Thought they were glass at first, maybe not ?

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May 17, 2024
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My parents go thrifting a lot and find some pretty amazing random stuff. I’m never surprised. My mom sent me a box of costume jewelry that ran the gamut of your trendy designer to high end runway. In a dust bag I pulled out a surprisingly solid and heavy pearl necklace. They almost felt like steel. I thought they were unusual but I figured they were some J crew nice statement necklace, looked for a mark and found none. So I just put it back and kept looking.

The weight, the shine and the sheer size and temperature left an impression on me they were striking. I was certain they were faux and was going to prove they were glass.. But I didn’t see any loss of paint even at the drill holes. I looked at the shape of the induvidual pearls and they looked pretty jacked as far as shapes and angles. They were very natural looking. And also very big. I measured with my caliper and they seemed to range from drill hole to drill hole 16 mm - 22 mm. And measured width from 14 mm to 18mm, the necklace was 76 cm around.

Are these Baroque FW ? Or SS ?
 

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They look like imitations to me-- the coarse-grained surface, the uniform low luster, the sharpness of some of the craggy areas. I see a spot that looks like the coating has come off (not near a drill hole). Their surface appearance reminds me of some imitations I inadvertently bought years ago, thinking they were real FWP, which I subsequently returned.

Rub 2 of them together gently. What do you feel? Imitation pearls glide smoothly; real pearls feel gritty.
 
There was a brand in the UK making similar imitations some years ago...I believe Wendy @pearlescence brought those to my attention. These look very much like those.
 
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