Pearl Dreams
Pearl Enthusiast
Just so we all know, Yssie is a "she". 
How to prove these are genuine Mikimoto pearls
- Thread starter Hilary S.
- Start date
There's nothing about this Miki strand that seems inaccurate to me. Yes, I recall the clasp can have a diamond and the pearls themselves seem to be excellent quality. Plus having the 24" length is a bonus.
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You might check out RubyLane.com as they list lots of Mikimoto jewelry. Sorry to hear you got hassled by ebay. I've been curious about ebay's authentication process.
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You might check out RubyLane.com as they list lots of Mikimoto jewelry. Sorry to hear you got hassled by ebay. I've been curious about ebay's authentication process.
I ran into eBay's authentication process on a Silver Vintage Mikimoto necklace. They Authenticate based on the information you as a seller provide and metal content testing. I got 2 things wrong: The actual length (I was so nervous that I had 2 different lengths in my description.) the rhodium plating would Not allow the X-ray to read the sliver content. I could have relisted or even sold it, if I fixed the length to be accurate...but the x-ray machine Not reading the metal meant, it would never pass authentication. So I called eBay and happened to get a one of the managers of Fine Jewelry. I explained about Mikimoto and cladding silver clasps in rhodium. We had a 45 minute chat on Mikimoto and authentication. They can NOT send Mikimoto to jewelers that know Mikimoto...that is Not who they contract with. They contract with jewelers who test metal and evaluate fine jewelry looking for accuracy in the listing. In the case of the Mikimoto in this thread...Does it have the Mikimoto logo, does it test diamond, does it test at least 18k, is everything stated accurate..including # of pearls. (As I said, when I goofed on the length, they would let me fix that if that was the only problem. ). But they will not let you fix metal, and relist in Fine Jewelry if it tests wrong or won't test. They can NOT even assess if they are Akoyas, Tahitians or Freshwater...unless obvious to any regular jeweler...and do Not have anyway to do akoya grades. This is what one of the managers of Fine Jewelry told me. I was allowed to relist my Vintage Mikimoto, because it had the logo, but it had to be in Vintage Jewelry...where it does not carry authentication until $1000 (at that time, it may have changed in the last 2 years.) I tried to just get them to Stop testing Viintage Silver rhodium plated Mikimotos...the clasp is $1 worth of metal!!!...the maker's mark and the pearls is the value...Not whatever the silver content is!!! No go, they can NOT make exceptions...it must be able to be tested!!!
These days you're basically able to only contact eBay via a message to its Instagram page. As noted, they would not explain why my strand failed authentication nor would they put me in touch with the authenticator. In my case, I had the pearl count wrong but they also marked it as counterfeit and won't allow me to relist it. I already put it on Poshmark, which also has authentication program, and I plan to bring it to RealReal if that doesn't work. My clasp has the Mikimoto logo (though Yssie said there are dozens of clasps like mine that are counterfeit) and I have not had the diamond or gold tested but that should be much easier to do.
Yes...EBay customer service is absolutely horrible now!!! So bad! There is a way to call them, but it was so difficult...I got scammed 5 months ago so I kept trying. .................But 2 years ago, EBay sent me a message from the authenticators detailing the problems.
For testing, any Mall jeweler could do that...in fact many of them will offer to clean and inspect you jewelry for free (Do Not let them clean the pearls with steam!!!!) You could ask that they test and inspect, instead of clean. Often they have diamond & gold testers so that the person who does jewelry repair can verify that the stones and gold are correct.
In fact, many years ago (around 20) my Grandmother used to walk malls and had a second hand ring...they were promoting their new diamond tester and free clean & inspect. She was able to get her ring clean, inspected & find out the stones on her second hand ring...during her walk.
Pearl Dreams
Pearl Enthusiast
@A Breaker,
Years ago a reputable jeweler (not at a mall) offered to clean my diamond ring, which dated back to the 1930s (it was my husband's great aunt's ring).
That evenng my husband looked at it with his loupe and discovered that one of the 4 prongs was now missing. Perhaps the metal was weak, but the steam cleaning broke off the prong. Given that there were only 4 prongs holding the stone, the loss of one prong could have led to the loss of the stone.
Moral of the story: if you have your ring cleaned, examine it afterward yourself with a loupe!
Years ago a reputable jeweler (not at a mall) offered to clean my diamond ring, which dated back to the 1930s (it was my husband's great aunt's ring).
That evenng my husband looked at it with his loupe and discovered that one of the 4 prongs was now missing. Perhaps the metal was weak, but the steam cleaning broke off the prong. Given that there were only 4 prongs holding the stone, the loss of one prong could have led to the loss of the stone.
Moral of the story: if you have your ring cleaned, examine it afterward yourself with a loupe!
