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Featured I need opinion on these pearl strands

Discussion in 'Jewelry' started by Bdigger, May 24, 2025.

  1. Bdigger

    Bdigger Well-Known Member

    My sister‘s birthday is coming up and I went to an estate sale and bought two strands of pearls today. I believe they are genuine pearls. They pass the roughness test on the teeth. They both have Sterling clasps. i’m not sure about the darker purple one if they’re dyed or natural. And the other one looks like three or four different colors of pearls but they all look like natural pearls little miss shaped and different sizes. But I need to know what you experts think.

    thumbnail (3).jpeg pearls2.jpg pearls3.jpg pearls2.jpg
     
    lovewrens, mirana, Born2it and 2 others like this.
  2. wlwhittier

    wlwhittier Well-Known Member

    Radiation can be used to alter a pearl's natural color...those that are misshapen may be fresh water pearls, or salt water, sometimes called, if the shapes are extreme, baroque pearls. I'm no expert, so others will be along with better scoops!
     
    pearlsnblume likes this.
  3. Born2it

    Born2it Well-Known Member

    I’m more of a gourmand than a gourmet when it comes to pearls, but my guess is that the darker ones are dyed/treated in some way, and that many of the pearls in the mixed strand are not. Maybe all of them aren’t. Either way, I’d be surprised if they are fake. Knotted strings are usually a good sign. I have seen fakes with knotted strings, but they usually had gold-toned hardware and uniform sizes to mimic expensive saltwater pearls.

    Very curious to see what the experts think!
     
  4. ola402

    ola402 Well-Known Member

    Not a pearl expert, but I watch a lot of QVC jewelry shows. They have a lot of sellers who specialize in fresh water pearls that are colored (like Honora Pearls). I don't know how they color them, but they're all lovely and gift worthy. You could run a sunshine cloth over the clasp and they will look very nice. I'm sure your sister will love them. Personally, I gravitate towards that multi-colored strand.
     
    Born2it likes this.
  5. Bdigger

    Bdigger Well-Known Member

    Yeah I like the multicolored strand too. But the dark strand is interesting. Yeah both strands feel rough on the teeth. I’m sure they’re real pearls. They were over with the costume. Julie and I only paid $3.50 each for them so I figured I did OK.
    I’m gonna go back to that estate sale and look closer tomorrow at the other jewelry they had on the costume table. I know I saw some Monet earrings. And I think all the earrings were just two dollars apiece. But if they miss these pearls, they may have missed something else it make. It deserve a second look.

    thank you all for your opinions and insights on these. I appreciate you all very much
     
    Born2it and mirana like this.
  6. Bdigger

    Bdigger Well-Known Member

    by the way, one of the claps is marked PIE.
    Does anybody know what that means? The P is stylized. I can’t get a good picture of it though.
     
  7. stracci

    stracci Well-Known Member

    I agree with what everyone has said so far.
    These are freshwater pearls. The egg/oval shape is a good indicator of freshwater, although some freshies can be very round.

    The colored and dark ones are dyed. The white ones are commonly bleached to achieve a brighter white.
    They are beautiful and she will love them!
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2025
  8. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    They're definitely Chinese dyed freshwater pearls. She'll like them.
     
  9. Bdigger

    Bdigger Well-Known Member

    Sister got the pearls today and called me very excited. Nothing extremely expensive, but she loved them all. Yes they are all freshwater pearls. The darkest ones (diamond spacers), are dyed and called "chocolate pearls" and were quite the rage awhile back.
    I'm happy she liked them .
    Thank you all for the input!
    I forgot to tell you all that I went back to the estate sale the next day(50% off) and found 2 more strands of pearls and 3 matching bracelets.
    So all together she got 4 necklaces and 3 matching bracelets. My total cost for them all was $21.
     
    stracci, Born2it, mirana and 2 others like this.
  10. ola402

    ola402 Well-Known Member

    You're a good brother!
     
    Born2it and komokwa like this.
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