Love Them Even If Nothing Special…….

[DaniHud]

Hiya - I’m currently greatly enjoying sorting out jewellery which I have been given, inherited or bought for myself. I have always liked pearls for the fact that each one is a “one of a kind” and my grandmother always wore a single pearl ring which fascinated me and the care she took over it. I have inherited this ring which always provides me with great memories.

The pictures are of a pearl necklace I bought many years ago and I cannot remember where and when. I have taken it off the silk string, which was knotted, as it was in an awful and dirty state. I have cleaned the pearls but will clean again to remove further debris especially in the holes. I plan on restringing them in the New Year and maybe merging in some stone beads like tourmaline, citrine or garnet.

As the heading says, I don’t expect these pearls to be anything special but any more information that anyone could give would be appreciated. In particular, in one picture I have circled two beads where the nacre seems to have worn near the hole but there is a bead showing - is this the original bead which would have been put into the mussel?

I hope the picture quality is good enough but thank you in advance for any information.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

How nice to have inherited pearls!

Those are akoyas and yes, the bead that is showing is the bead nucleus that was implanted originally. The pearls themselves show a lot of fine scratches and surface marks in general.
All I can find on the stamp 380S is that maybe it's 380 silver, a low grade silver.

I like your idea of restringing them with some other beads.

 

[DaniHud]

Many thanks for your message.

Yes, unfortunately the pearls do have quite a few scratches and markings on the surface but the colouring is lovely. Is there any way pearls can be aged, common sense says no but if only pearls could tell you their history, that would be fascinating.

I have rechecked the clasp. The marking is slightly worn and wonky but it should read 830s and underneath is a makers mark which is not absolutely clear as it also has worn over time. I believe it says J D B (or H). The clasp is cute.

Thank you so much for identifying my pearls as it’s always important to know what you have and look after it accordingly. I am really looking forward to restringing and knotting them as soon as I find the right gemstone beads.

Again, many thanks.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I myself would not be able to guess the age of the pearls, no. But perhaps someone else will have seen a strand with a similar clasp with that mark and may have an idea of the age or brand.

 

[A Breaker]

Pretty...I would restring!. The 830 is often European. My guess would be 1950's-1970's. That type of clasp sort of echoed the Japanese pearl clasp & the more American flower with pearl in the middle... It is also possible that it was Mexico 830 silver...only because Mexico was doing similar flowers during WWII and has done them since then...Again, it probably the 50-70's. Hope that helps.

 

[DaniHud]

Pretty...I would restring!. The 830 is often European. My guess would be 1950's-1970's. That type of clasp sort of echoed the Japanese pearl clasp & the more American flower with pearl in the middle... It is also possible that it was Mexico 830 silver...only because Mexico was doing similar flowers during WWII and has done them since then...Again, it probably the 50-70's. Hope that helps.

Many thanks for that information. The clasp is very simple but nice and because it is so simple it is eye catching. Great information. It’s a shame no one (as far as I am aware) has ever done a history of clasps. The clasps on a necklace catch the eye so in turn you focus on the whole necklace and when looking at different periods of history the style, makeup and size all seem to reflect a certain era.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Many thanks for that information. The clasp is very simple but nice and because it is so simple it is eye catching. Great information. It’s a shame no one (as far as I am aware) has ever done a history of clasps. The clasps on a necklace catch the eye so in turn you focus on the whole necklace and when looking at different periods of history the style, makeup and size all seem to reflect a certain era.

There is a book on the history of clasps! It is written by Pearl-Guide member @CLICLASP, Anna Tabakhova. I own a copy.
Clasps: 4,000 Years of Fasteners in Jewellery

I see there is still a soft cover copy available. Hard cover seems to be out of stock.

About this book:

Thread 'Pearls and clasps, in "Clasps – 4,000 Years of fasteners in Jewellery"'

Oct 17, 2016

Dear PG friends,
I have been away from the forum for a long time, being very busy to finish my book on history of clasps. Now the french version is released today, and some PG members advised me to communicate on PG though the english version is not available yet.

I will come later for more details, but there is a chapter on pearls and clasps in the book.
In the meantime more can be seen on the FB page https://www.facebook.com/the.clasp.in.jewellery.4000.years.of.history/

For the new PG members, you might like to see photos I took on several major exhibitions, click on link below...

• CLICLASP
• Replies: 121
• Forum: Pearl Books and Resources

 

[DaniHud]

That is absolutely great and thank you so much for the link and this information. I’ve had a sneak peek at the book and it looks great . I do believe I will get the copy. Again, thank you.