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Advice on this modernist pearl ring, please!

brocanteur

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
43
My wife recently purchased this vintage (ca. 1970s) H. SENA pearl and diamond ring.
We love the modernist / brutalist feel and think the pearls are of a rather good quality.
Is there any way, just judging by eye, if we can determine what type of pearls they might be? They have a lovely lustre.
Also, there is quite a bit of grime in the gold parts of the setting. Ive been googling the best way to clean jewellery with pearls, but there are so many divisive opinions.
What do you suggest is the best way to shift the grime in the gold and diamonds, without damaging the pearls?
A while back we purchased a ring with damaged pearls which we intended to replace. The setting was stunning but FILTHY, so we threw it in the ultrasonic cleaner (knowing well the pearls were being removed later anyway). Lo and behold, the ring came out spotless, and the pearls SHONE like a beacon, without so much as a fleck of dirt! We were gobsmacked! We recognise that ultrasonic cleaners are not recommended for pearls, but jeez they came out looking a million bucks!

Any insights / thoughts / advice?
 

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pearlsngems

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
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2,789
White and dyed black akoya pearls most likely.

To clean them I would use a very mild soap solution of distilled water (to avoid hard water minerals and chlorine) and a very mild soap. I like Bronner's unscented liquid soap and keep a bottle on hand just for cleaning pearls. Or you can swish around a mild bar soap in water.

Note: Bronner's is an actual soap, not a detergent like other liquid so-called "soaps" are, and just like bar soaps it will interact with minerals found in hard water to form a hard-to-remove sticky scum-- hence the advice to use distilled water. (My home has a well with hard water, which is how I found out.)

Use a very soft small brush to clean the stones. An eyebrow brush for example, or the tiny flat brush that comes in jars of commercial jewelry cleaners. The idea is to brush the gems and not the pearls. Wie pearls with a soft microfiber cloth to remove grime. Rinse in more distilled water.
 

brocanteur

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
43
Oops, not sure why that emoji appeared above.
H Sena tend to use South Sea and Tahitian, as evidenced by their website, however given this is an older piece, its not entirely unlikely that Akoya weren't used back then.
 

Daisys and Diamonds

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 30, 2019
Messages
22,521
My wife recently purchased this vintage (ca. 1970s) H. SENA pearl and diamond ring.
We love the modernist / brutalist feel and think the pearls are of a rather good quality.
Is there any way, just judging by eye, if we can determine what type of pearls they might be? They have a lovely lustre.
Also, there is quite a bit of grime in the gold parts of the setting. Ive been googling the best way to clean jewellery with pearls, but there are so many divisive opinions.
What do you suggest is the best way to shift the grime in the gold and diamonds, without damaging the pearls?
A while back we purchased a ring with damaged pearls which we intended to replace. The setting was stunning but FILTHY, so we threw it in the ultrasonic cleaner (knowing well the pearls were being removed later anyway). Lo and behold, the ring came out spotless, and the pearls SHONE like a beacon, without so much as a fleck of dirt! We were gobsmacked! We recognise that ultrasonic cleaners are not recommended for pearls, but jeez they came out looking a million bucks!

Any insights / thoughts / advice?

Is this the ring that you cleaned up in the ultrasonic (because its fabulous) or the ring you just got ?
 

brocanteur

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
43
Is this the ring that you cleaned up in the ultrasonic (because its fabulous) or the ring you just got ?

The one pictured above is the ring just purchased.

Below is a before / after snap of the ultrasonic ring.
The setting was filthy, and nacre on the pearls worn with nucleus exposed. 20200211_184536.jpg 20200211_191035.jpg
 

lambskin

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 22, 2012
Messages
3,053
Couldn't you just soak the ring in warm water for 24 hours, This should not hurt the pearls. It then would loosen./soften the dirt which can be gently removed with a toothbrush-getting around the nooks and crannies. I am no expert, but if an ultrasonic cleaner is used with caution-no detergent, no other jewelry,and with a cotton pad on the bottom of the cleaner to rest the ring upon-it should not hurt or scratch the nacre. Am I wrong? Also if H Sena is still in business can't you notify them and ask about the ring? If all else fails, just Google H Sena black and white pearl jewelry and you may be able to access old auction sites selling other similar pieces. Super cool ring. I would gladly wear it.
 

