Fake, Imitation, Laguna, Faux, Majorica, Majorcan, Swarovski Pearl Photos, Stories

[dkan 168]

Too clean, too uniform, too shiny to be real.

Even the best real pearls that are very well-matched will show some very subtle variations.

DK

 

[pattye]

Examples of glass pearls, gray and cream

Examples of glass pearls, gray and cream

Note larger than normal holes with the pearlized finish puddled up around the edge indicating fake pearls, plus the sameness of size and reflection. The gray imitation pearls are on temporary strands. These were a gift from another forum member.

 

[pattye]

Fake baroque pearls

Fake baroque pearls

In the late 60's, waaaaay before I had any cultured pearls, this 58 inch necklace was a favorite purchase, cost about $40. I doubt anyone could be fooled by these 15mm imitations! One of these days I may replace with Chinese kasumi, jade and garnets. Brass chain is right in style again!

 

[GemGeek]

I love all the examples! More More!!!

 

[Daddys Little Pearl]

OK you asked fore more! Just bought this strand of Majorica, huge size, obviously meant to imitate South Sea size I guess, great color, fabulous clasp with the metal built onto the faux pearl. Enjoy

Daddys Little Pearl

Antiques Jewelry & Sacred Treasures

 

[pattye]

DLP,

A great purchase and example, thank you! Nice of Majorica to put the M on~great clasp, very high end looking! The colors are excellent also.

 

[LLoydsJewelry]

We offer two tpes of immitation pearls on our ebay, Zibbet sites, and handmade craft show sites. Shell pearls and swarovskie. In my opinion shell perls are better than swarovskie in the white colors. Swarovskie is better for a wide variety of colors, many of which a self respecting pearl mollusk would not make, Like burgundy etc.

I stripped the coating off each type using harsh chemicals to see the underneath bead. The shell pearls in my test revealed a bead just like the one used to start South Sea pearls. It had banding and was solid. In fact the same company that makes shell pearls is said to provide nucleus to South Sea Pearl producers. The swarovkie revealed a solid hard glass core Swarovskies sometimes will flake at the drill hole. They but can be purchasd in large hole variety at about 1.00 mm. You don't want to have to drill glass. Shell pearls can be enlarged with standard pearl reaming techniques.

You will see on internet sites a deception saying " South Sea Shell pearls". The low cost of them proves right away they are not real, of course. The term really means, We tryed to duplicate the South Sea Color in our manufactured immitation pearl.


Shell pearl coatings often have mother of pearl powder added to the coating. This means they can pass the tooth or rub together test!!
The coating of each is an epoxy based coating. A Strong efective coating.

Lloyd Patterson
Gemologist GIA Certified
http://www.zibbet.com/LloydsJewelry

 

[Daddys Little Pearl]

Good info Lloyd, could you post a photo of a white shell pearls strand and also one of your Swarovski for us to see?

Daddys Little Pearl

 

[LLoydsJewelry]

yes, I will photo those and the stripped shell pearl to show the inside of a shell pearls within the next two days.

Lloyd

 

[LLoydsJewelry]

Daddies Little pearls asked for some photos about immitations we use at craft shows, and on the internet.

The four photos include the stripped shell pearl showing banding. The outside shell which is likely resin or epoxt has been completely removed. Could this have become a south sea if properly placed in mollusk. Yes. Better quality shell beads are like this that are not coated are marketed as mother of pearl beads.

Also we show a stand of multicolor shell pearls. Their coating gives a glassy look.

The bracelet is one of our popular items, we haven't listed it yet on internet, will soon. It has 25mm curved sterling tubes with 3mm silver beads in a stretch bracelet, swarovskie pearls in 12mm.

The last picture shows a swarovskie tahitian look alike. Not very good immitation. You will often see white from background bead around the hole on this one. Can be covered with mounting. We mostly prefer and use the white in both swarovskie & shell pearls.

W. Lloyd Patterson
Gemologist GIA Certified and Trained
http://www.zibbet.com/LloydsJewelry

 

[Sea Urchin]

Thanks, W. Lloyd. I ordered a pair of 10mm peach shell pearls from ebay to go with a strand I have. Not sure I'd wear them enough to pay a couple hundred bucks for real ones so I thought I'd try fakies first. I've also bought inexpensive fakes to see how different sizes look on me and etcetera. Sometimes it makes me mad when the fake ones look better than the real ones!

 

[LLoydsJewelry]

Sea Urchin,
I like to answer any questions I can for folks. The people on this forum have more knowledge, and experience with pearls than I do Incidentally did you know that Barbara Bush's ( US Presidents Bush 41's wife) big pearls that she wore were fakes. It was not a secret. She readily admitted it.

W. Lloyd Patterson

We're on ebay as lloydsgems community name.

 

[pattye]

Majorica Earrings

Majorica Earrings

Finally found the photos of my Majorica Earrings. They were large, about 10.5mm or so. Light golden/dark creme in color.

 

[pattye]

Thank you, Lloyd for the excellent photos.

 

[Daddys Little Pearl]

Lloyd, thanks for posting your photos. This is really helpful for all of us to see various faux pearls to sharpen the skills of recognizing the various types in internet photos, not an easy task either!

Pattye, your earrings are (were?) beautiful.

Daddys Little Pearl

 

[perlinda]

Pattye, thank you for sharing them... your earrings look so much like real pearls from the pictures. They're not overly glossy like most imitations are, Majorica pearls are indeed very good quality manmade pearls.

 

[Sea Urchin]

Peach Shell Pearls to "fill in" a set

Peach Shell Pearls to "fill in" a set

I bought this (real) peach strand on clearance from a shop at home show, 36 inches, 9-10mm. I think it will be pretty with summer clothes but I don't think I'll wear it that often, and matching earrings weren't available there. In the quality and size I want, they'd cost twice as much as the necklace at the places I saw them. So I decided to try some shell pearls to finish the set. These are 10mm and 12mm. I figure if I do end up wearing them very often, I can always get the real earrings later.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The ones on the left are a good match!

I can't recall which of my books I read it in, but one society lady said that she preferred fakes for earrings because she takes one off to talk on the phone, and then she loses them.

Edit: I found the reference. The lady in question was Lady Sarah Churchill and her comments appear on pages 90-91 of People & Pearls.

 

[perlmutter]

Do you think Mallorca give a better look than shell pearls? Are the surfaces different?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I'm not familiar with the brand Perlas de Mallorca, but I own various Majorica brand strands.

The shell pearls I've seen were nowhere near as good looking as vintage Majorica (brand) imitation pearls. Some of the current Majorica pearls I've seen had a pseudo-orient that seemed too prominent to be believable. However, not everyone takes care of their imitation pearls and the surface can be damaged by contact with perfume etc. So vintage eBay Majorica strands do vary in luster. As always, buyer beware.

Shell pearls are going to be lighter weight than glass-bead imitation pearls-- in the very large sizes this could make a difference in wearing comfort.

I have to think there is probably a range of quality in shell pearls, but from the ones I've seen, they are significantly less expensive than Majorica brand. A plus if you are watching your wallet.