Help with inherited pearls

[Allyt]

I inherited some pearls which came with receipts, they are cultured pearls 2 rows with a total of 125 pearls, on the clasp it says sterling and has a small pearl and what could be 2 little possible diamond either side, the box it was in is a mikmoto box but I am none the wiser to

 

[86Corvettegirl]

The stones on the clasp look like marcasite.

 

[BWeaves]

Can you get a closeup of the markings on the back of the clasp?

The pearls themselves do not look like Mikimoto quality. They are not round or particularly smooth.

 

[pattye]

Welcome, Allyt,

No reason to believe these are anything but Mikimoto pearls, with the box and documentation. These would be baroque Akoya, and appear to be in very good condition with high luster. They do need restringing and a bath, which you can learn to do yourself. Directions are here on the forum. Many of us restring our own pearls. The clasp is one I haven't seen before. I agree, the stones look like marcasite, very pretty.

The guarantee is very unusual!

Do you find the clamshell with the M inside stamped anywhere on the clasp?

 

[Allyt]

Hello I do have bill of sale too from 1976 where the cost was £70 for them. Attached is photo of back

 

[ennui]

The guarantee is very unusual!

I agree! I hope our trusted vendors don't get any ideas to adopt the wording.

I believe the pearls are Akoya, but I don't think they're Mikimoto.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

...
I believe the pearls are Akoya, but I don't think they're Mikimoto.

I agree with this.

 

[BWeaves]

I don't see the Mikimoto logo (shell with the M inside) on the back of the clasp.

While the guarantee is interesting, I find it a bit weird that it was just rubber stamped, with no attempt to make it look nice. I don't see any written information to indicate that this necklace goes with the guarantee, and no information as to who the salesperson was, etc.

My recommendation would be have them cleaned and restrung, and enjoy wearing them, but I do not think they are Mikimoto.

 

[Happy Huku]

To my inexperienced eye, the clasp looks older than the pearls, at least the style of the clasp does.

Perhaps the 'guarantee' only applies to the original strand of unstrung pearls when they were imported?

Very pretty baroque akoyas, and as BWeaves says, clean, restring and enjoy!

 

[Allyt]

I have the bill of sale which goes with the pearls which says 2 row of string cultured pearls, 1976 and price paid £70. This is the documentation that was found with it in the box. I am not keeping them as I have no use for them so going to sell them but I have no idea where to sell them or what they could be worth etc.

 

[pearlescence]

I've never heard of this association..but it is plausible -although I've never felt the need to negative my sales in time of war! The wording looks like something cobbled up by a complete legal lay person to appear impressive. But none of it means anything legally

 

[BWeaves]

Pearls do not have good resale value. Whether you want to keep them or resell them, you should still have them cleaned and restrung. If you were a buyer, would you pay more for a clean, freshly strung necklace, or an old dirty necklace?

The original receipt is good to have.
The guarantee I'd say is worthless, but it's an interesting artifact, and I'd definitely keep it with the pearls. I just don't think it actually means anything.

 

[Katbran]

They don't look like Miki pearls at all. The paperwork just says they are cultured pearls. But if you clean them up and restring them they might come to life !

 

[CBPearllover]

To my inexperienced eye, the clasp looks older than the pearls, at least the style of the clasp does.

I agree as well! Not just that, but does anyone else think the Mikimoto box is much newer than the pearls? Like this cool strand was stored in a newer box with the logo? Neat vintage clasp, and the pearls are very lustrous. I agree they're not Mikimotos either.

 

[pattye]

Ok, Ok, I concede this necklace may not be Mikimotos. Clearly vintage Mikis are not within my expertise! I thought there might be a logo on the tongue. I do see other vintage Mikis from the '40's in similar blue boxes, and a number of necklaces from that era have silver clasps. These pearls would have been produced right after the war.

When I sold Miki's for Nordstrom Fine Jewelry in the '90's, the boxes were red. I'm unable to find when blue boxes were first offered, or when the Blue Lagoon line began. My dept manager did purchase via special order an opera length baroque strand of Mikis, but they were never offered as a stock item in our store.

That guarantee was only good for 25 years, so at any rate it would have expired in 2001, lol, likely a marketing tactic to create trust in a product that was expensive.

 

[pearl-man]

old Mikimoto

old Mikimoto

Can you get a closeup of the markings on the back of the clasp?

The pearls themselves do not look like Mikimoto quality. They are not round or particularly smooth.

Definitely not what they sell in the last couple decades. But, when I was there in the 60's it was the type they sold
at their pearl farm and the quality that were sold in the PX's. They no doubt have been miss handled by not storing them properly and have yellowed.

pearl-man aka Norm

 

[lisa c]

They sold baroque pearls?