EU auction listings

[Long Potato]

First, apologies for posting in the eBay forum despite asking about a different auction site. Please let me know if this would be better to post somewhere else!

Anyway, I was wondering if you knowledgeable people had any thoughts about the following auction listings re. types of pearls, likelihood of being dyed, other concerns:

1 Patentverschluss WG 18ct. ca. D 2,2cm, (https://www.lot-tissimo.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/weidler/catalogue-id-auktio53-10091/lot-c64f2e38-1417-41a6-98e7-b42800877ede)
The inner strand looks like freshwaters to me; the outer strand maybe Akoyas?

1 grau-blaue Perlenkette ungleiche Form ca. L max. 11mm, (https://www.lot-tissimo.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/weidler/catalogue-id-auktio53-10091/lot-d1d5be22-7971-4f39-b769-b42800877b02)
Maybe baroque Akoyas? Or too large?

1 Perlenkette mit grau-roséfarbenem Schimmer ca. D 7,5mm, (https://www.lot-tissimo.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/weidler/catalogue-id-auktio53-10091/lot-ce783de9-7518-44e8-9f18-b42800877d6a)
Same questions, really

This auctioneer also has a number of listings of separate, detachable clasps such as:

1 Patentverschluss GG 18ct. (https://www.lot-tissimo.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/weidler/catalogue-id-auktio53-10091/lot-45d4fb00-ac96-4286-bd5b-b4280087a5fc)
or
1 Patentverschluss GG 18ct. (https://www.lot-tissimo.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/weidler/catalogue-id-auktio53-10091/lot-c31327bf-95df-4507-b212-b4280087a6e5)
or
1 Patentverschluss wohl Metall "Weltkugel" (https://www.lot-tissimo.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/weidler/catalogue-id-auktio53-10091/lot-0e5cb938-b21d-49de-90f7-b4280087a440)

I asked the auctioneer which clasps would fit which strands, and they replied that they were "standard patent clasps" and implied that any of them would fit the strands. Are they really interchangeable like that? (I have another pearl necklace with a similar clasp, but the bits that go into the clasp are shaped differently from the ones in this auction.)

Thanks in advance for any info or advice!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I can't speak to the clasps other than to say that a safety clasp is best for pearls, IMO. Pearls are heavy and I once barely caught my baroque akoya pearls when the clasp they came with (which didn't have a safety feature) simply opened up, and they fell off my neck.

Your 1st link, I agree: akoyas on the outside and FW inside.
2nd link, agree, baroque akoyas. I don't see dye concentrations and the color could be natural. They are pretty.
3rd link, I think akoyas on the outside and dyed pearls of some sort on the inside.

 

[ennui]

I'm not aware of interchangeable clasps ... maybe the auctioneer means you can restring the pearls and change the clasp?

 

[Long Potato]

In my (limited) understanding, the pearls or beads are strung on a cord with a metal connector at each end. These connectors then fit securely but removably into either side of a decorative clasp (you can see them attached on one side but not the other in this listing: 1 Kette wohl Lapislazuli ca. D 18mm, (https://www.lot-tissimo.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/weidler/catalogue-id-auktio53-10091/lot-0c211743-97ee-4f1f-b3a0-b4280087b666)). I think the idea is that you can have multiple strands and multiple clasps to mix and match for different lengths, looks, etc. But I haven't been able to find much information about them online. Looking at, say, photos in different auction listings, the connectors and the holes in the clasps can be shaped somewhat differently, as if there are different models/manufacturers, and I don't know if they need to be the right kind to work well together.

The one necklace I have like this, well, I've never worn it because it needs restringing So I don't have a feel for its reliability.

 

[Long Potato]

I'm not aware of interchangeable clasps ... maybe the auctioneer means you can restring the pearls and change the clasp?

That's a generous interpretation of "interchangeable"

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Oh yes. I am aware of those kinds of clasps. A member of Pearl Guide, Anna Tabakhova, created one of those clasps and wrote a book on the history of clasps, a copy of which I own:

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

 

[ennui]

That's a generous interpretation of "interchangeable"

I don't get out much.
The lapis beads are pretty.

 

[BWeaves]

They look like bayonet clasps but with two female ends on the clasp, and two male ends on the strands of pearls. So the clasps should be interchangeable with the strands.

 

[Long Potato]

They look like bayonet clasps but with two female ends on the clasp, and two male ends on the strands of pearls. So the clasps should be interchangeable with the strands.

So ... do male and female parts from different makers work together? (That sounds like a pulp sci-fi setup )

 

[Pearl Dreams]

That is a good question, and I could see where they might not fit together if made by different manufacturers. (I'm thinking about the bayonet mounts of camera lenses being different from one manufacturer to another.)

