Featured Pearly pearls?

Hi,
I found this in a bag of "stuff for $5" . It was a big bag but did not seem to contain much in the way of GOOD stuff. But then I noticed this little gem. Please tell me what you think about it. Thanks.

 

a pearly earring....nice

 

"The girl with the pearl earring" nice? I mean, do you know if they are real and/or special? I ask because, I don't.

 

Colors very 1950s.

Debora

 

Does it have a stamp on the metal? Are there scratches on the pearly pearls?

Leslie

 

The stamp says FRANCE, and there are no scratches on the pearls. Just kind of neat colors and with an interesting back/clip.

 

Run your tooth over one. If it is real it will feel like sand paper.
(If worried about germs - wash it first)

 

That is called an omega clip, after the shape.
You could put a bail on it and wear it as a pendant. You can pass a ring through one of the floral loops at the back.

The way to tell if the pearls are real is for you to do the tooth test cluttered mentioned. We can't do that for you.

 

If DOES feel like sandpaper! That is odd since the surface is so smooth. I finally had a real pearl to do the test with!

I wasn't worried about germs because it has been a long time since anyone touched it but me...and a REALLY long time since it traveled to or from France!

 

Yep, it's an Omega Clip alright. The flip-up ring on the back could also be clasping a pearl strand for enhancement. Or it fit into a collar notch without piercing the fabric like a brooch. Or slip scarf ends through it. When basic pearl necklaces became too boring in the 1950s (into the '60s too), this little gem was a welcome touch of fashion.

As for "real" pearls, I wouldn't bet the farm on it. More like dyed m-o-p with a bit of fine silica in the color mix which produces the same results as a tooth test, i.e. gritty. Oh, and one needs natural teeth [the ones that came with body originally] to test pearls for grittiness. Dentures won't do.

Lovely little gem, and probably fairly rare. Maybe brought home by a tourist on a Paris vacation c:a 1955? There were many that year and into the 1960's, tourists that is. I lived there then so saw them.

 

Thank you.
I still have my real teeth

 

Design, arrangement with pins through big pearls, and colors looks like a brooch my mother once had years ago (1960's), but it was costume jewelry.

 

Interesting, @lizjewel -- I learned something from your comments.