What type of pearl on this vintage pearl necklace?

[Oftimeandspace]

Hi,

I am a first time poster. I have a vintage strand I inherited, and I am trying to figure out exactly what I have. They are about 10mm, not perfectly round, not equally luminous in all places, and not all exactly the same. Are they fresh or salt, natural or cultured, valuable or just pretty. The clasp looks like 20's or 30's and is 14k.

Thanks for your opinions.

Nick

 

[Simply adorned]

Hi Nick,
I'm going to take an educated guess here and hope the experts here will give you their opinion also. To me they look like freshwater cultured pearls, as they have an egg/oval shape, not very old (maybe 1-15 years old), the clasp appears to be one that can still be purchased. I think you have a pretty set.
Hope this helps,
Margaret

 

[dkan 168]

I too believe they are cultured Freshwater pearls.

DK

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Agreed, freshies! The gold clasp is the most valuable part.

 

[Oftimeandspace]

Yes, the shape seems like freshwater

Yes, the shape seems like freshwater

Agreed, freshies! The gold clasp is the most valuable part.

Having looked at different pearls online, I can see they are definitely fresh water. Funny thing is my mom bought them from an estate sale in 1995 or so. If they are Chinese fresh water, what is the oldest they could be 90 or so? The old lady must have bought them right before she died! Oh, well, natural saltwater on the next strand bought at an estate sale. I did read about older Japanese freshwater pearls. Is there an easy way to tell the difference?

 

[Oftimeandspace]

Silly to set freshwater pearls in 14k! Maybe that was part of the plan to make them look vintage.