Vintage Pearl Necklace from France. what do you think ?

[FrenchPearl]

Hello all,
Since I've become interested in pearls - and a little more knowledgeable thanks to this forum - my friends have started showing me their pearls heirloom.

Here is what I think is a vintage akoya momme pearl necklace. Could you all have a look and let me know is that 's correct or if I got it wrong ?

Necklace is 40 cm without the clasp. Pearls are gritty, graduated with the biggest being 8 mm and the smallest 3 mm. The luster is beautiful, pearls are very iridescent with tints of pink and green. very little to no blemish on the surface.
Clasps looks like white gold or platinum with 3 diamonds (quite beautiful claps).
The box has the address of a Jeweler in Paris -L. Duvivier, rue des Capucines in Paris - (could not find it on google - must have disappeared).

The story of the pearls is that they belonged to her mother-in-law, who was born in Paris in 1936

The only thing that still on my mind, is that I thought that the Momme necklace were quite cheap, lower quality pearls. However, the maker is a "joaillier" (jeweler - dealing with gems) which is more high end that a "bijoutier" , the address is a nice arrondissement in Paris, and the family was quite affluent.

Does it still add up to a Momme akoya necklace ?

thanks in advance for your comments
FrenchPearl
PS : pics are with my Iphone... could not get a better close up.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Momme is a unit of weight (3.75 grams); the typical graduated strand weighed around 3.5 momme (some more, some less.). That doesn't say anything about quality and I'm sure there were better and inferior strands. Someone here posted a really nice strand, I'll see if I can find the link.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I think this was the thread I was looking for:

https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5699&p=89050&highlight=momme#post89050

 

[FrenchPearl]

Thank you PearlDream,
This is very useful, and I'll ask my friend to weight the necklace to see if it approximates 13 grams (without the clasp I assume).

In the thread you refer, the Momme necklace has a silver clasp .... my friend's one is either white gold or platinum and the central diamond is a nice size.... this is still an anomaly to me..

additional comments and feedback welcome

Best,
FrenchPearl

 

[pattye]

FrenchPearl, good call on the vintage akoya necklace. They do seem like very high quality pearls based on the luster with pink and green overtones, and lack of blemishes. Agree with PD, the necklaces likely came in varying grades.

Thank you so much for the good photos and provenance. The necklace looks so romantic in the velvet box~

 

[GemGeek]

Too bad it doesn't belong to you! Ha Ha! It's fun being a pearl sleuth.

 

[FrenchPearl]

Yes, I wish although the more I learn and look at pearls, the more I realize I have an strong incline for natural pearls.... I got to try a vintage natural pearl last month (will post a picture at some point) and I don't think there is any going back... It might take a few more years, but a vintage natural pearls necklace is in my future

 

[FrenchPearl]

The necklace is 14gr with the clasp... so close enough with the momme calculation. So, best guess is that it is a high quality vintage akoya momme necklace with beautiful luster and pink and green overtones.
Thanks all for your comments !

Best,
Sophie