tag says tnpearls?

[vroom]

Hello,

Going through my stuff and found another strand of pearls. Fresh water would be my guess but I noticed the tag says tnpearls.

Anyway I'd love to get opinions on what it is that I've got, and if they might be Tennessee Pearls? Sort of made my home here and it would be rather neat to have a strand.

 

[pattye]

Vroom,

Are you living in Tennessee or somewhere near there? Here's some info about the pearl farm there, worth making a visit, someone could take a look and tell you if it is their label. Wish I loved closer, FUN!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

This website has a brief video showing the shapes of the pearls that are indigenous to the area; they do not look like your pearls, though:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/aug/21/stately-gem/


The website Pattye posted mentions they have a gift shop in which they sell pearls from around the world. Your strand may have been sold at that gift shop-- I'd call them, or email them a photo of the tag and find out. They may be able to tell you where the pearls originate from.

 

[jshepherd]

They look like the original Rice Krispie pearls from China when farmers were using the Cristaria plicata shell before switching to the Hyriopsis cumingi.

 

[vroom]

They look like the original Rice Krispie pearls from China when farmers were using the Cristaria plicata shell before switching to the Hyriopsis cumingi.

Thanks I always referred to these as rice pearls until I noticed the tag. Other than being very pretty I would suppose the gold is the most valuable part?

On the other hand thanks to Pearl Dreams and Pattye I now have at least an idea of what a TN pearl should look like and that answers my next query to this eminent panel, which would have been.

What are these?

 

[Caitlin]

They could be natural freshwater pearls. Those are typical shapes and colors.

VROOM! Come on! Show us all your pearls!!!!! You are some kind of pearl connoisseur - go on, admit it!

 

[vroom]

y their

They could be natural freshwater pearls. Those are typical shapes and colors.

VROOM! Come on! Show us all your pearls!!!!! You are some kind of pearl connoisseur - go on, admit it!

Why I'll take the compliment thank you.

But no not really. Though I am a bit of a connoisseur of well almost anything of great beauty.

Mostly I've collected art, gemstones, and jewelery for the last 10 years or so. If I came across a pearl that I thought was a bargan of course I snapped it up - they are after all quite beautiful.

Being a geologist I used to go out and pan gold and dig for gemstones, but gold and jems are where you find them and eventually I realized that pawn shops, thrift stores, yard sales, and estate sales were far more productive than panning a creek or digging a gem site.

At the time gold was cheap and the gemstones were sometimes thrown in for the price of the gold same for pearls.

As I mentioned in the posting on the melo melo pearl I live in one of the most unusual places on Earth where all sorts of strange and wonderful (and some not so wonderful) people have lived and worked. Sadly their estates are being liquidated and even more sadly their children often seem not to know or care about their parents treasures. Not so sadly I have managed to acquire a bit here and a bit there.

Truely though I am rather naeve when it comes to pearls and I would also include jade, and turquois in that naivity. It is just so hard to wrap ones mind about what is valuable or not and why. Though the beauty is rather easier to grasp. Even ientifying pearls and their origins is a bit of a mystery.

I rather think though I am close to the end of my pearl collection there are a couple more and maybe I can demonstraight just how uneducated I truely am when it comes to these wonderful objects.

This forum has been a great resource with great people - I've learned a lot and manybe after a few more years I'll earn that lable of pearl connosseur.

Meanwhile I'll see if I can get myself and the pearls away from teh children long enough to get a group photo.