Recent content by MotherOfPearlTrumpet

I turned my mother's triple Akoya strand (6-6.5mm) into a long rope and used sparkle 14K gold tube beads and those little silicone rings to protect the pearls from the gold tubes. It can be worn double (about 18") or single (about 37"). I love the sparkle of the gold tube beads, but I understand...

Fortunately when I found this very long strand of baroque saltwater blues, the silk string was in very good shape so I didn't have to restring them. I enjoy wearing them doubled with light blue clothing, and I'm always looking for that perfect shirt to match my pearls! These are such fun shapes...

Thank you for taking the time to look and read. Only a true pearl or jewelry enthusiast would be interested, so I am delighted to hear your encouraging comments.

These may not be Paspaley South Sea Pearls, but I love them just the same! I found these lovely 14K white gold diamond pearl mounts on a clearance site and decided to make an "ensemble" with South Sea pearls. I just love this classic set. There appears to be an imperfection on the pearl but it...

This necklace is another beautiful estate find. I think this one is older than the "Tin Cup" design, but certainly is it's pre-cursor. My guess is that it would probably look better with something other than this dusty rose shirt, but I hadn't worn it in a while and just felt like putting it on...

Thank you for looking and for your kind encouragement too! The triple Akoya Blue/Silver/Cream strands are graduated and sizes are about 3.5mm all the way up to about 7-7.5mm

Yep, these are genuine. Good colors even if the surfaces are not perfect. It's all what you can afford. I like this color range a lot! very nice. Some of the knots appear to be starting to fray, so you'll most likely want to re-string them and clean them before restringing.

Getting ready for those pastel Easter eggs and wearing my multi-freshwater strand. The pearls are so beautiful in person...high luster and almost completely round. The earrings were a "transitional" find. I had my jeweler add tiny diamonds to the bows and then add/hang a pearl peg from the...

Take them into a jewelry store and have the metal tested.

What is the make-up of the metal? Is it marked on the earring post anywhere? They appear to be either lower-end Tahitians (the greenish gray color and the way the pearls are grooved). I could be wrong and they are actually FW pearls...but I am definitely leaning lower-quality Tahitians. I'm sure...

Good for you!

Hummm, I'm seeing $37-$53 for a small to medium size filagree 14K pearl clasp (on EBay, Etsy and Bellafindigns.com...usually with free shipping (if you order enough from Bella it's free shipping). I have about 15 of these in various sizes and styles in a box of findings from all the necklaces I...

Today I'm wearing my blue Akoya pearls (hard to believe these were considered "rejects" at one point...Mr. Mikimoto just didn't know how valuable they would become one day), worn with my Mother's "Bluebonnets" (sapphire/diamond necklace Daddy purchased for her on one of their European trips)...

I actually help my local charity thrift store evaluate their pearls so they don't confuse the costume jewelry pearls with the real ones. Most of the real pearls that are donated are very simple, older Akoya strands and those aren't worth much more than $80-$150, unless they are Mikimoto or...

You can post pictures of your pearls on this site to obtain information on them. Many people do this when finding pearls at thrift stores or estate sales, or inheriting them from relatives. Be sure to include the clasp front and back, some "inside" views of where the pearls attach to the knot of...