Rice pearls?

[landyray]

Hey I found these at a thrift store I thought they were pretty, what decade do you think its from? And are they real by looking at them? New to pearls

 

[pattye]

Nice find, Landyray! These appear to be the "rice krispie" pearls from China, definitely real, but without a bead nucleus. As for age, probably from the 90's or earlier. Is the clasp marked? It may be karat gold, and the beads might be as well, they don't appear tarnished. A wearable style for sure!

 

[landyray]

Wow! Thanks Pattye I'm reading about Rice Krispie pearls now I love the name of them and i'll cherish this piece, I do love the style! Also very nice posts on your page. Keep sharing your knowledge with us!

 

[Ash]

Hi Landyray,

Welcome to the forum. I agree, they would be from the 1990's or earlier as Pattye mentioned. A word of note though, there were some glass "pearls" made like this in the mid-late 90's as well. Try rubbing two pearls together to be sure. If the rubbing feels gritty they are real, if smooth most likely the glass ones. Hoping for the former it's a lovely find. A real classic beauty twist style and piece to be sure. (One of my favorite styles.)

Cheers!

Ash

 

[pattye]

Wow, good to know there were glass pearls in this shape, many thanks, Ash!

Landyray, thank you for your kind words! I've learned so much hanging out here on the forum!

 

[BeadersSecret]

There where indeed simulants of the rice crispie type pearl - they where often in multi-strand necklaces at the time and often used in a twisted strand style.

Here is a picture of an early glass cored simulant from 30+ years ago. The client didn't want it in the strand as it was 'crooked' - and when you look at the close up image the reason for the crookedness is quite clear.


When the rice crispie pearls came out they where a bit of a sensation and of course like anything in vogue, the copying commenced and simulants where plentiful.

 

[CortezPearls]

Interesting! I did not know about these glass imitations...I just never imagined that one would go as far as making an imitation of a pearl that was amazingly cheap to produce!

I actually found some of my wife's "old jewelry", things she wore when she was a girl in the 1980's...and there were these rice krispy pearls there! Added a pair of earrings she told me are coral (need to inspect them to make sure)...the color came out very saturated!