cmd2014

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
2,541
These wouldn't be white south sea or Tahitian pearls. The size and colour are not right. My guess would be that they are either low quality akoya pearls (the black ones are dyed), as the luster is quite soft for akoya pearls and the higher quality ones do not typically get dyed, or they are Chinese freshwater pearls.
 

brocanteur

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
43
Couldn't you just soak the ring in warm water for 24 hours, This should not hurt the pearls. It then would loosen./soften the dirt which can be gently removed with a toothbrush-getting around the nooks and crannies. I am no expert, but if an ultrasonic cleaner is used with caution-no detergent, no other jewelry,and with a cotton pad on the bottom of the cleaner to rest the ring upon-it should not hurt or scratch the nacre. Am I wrong? Also if H Sena is still in business can't you notify them and ask about the ring? If all else fails, just Google H Sena black and white pearl jewelry and you may be able to access old auction sites selling other similar pieces. Super cool ring. I would gladly wear it.

Ive already reached our to SENA and theyve confirmed age, and are now trawling their archival information for materials used. Im astonished they have records going back to the 60s/70s.

Im struggling to find other examples of vintage Sena jewellery that contains pearls, with the exception of this one which is a gorgeous south sea pearl.
 

brocanteur

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
43
These wouldn't be white south sea or Tahitian pearls. The size and colour are not right. My guess would be that they are either low quality akoya pearls (the black ones are dyed), as the luster is quite soft for akoya pearls and the higher quality ones do not typically get dyed, or they are Chinese freshwater pearls.

I appreciate your insights. Have you visited the Sena website, or visited the 1stdibs link I posted in the comment directly above? I would be surprised if the pearls used in this ring arent of reasonable quality.
I'll check in again when I hear back from them directly.
 

Niffler75

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 3, 2020
Messages
1,112
@brocanteur Following with interest. I have nothing to add about pearls but absolutely love modernist/ Brutalist design. =)2
 

cmd2014

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
2,541
I appreciate your insights. Have you visited the Sena website, or visited the 1stdibs link I posted in the comment directly above? I would be surprised if the pearls used in this ring arent of reasonable quality.
I'll check in again when I hear back from them directly.

The price of this type of jewelry typically reflects the gold, workmanship, and brand name recognition, rather than the quality of the pearls. I am not saying they are terrible - just that they are most likely commercial quality rather than the top grades that would be reserved for other applications.

Akoya pearls come in a huge range of quality - from commercial quality which is typical retail quality (which is what is usually used for dyed pearls - which are then matched to non-dyed pearls if they are going to be used together in a single piece so that the luster and surface quality match) all the way up to what Mikimoto assesses as their AAA pearls representing the top 0.1% of the harvest in any given year in terms of nacre thickness, luster, and surface quality. If you ever go to a Mikimoto store and look you will see how they are flawless with no surface blemishing and they have incredibly thick nacre and mirror finish luster. Between the luster and nacre thickness they look quite different than commercial quality akoya pearls do.

There is no universal pearl classification system like there is for diamonds - but the top, top, quality pearls would never be dyed (no matter from what era they come from). It would be like taking a top quality untreated sapphire and then heat treating it or irradiating a top quality diamond to make it chocolate coloured or teal blue - it's just not cost effective to do as the retail price would not compare to what the untreated version would sell for.

Top quality pearls would also not match the white pearls in your ring. The white pearls in your ring have some visible surface blemishes which would not be consistent with what would normally considered top quality pearls (but would be fairly standard in commercial quality ones) and the luster isn't quite the same as what you would see in a AAA grade Mikimoto.

I am not saying that they are not reasonable quality pearls that would be typical in use for most jewelry applications - but they would also not be considered the top quality range by most pearl specific vendors (so if you look at Mikimoto AAA or Hanadama grade or American Pearl's AAA or Collection Quality akoya pearls as examples).

I did not mean to offend. It's a very interesting ring.
 

brocanteur

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
43
Thank you @cmd2014 fascinating insights.
There is no offence taken at all.
Whilst pearls are not our fauté, my wife and I have worked with jewellery for many years, and tend to trust our intuition sometimes when hard facts are absent.
Overnight I received this response from H Sena. So far - at least for now - it would appear we may both be correct.
20200225_073602.jpg
 

brocanteur

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
43
Oh, in addition, Ive noted some of the irregularities in the surface of the white pearls are dirt on the surface, not impressions. I will need to see how it looks once Ive given a clean. Ive been reluctant only given I wanted to learn the best way how.
 
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