Akoya or South Sea?

[elle_chris]

Happy Mothers day to all!

Was looking through Ruby Lane the other day and saw this strand being advertised as South Sea. Considering I had a very similar "Blue" Akoya strand and I've never seen South Sea pearls in this color, I thought I'd post it here and ask: is it possible that this could be an SS strand?

The seller has a different (not pearl) necklace I'm interested in, but if they're misrepresenting their pearls, I won't buy anything from them.

 

[pearlsngems]

They look like akoyas to me.
That being said, some SSP can be bluish. My husband and I own 2 bluish SSP pendants that are soufflé (hollow inside)

 

[Pearlescence]

Blue south sea pearls certainly exist. I have a necklace of them (perks!) They are rare. Even so, these look much more like akoya pearls.

 

[yssie]

“White” south seas can range from shockingly pink to shockingly green to shockingly blue! But these, surfaces and shapes look akoya-ey and they’re akoya sized by that ruler, I’d be shocked if they’re actually SS.

Looks like the seller didn’t list a pearl size range? Which is basic info I would certainly expect to see. Seems like the vendor may not know what they’ve got.

 

[dk168]

I too believe they are blue, probably natural blue rather than dyed, Akoyas to me.

Blueish South Sea pearls do exist though, and I purchased a blue souffle pearl from Kevin of PoJ fame back in 2016, still unset.

DK

 

[elle_chris]

Thanks all. Had no idea that SS can be Blue, good to know.

“White” south seas can range from shockingly pink to shockingly green to shockingly blue! But these, surfaces and shapes look akoya-ey and they’re akoya sized by that ruler, I’d be shocked if they’re actually SS.

Looks like the seller didn’t list a pearl size range? Which is basic info I would certainly expect to see. Seems like the vendor may not know what they’ve got.

They did list the size as 8mm-8.3mm but it's no longer there.
In fact, the listing now says "This item is in the Shop Backroom and cannot be purchased at this time".

When I posted this thread, I think the strand was something like 2K. Wonder why they took down the listing? Weird.

 

[katbran]

Possibly someone questioned the type of pearl. They definitely look like Akoya . I've had sellers refer to Akoya as 'Sea Pearls' ( something to watch for ) but to call these Blue South Sea .... well.... it's quite possible they , like many jewellers, don't know much about pearls. I've seen strands of White Flameballs being sold as South Sea ... fortunately at a Freshwater price.