hello everyone, I'm kind of shy being here. I know nothing about pearls.
A gentleman gave me a pendant as a christmas gift.
It came in very modest (read tacky) packaging, so at first I thought it was a piece of costume jewelry. I wondered if he had gotten ripped off, because this would be very uncharacteristic of him to purchase a costume item.
I am a dentist, I have access to Xrays, and I Xrayed te pearl, I also looked at it very closely, and there are defects.
To answer the questions:
1- I dont now if it is to be considered gritty. It is definitely grittier than the mallorca pearl necklace I bought for a costume party. It has some surface irregularities, however it is very shiny and I can see myself it in. It measures 14mm in diameter almost perfectly round. It is cold to the touch then warms as it is worn. When I shine a UV light on it I can see concentric frosty circles around a nucleus. In the XRay the pearl appears white (opaque), when the density of the beam is adjusted, the outer 2-3mm of the pearl appear more radiolucent. I cant see the drill hole because it's hidden by the setting.
2- I took the pearl to a first jeweler who looked at it very closely and tested the stones and setting. The setting is defintely 14k gold, the stones appear to be CZ, but he had to use an electronic instrument and was not sure, they might just be low end stones, and he said the pearl was genuine cultured, but not a very high end one otherwise te diamonds would have been real.
3- 2 days later i'm in a different jewelry store looking at a different item, and asked the jeweler to show me a pearl necklace to hang the pendant from. The jeweler first identified my pearl as a south sea pearl, but then when i told him it came in a modest package he looked at it 10 seconds without me taking it off my neck and said it was a fake. I asked if he was sure because I had an other opinion, he didnt even let me finish my sentence and just turned his back on me without further ceremony.
4- today I brought in my mallorca necklace to Xray next to the pendant, and obviously it's not the same material since the mallorcas dont even show up on the xray.
5- however, looking closer at my pearl i noticed a slight spot, i scartched it and an entire layer of what appears to be cellophane peeled off! I have read that most cultured pearls are treated and many are coated.
6- I dont know the price range, although i found what appears to be the exact same pendant online for about $500, but the pearl is 11mm, mine is 14mm. the packaging was a plain red velvet pouch, it did not even come with a chain.
My question to the forum is do you think this is a genuine south sea cultured pearl?
thank you for your attention, I look forward to being educated
A gentleman gave me a pendant as a christmas gift.
It came in very modest (read tacky) packaging, so at first I thought it was a piece of costume jewelry. I wondered if he had gotten ripped off, because this would be very uncharacteristic of him to purchase a costume item.
I am a dentist, I have access to Xrays, and I Xrayed te pearl, I also looked at it very closely, and there are defects.
To answer the questions:
1- I dont now if it is to be considered gritty. It is definitely grittier than the mallorca pearl necklace I bought for a costume party. It has some surface irregularities, however it is very shiny and I can see myself it in. It measures 14mm in diameter almost perfectly round. It is cold to the touch then warms as it is worn. When I shine a UV light on it I can see concentric frosty circles around a nucleus. In the XRay the pearl appears white (opaque), when the density of the beam is adjusted, the outer 2-3mm of the pearl appear more radiolucent. I cant see the drill hole because it's hidden by the setting.
2- I took the pearl to a first jeweler who looked at it very closely and tested the stones and setting. The setting is defintely 14k gold, the stones appear to be CZ, but he had to use an electronic instrument and was not sure, they might just be low end stones, and he said the pearl was genuine cultured, but not a very high end one otherwise te diamonds would have been real.
3- 2 days later i'm in a different jewelry store looking at a different item, and asked the jeweler to show me a pearl necklace to hang the pendant from. The jeweler first identified my pearl as a south sea pearl, but then when i told him it came in a modest package he looked at it 10 seconds without me taking it off my neck and said it was a fake. I asked if he was sure because I had an other opinion, he didnt even let me finish my sentence and just turned his back on me without further ceremony.
4- today I brought in my mallorca necklace to Xray next to the pendant, and obviously it's not the same material since the mallorcas dont even show up on the xray.
5- however, looking closer at my pearl i noticed a slight spot, i scartched it and an entire layer of what appears to be cellophane peeled off! I have read that most cultured pearls are treated and many are coated.
6- I dont know the price range, although i found what appears to be the exact same pendant online for about $500, but the pearl is 11mm, mine is 14mm. the packaging was a plain red velvet pouch, it did not even come with a chain.
My question to the forum is do you think this is a genuine south sea cultured pearl?
thank you for your attention, I look forward to being educated
