Freshwater pearls or something else?

[daisysmom]

Hi everyone. I would love any input about some mystery pearls that I received from the estate of a relative. This relative loved jewelry and pearls but hardly wore what she had so this strand is in excellent condition. I am unsure of how old the pearls are or when they were purchased. The clasp is 14 karat gold. I have included some photos of the strand close up. I am somewhat certain that they are some sort of freshwater pearl and the colors seem to be natural. Some of the darker colored pearls might be dyed. The pearls are all pastel in color and range from pale/subtle grey, pink, purple, peach, cream, and white. The luster is very good and I would describe it as silky and the pearls themselves are in great shape. They have been individually knotted and none of them have any chalky looking spots. The pearls have a freeform shape but clean surfaces without many blemishes and irregular shapes. I would estimate that the pearls are about 6-7 mm. The necklace is about 36 inches long and is very light to wear. Are these freshwater keshi pearls or something else?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

They are indeed freshwater cultured pearls, from China. I have some like that, given to me in 1980. I love the luster.

Freshwater keshi are 2nd harvest pearls. Yours would be 1st harvest pearls. A bit of donor mantle tissue was inserted into the host mantle tissue, causing a pearl sac to form; the pearl grew inside the pearl sac. One mussel could be nucleated with 30 or more pearls on each half of its shell. Natural colors commonly range from peach to white to lavender. If any are black, those are dyed.

The length makes these easy to wear doubled. How do you wear them?

 

[BWeaves]

I agree. They are cultured freshwater pearls, but not keshi. They are from the first harvest. This was before the Chinese learned how to make the pearls round. The colors look natural to me, not dyed. The pearls are 100% nacre. Enjoy! They're very pretty.

 

[GemGeek]

They remind me of those old baby biwa pearls. Too cute. Perfect adornment for a hot summer day!