What type of pearls are these?

[faithlisa29]

I have this beautiful vintage necklace and am curious what type of pearls I have here. They have a purple hue in the light. Sterling silver clasp, 6mm and 18 inches long. Thank you!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Based on the excess coating around the drill holes of some of the pearls and the uniformity of shape, color and luster, they appear to be imitation pearls.
Try rubbing 2 of them together gently. Imitation pearls glide smoothly against each other; real nacre is gritty feeling.

 

[faithlisa29]

You are correct! They are smooth! No grittiness. Thank you so much!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

They are nice looking-- wear them in good health!

 

[faithlisa29]

They are nice looking-- wear them in good health!

Thank you! They are still really pretty

 

[faithlisa29]

Thank you! They are still really pretty

I like the test of rubbing them together. Great advice! Thank you again!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Another way to check for real vs. imitation pearls is to check their temperature against your lip (which is very sensitive to temperature). Glass beads are warmer than real pearls. To do this test you have to have some pearls known to be real (or known to be fake) to compare with, and both strands have to have been in the same ambient temperature for a little while (to eliminate that variable.)

If you have a 10x jeweler's loupe, real pearls nacre will look smooth compared to imitation pearl coating.
Real pearls look smooth at 10x magnification, but feel gritty.
Imitation pearls look coarse at 10x magnification, but feel smooth.

There are other indicators of imitation pearls, which you may or may not see in any given strand. (Higher end imitations tend not to display these.)

1. Extra coating or swirls of nacre around drill holes as I saw in yours.
2. Beveled drill holes.
3. Larger drill holes than are typical for real pearls (pearls being sold by weight, real pearls tend to have smaller drill holes to preserve weight.) This often goes with larger knots-- so that the knots don't slip into the drill holes.
4. Flaking off of the coating. Often happens near drill holes.

 

[faithlisa29]

Another way to check for real vs. imitation pearls is to check their temperature against your lip (which is very sensitive to temperature). Glass beads are warmer than real pearls. To do this test you have to have some pearls known to be real (or known to be fake) to compare with, and both strands have to have been in the same ambient temperature for a little while (to eliminate that variable.)

If you have a 10x jeweler's loupe, real pearls nacre will look smooth compared to imitation pearl coating.
Real pearls look smooth at 10x magnification, but feel gritty.
Imitation pearls look coarse at 10x magnification, but feel smooth.

There are other indicators of imitation pearls, which you may or may not see in any given strand. (Higher end imitations tend not to display these.)

1. Extra coating or swirls of nacre around drill holes as I saw in yours.
2. Beveled drill holes.
3. Larger drill holes than are typical for real pearls (pearls being sold by weight, real pearls tend to have smaller drill holes to preserve weight.) This often goes with larger knots-- so that the knots don't slip into the drill holes.
4. Flaking off of the coating. Often happens near drill holes.

Wonderful! I'm going to go through all my pearls and use your wonderful advice. Thank you much!!!

 

[CortezPearls]

Another way to check for real vs. imitation pearls is to check their temperature against your lip (which is very sensitive to temperature). Glass beads are warmer than real pearls. To do this test you have to have some pearls known to be real (or known to be fake) to compare with, and both strands have to have been in the same ambient temperature for a little while (to eliminate that variable.)

If you have a 10x jeweler's loupe, real pearls nacre will look smooth compared to imitation pearl coating.
Real pearls look smooth at 10x magnification, but feel gritty.
Imitation pearls look coarse at 10x magnification, but feel smooth.

There are other indicators of imitation pearls, which you may or may not see in any given strand. (Higher end imitations tend not to display these.)

1. Extra coating or swirls of nacre around drill holes as I saw in yours.
2. Beveled drill holes.
3. Larger drill holes than are typical for real pearls (pearls being sold by weight, real pearls tend to have smaller drill holes to preserve weight.) This often goes with larger knots-- so that the knots don't slip into the drill holes.
4. Flaking off of the coating. Often happens near drill holes.

I made a video some time ago on the subject:

And I even made some videos about Water & Fire Tests if interested!

 

[faithlisa29]

Awesome! I will watch them and follow you!!!