Pearls, diamonds - necklace

[Cynthadia]

More bling from my partner's deceased mother's estate.

Gemologist's comments:

1. Pearls - double strand
2. Probably cultured pearls
3. Expensive clasp (his comment)
4. Pearls are a bit out of round, but typical for size
5. Measurement of pearls: 9mm, and 9.25 to 9mm
6. Measurement of necklace: 60 inches (2 strands of 30 inches each)

I sort of like this one! What do you think?

 

[that_someone_special]

So.. are they akoya? freshwater? I think they might kind of big for akoya.. but not impossible.

The "out of round" thing I've never heard about pearls before. I don't think pearls out of round themselves?

 

[that_someone_special]

It's very nice.. I would almost recommend restringing this soon because of the frayed thread in some of the knots.... Is the clasp gold?

 

[Cynthadia]

So.. are they akoya? freshwater? I think they might kind of big for akoya.. but not impossible.

The "out of round" thing I've never heard about pearls before. I don't think pearls out of round themselves?

I'm pleased to show my ignorance once again.

I thought that cultured pearls meant that they weren't freshwater. How would I know if they're akoya? And I'm assuming that freshwater pearls mean that they're natural. Am I wrong about this?

"Slightly out of round" - well all I can say is that's what he told me.

 

[Cynthadia]

It's very nice.. I would almost recommend restringing this soon because of the frayed thread in some of the knots.... Is the clasp gold?

Yes, the clasp is either gold or platinum - set with diamonds and pearls.

Now that I think about it, the gemologist said that he thought the pearls were meant to be worn with the clasp in front. He said this based on two things. First, the clasp is big, ornate, and very expensive. It wouldn't make sense to put this kind of clasp on a pearl necklace only for the clasp to be hidden on the back of the neck. Second, he said that the pearls are graduated in size so as to focus on the clasp. Now, I don't remember if the pearls start out large from the clasp or small from the clasp. I'll find out.

 

[that_someone_special]

So.. are they akoya? freshwater? I think they might kind of big for akoya.. but not impossible.

The "out of round" thing I've never heard about pearls before. I don't think pearls out of round themselves?

I'm pleased to show my ignorance once again.

I thought that cultured pearls meant that they weren't freshwater. How would I know if they're akoya? And I'm assuming that freshwater pearls mean that they're natural. Am I wrong about this?

"Slightly out of round" - well all I can say is that's what he told me.

Hi Cynthadia!

No worries... I had no idea before I started buying pearls either! I think most pearls are cultured- "true natural" pearls are very very very expensive- and to have a 60" strand would be crazy! Akoya, freshwaters, south seas... all cultured (and that's ok! )

I am curious because I looked at a few of your other threads and it looks like your partners mom was a true lover of fine jewelry! You might be able to google "pearl forum" for another place to show/ ask more about the pearls. They are very helpful over there (we can't post forum names- when I googled it, it was about the 3 selection down with a - dash in the name if that helps.)

Now, the difference between akoya and freshwaters- if they are low end/ it's easier to tell, but these have me stumped (I'm still a novice!) The difference usually is that akoya have a mirror like shine, are usually a little smaller. BUT, since these pearls are older, and probably worn a lot, I think they could've dulled a little in time or need to be cleaned? I am not sure.

 

[that_someone_special]

I would wear it with the clasp in front too! I don't have any cool ones like that, so I'm jealous

 

[Cynthadia]

Hi Cynthadia!

No worries... I had no idea before I started buying pearls either! I think most pearls are cultured- "true natural" pearls are very very very expensive- and to have a 60" strand would be crazy! Akoya, freshwaters, south seas... all cultured (and that's ok! )

I am curious because I looked at a few of your other threads and it looks like your partners mom was a true lover of fine jewelry! You might be able to google "pearl forum" for another place to show/ ask more about the pearls. They are very helpful over there (we can't post forum names- when I googled it, it was about the 3 selection down with a - dash in the name if that helps.)

