Dyed black saltwater pearls?

[Emmamae]

Hi! I have been collecting pearls for the last 5 years. Purchasing mostly at thrift stores and flea markets. I have been educating myself on pearls with the help of this very forum. Your educated eye has helped me so much with understanding the basics of pearls. This is my first purchase of a colored pearl necklace and I have been reading through past posts on colored pearls and I am having a hard time identifying these. Any info on how you could tell the difference between dyed and natural cultured color pearls would be much appreciated. Thank you so much!
-Emma

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Those are dyed freshwater pearls.

It isn't just one factor. After seeing many, one develops an eye for it. But some giveaways in your strand are:
-the eggy shapes
-the colors, which are more dark blue/purple than you would generally find in Tahitians
-the appearance of the color-- sometimes it has an "oil slick" sort of look
-Tahitian strands usually graduate a bit toward the clasp, with larger pearls in the center
-the overall small size (although there are also large dyed FWP out there, too.)

There are dyed akoya pearls (which are saltwater) but those would be round, due to having a bead nucleus, and blacker.

 

[Emmamae]

Thank you so much!! I can’t wait to find more and hopefully have a better idea of why I am looking at.

 

[BWeaves]

Part of knowing what the pearls are is having seen lots of other pearls where you definitely know what they are. Everything PD said is exactly what I see, too.

I remember reading a story about a man who went into the pearl business. He talked to an older pearl vendor who instinctively knew the difference between cultured pearls and natural pearls. He wanted the older man to share his secret, and all the old vendor would say, is someday you'll know. The man was upset that the older vendor was keeping secrets. A couple years later, he was looking at some pearls from an estate and as he was handling the pearls, he thought these are cultured, but these are naturals. Then suddenly, EUREKA! He realized that all it took was the experience of handling all those pearls for all those years, he finally had the experience.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I love that story too, BWeaves. It's in The Pearl Book: The Definite Buying Guide by Antoinette Matlins. The younger jeweler was Maurice Shire, the older gentleman Leonard Rosenthal.

 

[BWeaves]

Yes, that's the story!!!! But it's so true. I don't think I handle enough pearls to get that good, but I feel pretty confident with most of my guesses.

 

[pattye]

Excellent summary of how to identify freshwater pearls vs saltwater pearls, PD!

Pretty and wearable strand, Emmamae ~ there are bargains to be had out there. Personally, I enjoy and wear dyed pearls in the blue-purple shades, a flattering color on most women, and Tahitian pearls in the blue shades are very rare.

BWeaves, hadn't heard that story before, thank you!