 

[BWeaves]

So ... do male and female parts from different makers work together? (That sounds like a pulp sci-fi setup )

I would think that different manufacturers would not work together.

 

[Long Potato]

I would think that different manufacturers would not work together.

That's what I would have thought too, except for what the auctioneer said

But I didn't win any auctions anyway, so I guess it's moot for now.

 

[Long Potato]

I can't speak to the clasps other than to say that a safety clasp is best for pearls, IMO. Pearls are heavy and I once barely caught my baroque akoya pearls when the clasp they came with (which didn't have a safety feature) simply opened up, and they fell off my neck.

Your 1st link, I agree: akoyas on the outside and FW inside.
2nd link, agree, baroque akoyas. I don't see dye concentrations and the color could be natural. They are pretty.
3rd link, I think akoyas on the outside and dyed pearls of some sort on the inside.

What kind of clasp was it that opened unexpectedly on you?

My husband accidentally opened a bean clasp once by putting his head back and pinching the clasp between the back of his head and neck

 

[Pearl Dreams]

What kind of clasp was it that opened unexpectedly on you?

My husband accidentally opened a bean clasp once by putting his head back and pinching the clasp between the back of his head and neck

The male part of the clasp had to be squeezed together and inserted into the other part, and it would spring apart to close. But the weight of the pearls was too much for it.

I changed the clasp and no longer have that one. This is a photo of the necklace as it was then:

I added a safety chain but found that tickled my neck and was a nuisance to use (tiny spring ring). So I bought a gold safety clasp but it was quite flat and small, too small for these akoyas. That one is on another necklace now. Not sure I like it there either.

Last year I restrung a strand of Tahitians and moved the white gold clasp from that strand to this one. The clasp was a little too large for those Tahitians but is a perfect size and shape for the akoyas. I wear them a lot more now.

 

[Long Potato]

Okay, you've convinced me to get a better clasp for a heavy strand of freshwaters!

Your Akoyas are beautiful, BTW

 

[A Breaker]

Clasps: some a very standard fishhook type used on pearls for decades...the hook part can be a smaller or bigger one if you need to replace it. But many clasps have unique ways they fit. I broke a box clasp end and I still have not found a replacement after 20 years! (They can be custom made...$). I wonder if all these strand came from a close-out closed jewelry store with interchangeable clasps as a selling feature? Sounds like a way to get people to purchase lots of clasps for holidays, day/evening, etc.

Getting people in the store: my Husband and I were laughing at Mikimoto paperwork reminding people to take their pearls in for "professional cleaning, if they got dirty and professional restringing on silk once a year"....the professional cleaning seems like a great way to get people back in the store for a impulse purchase with that cleaning! I can't imagine taking pearls in every time I wanted to clean them! Yes, silk can break easily when wet...I regularly wash silk and it is super weak when wet...so Mikimoto was avoiding that problem! But I have washed new silk strung pearls. I have some old silk strung ones...that I won't even try...those are on my restringing pile!

 

[BWeaves]

Okay, you've convinced me to get a better clasp for a heavy strand of freshwaters!

Your Akoyas are beautiful, BTW

I'm a huge fan of the "orbit" clasp. Both the small and large sizes are NOT fiddly. Easy to use. They're secure. They're comfortable on the back of the neck. And if all your necklaces have them, you can link them together to make longer ropes of pearls, and the clasps look like links and not, well, clasps. Plus, you can hang pendants on them if you wear the clasp in front.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

"Orbit" clasps are also knowns as interlock clasps (see Bella Findings) or sometimes interlocking oval (or round) clasps.
The silver ones I have are rhodium plated to prevent tarnishing.

 

[ennui]

Getting people in the store:

Most fine jewelers will service their jewelry; clean, check prongs, etc. I never really thought of it as a come-on.
There was recently a news story about a woman who took her ring to Tiffany for cleaning; it wasn't a Tiffany ring and they declined to touch it, simply out of liability.

 

[A Breaker]

Most fine jewelers will service their jewelry; clean, check prongs, etc. I never really thought of it as a come-on.
There was recently a news story about a woman who took her ring to Tiffany for cleaning; it wasn't a Tiffany ring and they declined to touch it, simply out of liability.

Yes, I think a once a year check is just good service..and they always took a while to clean and inspect it...& pointed out new things and what might go nicely with my rings. But my problem is taking pearls in just for cleaning. Maybe if you just needed them cleaned only once a year, but I tend to clean things every few months. While I loved how they checked & cleaned my wedding ring once a year, I still cleaned it every month. So maybe Mikimoto had figured that most people come it once a year for restring and maybe one other time for cleaning?? Totally reasonable.