What are these pearls? (M 10K White Gold?)

[MissbCross]

Hello all,
I've recently purchased a set of lovely looking pearls, I think they are freshwater although they were in a second hand store so exact age is a bit uncertain, the asking price was $20 and they are most definitely real (very smooth finish, grainy against the teeth)

But I can't for the life of me figure out who made them. They have an M brand mark so I think they must most certainly be some sort of Mikimoto ripoff,
The clasp is marked 10k I'm not enough of a metal expert to decide if this is silver or white gold, although I am almost certain they are white gold. The clasp is lovely and intricate with hook detail, a sort of 'four leaf clover' although it could also be described as a bit of a ribbon,
they also have a very small 'm' mark next to the 10k mark


I wasn't able to get a very clear photo of the pearls, and due to not having any genuine natural light for about two weeks here (Holland so it's raining all of the time) my camera won't respond enough to

I took two sets of photos, one against a white background, one against a blue background,
sadly the light was quite poor under both circumstances. They do look old enough that they would benefit from being cleaned and perhaps restrung, but I would love to know what you think. Any guesses on age, maker, brand, etc., thank you very much

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Welcome to the forum!

That's not a Mikimoto clasp, looks like a pretty generic fishhook style filigree clasp. 10K would be white gold.

What is the size of the pearls? I'm guessing about 5.-6.5 mm based on the size of the gimp loop next to the end pearls.
I think these are cultured akoya pearls. They're very round, due to a bead nucleus inside.

They are too dirty to show their luster well, so I suggest giving them a 5 minute soak in a warm soapy solution (use a gentle bar soap, not detergent) and then wiping them clean with a soft cloth before re-photographing.

You could restring them yourself-- it's easy and I have a tutorial stickied up on the Lowly Beaders Club forum.

 

[pattye]

You're a good shopper, very nice strand for the price! I agree with Pearl Dreams, the style clasp is widely used and not a Miki clasp.

Please check out suggestions for cleaning pearls under "Pearl Care and Cleaning." There are products available just for that, such as "The Pearl Doctor" kit, but I also use Dr. Bronner's Unscented pure castile liquid soap. I would be concerned that a bar soap might leave a film or have a fragrance. Most bar soaps are not recommended for facial use, so I wouldn't use them on my pearls either.

Akoya pearls need gentle treatment, so don't leave them in water any longer than necessary.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I've just been reading that forum, pattye-- a lot of hilarious posts there about chickens etc!!

I actually use Mustela Dermo-Cleansing (marketed for babies), which I wash my face with. We have well water that is hard (full of minerals) and bar soap could indeed leave scum, but I figured that most people don't have hard water. Still, a liquid soap might be safest -- but don't forget that a lot of tap water has chlorine so you might want to use distilled water.

I don't know what products you have in the Netherlands but maybe you could use a mild, unscented baby wash, if you can't find the Dr. Bronner's.

 

[MissbCross]

Thanks for the reply, I agree that they are not Miki's as the Mikimoto's I have seen have a much much nicer clasp and the 'M' is inside of a shell or circle type stamp in the brand mark, I am however curious about the origination of the 'm' , or were there just too many imitators to figure out which one it is??
I've just left home to spend Christmas with my family and the pearls stayed at home, so no photos or washing until after Christmas, although they are quite dirty indeed, I don't think they have been worn or cleaned in years.
As for size, I believe these are 6.5mm, with 55 pearls, or a 15" necklace

If I were to restring them myself, any suggestions on what exactly to string them on? I imagine you could use heavy sewing thread instead of silk, but if I were to do it right, what would I use? Or don't answer if you have that listed in the tutorial no need to bother,

thanks for your help

 

[pattye]

Netherlands?

 

[MissbCross]

No chlorine in the water here, the Netherlands happens to have one of the best water supplies on earth so it's all clean and untreated, thanks for the tip on the baby soap, I think it will be much easier to find than getting Dr. Bronners to ship to me

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I look forward to your next set of photos.
(Sorry, I ought to have specified the OP-- I know you are not in the Netherlands, Pattye!)

 

[pattye]

Lol, I'd love to be in the Netherlands, actually!

The Dr. Bronner's soap is used as baby soap also. There should be a number of gentle, natural products that would work.

the M could stand for the company that made the clasp, sometimes findings are marked, more often not. One company that comes to mind is Milor.

 

[Caitlin]

A mild clear(see through the entire bottle) shampoo will also work. Don't scrub but you can swoosh them around. Just see what soaks off in a few minutes.

Pearl Dreams' tutorial is brand new and it is very complete compared to other how to threads- including mine. LOL! There are many good beading threads for restringing and it it best to get the very few things you need to do it right. the tutorial is a sticky in the Lowly Beaders section. So check the first couple of posts and see what you would need.

 

[sweetpea]

Hello- I am new to this and do not have any knowledge of pearls. I inherited a 14k gold ring with an unusual shaped pearl inside. This belonged to my grandmother who passed about 25 years ago. The story that was told to me (do not know if its true) was when my grandfather went to war, he had this ring made especially for my grandmother. This ring is suppose to be one of a kind. I have kept this ring in my jewelry box for years and recently started wearing it again. I do not know much about it so any information would be great....View attachment 20191View attachment 20191View attachment 20191

 

[MissbCross]

Hello- I am new to this and do not have any knowledge of pearls. I inherited a 14k gold ring with an unusual shaped pearl inside. This belonged to my grandmother who passed about 25 years ago. The story that was told to me (do not know if its true) was when my grandfather went to war, he had this ring made especially for my grandmother. This ring is suppose to be one of a kind. I have kept this ring in my jewelry box for years and recently started wearing it again. I do not know much about it so any information would be great....View attachment 20191View attachment 20191View attachment 20191

Hmm, it is a nice baroque pearl although without any inclination as to where it was purchased or etc. I couldn't tell you more. I do think that the nacre looks really thick and it's been well cared for. You might just want to take it in to a jeweller to have it valued if you're concerned about that because with baroque pearls, the value is likely more to you for sentimental reasons. On the other hand do you know about the year that your Grandfather had it made? If it dates right around or before WWII, there's a pretty large chance that it's actually a natural pearl rather than a cultured one as cultured didn't really rise into popularity until the mid 40's, although they were invented in the 1890's and began production in the 1916-17 period so anything is possible. A date, maybe a photo of the back, would help

 

[Caitlin]

Where did he have this made? What state was he from? Which war?

The reason I ask is that 25 or more years ago, there were no cultured freshwater pearls anywhere in the world, except Biwa pearls from Japan before wwII If not a biwa and it seems very large for one, The pearl above would have to be an American freshwater pearl, but very, very few people knew about those unless they were from Tennessee or other selected MI river basin states.

Problem is it looks like a specially made ring with a cultured freshwater pearl. We need more info to state it is an American freshwater pearl.

In any case, it is a wonderful one-of-a-kind ring, made so the pearl will not fall out, so wear it as much as you wish!

 

[Caitlin]

I cross posted with the mrs up there.
Don't bother taking it to a jeweler. Most do not know anything but wrong info about pearls.

Unless you live near one who knows or sells Mississippi river pearls. That would be Tennessee or perhaps that pearl button town in Iowa- Muscatine. Or Wisconsin or other places where there are extremely rare people who know the local river pearls.

We have an old timer from Wisconsin who know river pearls. His handle is pearlman, I think. Kari of Karipearls.com lives in Muscatine. US Pearls and the American Pearl Company both in Tennessee, would know.

If you have an other info, please share it as we hardly ever have a pearl dilemma we can't answer, given enough info.