Featured Screw back earrings, please help identify blue stone

Discussion in 'Jewelry' started by Simona Buhus, Jul 14, 2023.

  1. Simona Buhus

    Simona Buhus Well-Known Member

    Hi,
    The below earrings are 9 cart gold with screw backs, but I can’t identify the stone. It looks like mother of pearl, but blue, the shine moves with light. Can it be foiled glass? I have purchased them because of the screw backs, the stone has to be special, I think.
    Also, I want to give them a good wash, will I damage them?
    Thank you.
    @Ownedbybear @KSW @Bronwen @PepperAnna
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  2. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    Screw-threaded backs anyway. Screwbacks are generally non-pierced earrings. Apatite comes in that color but it's soft. The only thing I know that would match the color is glass-topped "glacier pearl", aka paua shell.
     
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  3. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    I’d think glass and I’d be very wary of washing in case they’re foil backed.
     
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  4. Simona Buhus

    Simona Buhus Well-Known Member

    Yes, they look like foil glass, the seller sold them as sapphire (tested)… Why would they have a screwbacks? Is foil glass expensive?
    Thank you.
     
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  5. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Paua abalone can look like this. I can see other possibilities that better photos might confirm or negate. Sapphire is not among them.
     
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  6. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    Foiled glass is essentially a rhinestone. The screw threads are a leftover from the old days . A few good earrings are still made this way, but in the old days even a few costume earrings had them. The screw threads were for using with a threaded earring back; they're quite secure. Also a pain to take off if your fingers don't work well.
     
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  7. Simona Buhus

    Simona Buhus Well-Known Member

    Thank you. I will take some better photos tomorrow, today was a rainy day in London.
    They do look like blue glass, at the back has something that makes this effect of cats eye, they shine with light, the reflection of light on them moves the sparkle.
    This is the best I can describe them.
    I am going to read a bit about foiled glass jewellery, it’s something I wanted to do for some time.
    Will post the new photos tomorrow.
    Kind regards,
    Simona
     
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  8. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    a seller not to be trusted......:mad:
     
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  9. KSW

    KSW Well-Known Member

    Could they be Morpho butterfly wing under glass? Can you get some close up photos?
    If you are using an iPhone the Camera +2 App has an excellent Macro setting.
     
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  10. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    Morpho is a thought.
     
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  11. Simona Buhus

    Simona Buhus Well-Known Member

    They are unusual, I have never seen polished cabochon of….. Paua shell, well spotted @evelyb30 ”glass-topped "glacier pearl", aka paua shell.” It was confusing because of the glass top, as I have never seen Paua shell so smooth.
    Looked at it with a magnifying glass, it has shades of green and blue, and something that looks like moss.
    How did I reached to this conclusion?
    I cleaned the back of one of them, please have a look, it’s fascinating.
    Any educational links on “glacier pearl”, please share.
    Thank you all so much.
    Xx @Bronwen
    @KSW
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  12. Simona Buhus

    Simona Buhus Well-Known Member

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  13. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Definitely paua. Very pretty.:happy:
    Paua shell is mother of pearl, it can be polished just as much as white MOP.
    That's what they looked like to me too, which only goes to show how important photos of the backs are. (And full size photos.;))
     
  14. ola402

    ola402 Well-Known Member

    Is Paua Shell the same as Abalone? From the back that's what it looks like to me.
     
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  15. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Paua is a specific black abalone from New Zealand. Paua is a New Zealand Maori name.
    The paua themselves are black sea snails, and their MOP is the darkest and most colourful MOP of all.
     
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  16. stracci

    stracci Well-Known Member

    These are so beautiful ❤️
    I agree, paua shell.
    Those would be in my ears ASAP!

    I will add that pushing those earring backs over the threaded posts will eventually ruin the threads.
    Assuming you will keep and wear them, I suggest replacing with plastic backs to avoid this. If you found threaded backs somewhere, chances are that they wouldn't fit the threads on the earrings.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2023
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  17. NanaB

    NanaB Well-Known Member

    Stunning is really what they are!
     
  18. reader

    reader Well-Known Member

    TY as soon as I saw that back closeup I was thinking abalone.
     
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  19. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    abalone does indeed come in dark colors as well..
     
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  20. IvaPan

    IvaPan Well-Known Member

    Very pretty! And secure to wear. I have 14 k gold with transparent white glass studs the are pierced screw-threaded backs like these ones, and I am very happy with them. The only trouble is that if you sleep with them, the backs are quite long and can press the flesh behind the ear, and you have to move them away - not take out but just move at a different angle against the skin. And go to sleep again.
     
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