Inherited grandmother's pearls, fake? real?

[Rivka]

Hi everyone!

I'm a pearl enthusiast though most of what I have are fake, I just really love the look of pearls and like to wear them often. My father had my grandmother's broken string of pearls in a box for a couple decades. Swore he was going to have the restrung to be passed down etc etc... When he passed a couple years ago I found them in drawer when I cleaned out his house. I've finally gotten round to looking at doing something with them and as I've now had a close look, I'm doubting they are real. They were obviously not cared for or stored well and looked pretty yellow and grimy so I gave them a gentle bath in warm water and a drop of dish soap. To My surprise, they did brighten up quite a bit. They're very tiny and the old string itself was probably the worst looking part.
Can anyone tell my what these are? The story I got was that my grandfather got them during WWII, he was in the Navy. But I'm just not sure, my father said a lot of things, few of them were fact. I'm restringing them either way, I inherited my love for jewelry from my grandmother and enjoy wearing her pieces. If they're fake, I'll likely make them modern and fun, just want to be sure before I take any liberties.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

It's hard to tell from the photos. They could be akoyas or they could be imitations.

You could check these things:
1. Rub 2 of the pearls together gently, or rub one against the biting edge of your front tooth. What do you feel? Real pearl nacre feels gritty, imitation pearl coating glides smoothly.

2. If you have a 10x jeweler's loupe, look at the surface. What do you see? Real nacre looks very smooth while imitation pearl coating has a coarser appearance. You may need to compare with some pearls that you know to be real or know to be fake.

3. Examine the area around the drill holes. Is there any sort of built-up excess coating such as imitations may sometimes have? Any place where there is flaking off of a thin coating? This would indicate imitations (but good fakes may not have this either.)

4. Look inside the drill hole of the largest pearl. Do you see anything? A real cultured pearl will have a place where the pearl ends and the bead begins, like this:

 

[Rivka]

After doing more research (there's so much great info here!) and looking closer, what I have here seem to be Majorica pearls. My father was insistent they were the real ones. Turns out the strand she gave me before she died were in fact her good pearls. The broken strand in the box that my father had, Majoricas. Either way, they're a lovely cream rose color and I'm restringing the seed size and smaller ones into a bracelet and the larger ones will be made into something else. You can't ever have too many pearls!

 

[jshepherd]

You can't ever have too many pearls!

So true! And these carry sentimental value.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The clasp does not appear to be Majorica brand, but some other brand of coated glass pearls. But they are very pretty!

Imitation pearls have a long tradition. I just learned, for example, that after the death of Gilded Age NYC society leader Caroline Astor, when her pearls were examined, fully 90 pearls in her 5-strand necklace were found to be imitation. See this article in 1909 NYT: (Scroll up for the last paragraph in the next column). It caused some consternation and a bit of a scandal. People wondered how many of her other jewels were fake!
1909 NYT article, "Mrs. Astor's False Pearls"

I think it may be this necklace (from Wikipedia page on Caroline Astor)

Brooke Astor, who married Caroline's grandson Vincent Astor, told about how she also wore imitation pearls when at her country home (in the book People & Pearls.)

Jackie Kennedy's famous 3 strand necklace was imitation, made by Kenneth Jay Lane, as were Barbara Bush's pearls.

I think imitation pearls are a bit different from other imitation jewelry. Sure, they are fake, but they are still classy, if they are nice.
Coco Chanel only wore imitation pearls, from what I've read.

 

[CortezPearls]

The clasp does not appear to be Majorica brand, but some other brand of coated glass pearls. But they are very pretty!

Imitation pearls have a long tradition. I just learned, for example, that after the death of Gilded Age NYC society leader Caroline Astor, when her pearls were examined, fully 90 pearls in her 5-strand necklace were found to be imitation. See this article in 1909 NYT: (Scroll up for the last paragraph in the next column). It caused some consternation and a bit of a scandal. People wondered how many of her other jewels were fake!
1909 NYT article, "Mrs. Astor's False Pearls"

I think it may be this necklace (from Wikipedia page on Caroline Astor)
View attachment 467689

Brooke Astor, who married Caroline's grandson Vincent Astor, told about how she also wore imitation pearls when at her country home (in the book People & Pearls.)

Jackie Kennedy's famous 3 strand necklace was imitation, made by Kenneth Jay Lane, as were Barbara Bush's pearls.

I think imitation pearls are a bit different from other imitation jewelry. Sure, they are fake, but they are still classy, if they are nice.
Coco Chanel only wore imitation pearls, from what I've read.

And those were NATURAL PEARLS...in a time when cultured pearls were unavailable. Made good sense to drop a few imitations (90!) to make the necklace look good (nicely matched) instead of waiting DECADES to finish the piece.

 

[Happy Huku]

After doing more research (there's so much great info here!) and looking closer, what I have here seem to be Majorica pearls. My father was insistent they were the real ones. Turns out the strand she gave me before she died were in fact her good pearls. The broken strand in the box that my father had, Majoricas. Either way, they're a lovely cream rose color and I'm restringing the seed size and smaller ones into a bracelet and the larger ones will be made into something else. You can't ever have too many pearls!

What a good idea, you'll get to wear and enjoy. Hope you'll post some photos for us