for me for this strand.

Thank you in advance for your help

 

[Pearl Dreams]

If you have doubts about the bona fides of the seller, then only pay for them what you would be willing to pay if they were freshwaters-- because they could be.

That is not a very good photo and I am always a bit suspicious when a seller can only give you an out of focus shot.

 

[BWeaves]

And are you sure that is the exact strand you are getting? Or just their stock photo for 11.5 to 12.5 mm pearls?

Also, what is the price? Is it priced for SS or freshwaters? There's a huge difference in price.

 

[pattye]

The photo is nowhere clear enough to guess what kind of pearl this is; I agree with BWeaves and Pearl Dreams. The value of the clasp doesn't make a difference; it's a standard ball clasp.

 

[Katbran]

Agree - I'd be wary...all comes down to the price. Without better photos it's too hard to know . The clasp retails almost everywhere for 50-65$ .

 

[Dizzie]

And are you sure that is the exact strand you are getting? Or just their stock photo for 11.5 to 12.5 mm pearls?

Also, what is the price? Is it priced for SS or freshwaters? There's a huge difference in price.

Thank you very much for your kind answers the far.
May I clarify the details. I am offered those pearls by a friend, who got them from her late aunt but does not like wearing them, feeling they are too big for her. This is not a stock photo, this is just the best I could do with my iphone.

The reason why I would like to know what type of pearls are the is that I would like it to be a fair deal and would neither want to take an advantage of her, nor be taken advantage of.

 

[Dizzie]

The pricing is currently her gut price which would be way too low for a SSP but a tad too high for FW, I would say

 

[Dizzie]

I have tried to zoom a bit on the pearls. Let me know whether this would be of any helpView attachment 49175

 

[Dizzie]

Sorry, forum seem to be schrinking the photo, so I cannot see many datils, that I see on the ipad. I am afraid I do not know how to attach a higher resolution photo

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Dizzie, I think it's safest to assume they are freshwaters. Just my opinion.

 

[BWeaves]

How much does your friend want for them? Let them make the first offer.

If you make the first offer and then they later turn out to be worth more, your friend might feel like you tried to take advantage, even though you are genuinely trying to find out a reasonable price.

 

[JerseyPearl]

I zoomed in on a few of the pearls...you should be able to see their surfaces better:

 

[Dizzie]

Thank you so much JerseyPearl!!! I appreciate greatly you adding that zoomed in view for me

 

[Pearl Dreams]

If they are FWP I think they are probably non-nucleated. If your friend truly believes them to be SSP, she could send them to the GIA to be X-rayed /get a report on them. I would want to know what I was selling, if it were me. Without knowing, there is no basis for setting a fair price.

Did her aunt have other valuable pearls, other valuable jewelry? It seems to me that pearl buyers don't usually jump into the pool on the deep end (and SSP are the deep end)-- they usually (and I'm only basing this on observation from reading this forum for nearly 10 years) seem to buy other pearls first. Also, SSP used to be much more expensive 20, 25 years ago. Was the aunt likely to have been able to afford them, years ago?

 

[Dizzie]

Thank you very much for your kind answers. I appreciate you taking the time to review as well as your thoughtful advices.
Obviously, currently there is not enough information to identify the pearls and I definitely would not want you to waste your time in the guessing game.

I understood, that I would need to provide way better photos in order to be able to tap into the wealth of your experience. Otherwise when it comes to communication with my friend I will bet on full transparency and disclosure and openly address that both if us do not really know the real value of the strand and ask her how she would prefer to go about it. Possibly we just postpone any decision until she had a chance to appraise the trend professionally.

Thank you
Dizzie

 

[cmd2014]

Because this is between friends, I would suggest getting an appraisal, or even just some input from a trusted jeweler about what they are and what they are likely worth. For valuation though, it would be important not to get an estimate regarding what retail replacement value is likely to be (which would represent a largely inflated price), but rather what a strand of similar nature would be likely to fetch if sold second hand (which is typically less than half of retail price). That way, both of you know what a fair price would be and no-one is likely to feel taken advantage of in the future.

 

[enbcfsobe]

alternatively, you could agree upon what you think are fair prices for both a FW strand and an SSP strand, then just have them identified and base the price on that (this could maybe avoid the jeweler having to give a price, which can mean a lot of things depending on what type of pricing you ask for and what experience the particular jeweler has selling or consigning pearls).

 

[amti]

If you do get an appraisal, PLEASE just don't take them to any jewelry store. Most jewelers don't know that much about pearls. I see so many appraisals on ebay that misidentify the pearl. I would check to see if Pearl Paradise or one of the more well known pearl stores will appraise them. I would trust their appraisal more than a local jeweler's shop.

 

[Lugana]

Well, if it's a "vintage" strand, then another way out would be scarifying one of the pearls to slice it in half. If it's south sea, there would be round nucleus. If it's freshwater - there would be no nucleus. But that's a bit cruel