Mixed bag of broken strands

Wednesday

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Mar 25, 2024
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Hello, I wonder if the experts would mind taking a look at these pearls please?
They were in a bag of broken strands I picked up on eBay for my kid to string (she’s studying art and has an interest in jewellery design). They’re pretty! They’re definitely real pearl but I wondered if they might be Akoyas? They have a pinkish iridescence that makes them stand out. There’s no clasp or anything that could help with their history.
Largest pearl is 7.3mm. They aren’t all perfectly round but they are very close. Some tiny bumps, ridges and imperfections on the surfaces of a few.

I’d appreciate any thoughts. The rest of the stuff in the bag is nice too, mostly pretty, round white freshwater pearls. These just look different. Tell me I won the pearl lottery? Well, you never know…!
Thank you very much


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Oh, and this cute little thing, which I’m going to use as a pendant. I think it was a clip on earring which had a post soldered on to it at some point. I was hoping against hope it would have the magic ‘M’ mark, but all I can see is remnants of solder where I think any mark would be. I’m probably dreaming here, it just reminds me of a Mikimoto brooch my aunt Louisa used to wear!
 

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Hi there @Wednesday
The main strand seems to be a baroque Akoya pearl necklace. Seems to have thick nacre, nice colors and lustre, but also some imperfections.
It is still a beautiful piece!
The "Grape" pendant is very nice as well! The pearls are better quality too. I don't know if it is a Mikimoto made piece.

Still, seems like a very good find, just considering the necklace and the soon to be pendant. Congratulations!
 
You may wish to have a look at my stringing tutorial (unless your child already has a favorite method).
 
You may wish to have a look at my stringing tutorial (unless your child already has a favorite method).
Brilliant, thank you! Must confess I’ve taken the nicer bits to make into chokers for us both and a friend- the kid is mostly using beads, so she’ll not be needing Akoyas quite yet. The tutorial will definitely help her figure it out though.

At the moment, her favourite method of stringing is to catch me at a weak moment and get me to do it🤣
 
Hi there @Wednesday
The main strand seems to be a baroque Akoya pearl necklace. Seems to have thick nacre, nice colors and lustre, but also some imperfections.
It is still a beautiful piece!
The "Grape" pendant is very nice as well! The pearls are better quality too. I don't know if it is a Mikimoto made piece.

Still, seems like a very good find, just considering the necklace and the soon to be pendant. Congratulations!
Thank you! I had, like every newbie with Google, nurtured a tiny hope that you’d say “oh wow, look at that amazing strand of wild natural pearls from the 16th Century” or similar. I mean, I can dream, right? 🤣

They’re nice wearable pearls, they’ve got some kind of something about them that makes me like them a lot. I’m stringing them at the moment, and they do look pretty.

I’m not the greatest at stringing and knotting but I’m having fun and the kid is happy with the one she picked out, so it was well worth it.

I do love the earring/pendant too. Agree, sadly most likely not Mikimoto, but the little pearls are very nice. I do have a strand of Mikis, but they weren’t looked after and they’re yellow/dry so I couldn’t really compare them meaningfully. Still love them though.
 
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