Brand New to Forum--Wondering About My Beautiful Pearl Ring

[OSUDebbie]

Hello pearl experts! I have a question and I'm hoping I can tap into your expertise. I now live in the SF Bay area but in 1985 my ex-husband and I lived in Columbus, OH and came to SF to visit. I wanted a pearl ring and after looking all over town, we went to Gump's and bought this beauty. I literally wore it every day until the pandemic hit, and then took it off because of frequent Purell use. You will see from the closeups that this is a well-worn ring, with plenty of "patina". I removed the pic of the receipt since it did include personal identification, albeit old, but "Biwa pearl" was written on it. I know that's an attribution that is mostly abused these days, but Gump's was/is a fairly reliable pearl retailer and in 1985, authentic Biwa pearls were still available. There is no other authentication/paperwork that came with it. I also show pics of the 18K hallmark and apologies that the GUMP'S hallmark is blurry, but I think you can make out Gump's. The pearl is approximately 13 mm in diameter. It's coloring is white; the pink that you may pick up is a reflection of my pink phone. Interestingly, as we were getting a divorce in 2000, my ex bought me a lot of nice jewelry (still don't know what he did, but he must have felt very guilty) and went back to Gump's and bought a very similar ring--button peach pearl, about the same size, very heavy nacre, 4 prongs, no diamonds. It's beautiful too, but Gump's did not call it a Biwa pearl. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

[ennui]

I'll leave the pearl analysis to those with more expertise, but I do think you should delete the personal information. Err on the side of caution, we don't need the receipt, just the photos of the ring.
It's a pretty ring, I like the claw setting. Are you wearing it again, now that the pandemic has subsided?

 

[OSUDebbie]

Thank you for the advice--I deleted the receipt. It was there primarily to show it WAS purchased at Gump's and they DID characterize it as a Biwa pearl. I am wearing it again, but now I'm retired so I wear it when I go out. Still love it!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

My mother gave me a strand of FW pearls Christmas of1980, which were marked Biwa pearls, but I now believe they were from China, not Japan, despite the label.
They didn't look like your ring pearl.
I'm just saying, labels are not always correct. "Biwa" may have been being used as a general descriptor of FW pearls rather than stating the country and lake of origin. I seem to recall "Biwa" was being used rather loosely at one time.