Now, the difference between akoya and freshwaters- if they are low end/ it's easier to tell, but these have me stumped (I'm still a novice!) The difference usually is that akoya have a mirror like shine, are usually a little smaller. BUT, since these pearls are older, and probably worn a lot, I think they could've dulled a little in time or need to be cleaned? I am not sure.[/quote]

These rings are part of the collection.

The first ring (platinum), I thought was a natural pearl. What the gemologist told me was that I should have it x-rayed to make sure, and that's what I'm going to do.

The second ring (gold), I thought was a freshwater pearl.

If I'm understanding you correctly, a freshwater pearl can be cultured or natural. is that right?

And THANK YOU so much for seeing the forest, so to speak. Yes, my partner's mother was a collector of very find jewelry...and some real junk thrown in the mix just to mess with my head. My jewelry owning experience is very limited. I have two necklaces: one that has three diamonds (present from boyfriend), and the other is a pave diamond necklace that my mother had re-made from her engagement ring some 30 years ago. I treasure both necklaces, but they're not anything compared to this collection.

My partner's mother apparently had a penchant for old diamonds - from rose cut to Old European cut. She must have liked the newer stuff as well because there are pieces with round brillant stones.

Victorian necklaces, old enamel lockets, 2 ct Columbian emerald, jadeite, Art Deco, pearls, big old diamonds, ivory, silver - I'm just overwhelmed. There wasn't one receipt or documentation on anything. I've had to start from ground zeo researching the 60 or so pieces.

There is one thing I can be thankful for. My partner has 4 siblings. What he inherited represented only 25% of the collection. I would have shot myself in the foot had I been responsible for researching 4 times the amount of jewelry that I'm already tring to figure out.

 

[that_someone_special]

I have heard of people bringing pearls to the dentist for a quick and cheap xray ... I think those are only 150$ or so? If I had those rings I would definitely get them x-rayed!


Yes FW can be either cultured or natural, but mostly everything is cultured now. I would love to show you some links, but they are all on the other pearl forum... guide... There is a TON of information over there- weeks worth.

Did you get to pick out the pieces you wanted? I bet that would be difficult to split a loot like that with that many people!

 

[Cynthadia]

I have heard of people bringing pearls to the dentist for a quick and cheap xray ... I think those are only 150$ or so? If I had those rings I would definitely get them x-rayed!


Yes FW can be either cultured or natural, but mostly everything is cultured now. I would love to show you some links, but they are all on the other pearl forum... guide... There is a TON of information over there- weeks worth.

Did you get to pick out the pieces you wanted? I bet that would be difficult to split a loot like that with that many people!

My gemologist told me about the dentist thing. What he also told me was that it takes some sort of special skill to accurately x-ray a pearl and that dentists don't have that skill set. This whole x-ray thing is going to cost a fortune, but I guess there's really no alterantive.

I met my boyfriend a year after his mother died. His father died the year preceding his mother's death. So, when the sibs divided the jewelry, I hadn't even met my boyfriend. Had I known my boyfriend at the time the jewelry was divided, i still would not have been present for the division of the collection. It's his stuff, not mine. I only volunteered to research the jewelry because I thought i could find out all I needed to know with just a few hours of my time.

The old saying "No good deed goes unpunished" applies here. I don't want any of it, mostly because I'm uncomfortable wearing something that others covet and might mug me for.

 

[Cynthadia]

I have heard of people bringing pearls to the dentist for a quick and cheap xray ... I think those are only 150$ or so? If I had those rings I would definitely get them x-rayed!



p.s. I sent a post re the clasp and the secret to opening it. I don't see that it came through. In the event it didn't come through, I'll try again.

Look closely at the clasp. Can you see which pearl is slighly higher than the others?

I spent 10 minutes trying to figure it out, but finally handed it over to the gemologist. It took him about 5 minutes to figure it out.

 

[that_someone_special]

I know what you mean! I don't have as many nice items as your bf, but my husband and dad worry about me getting mugged. It's a sad world when you need to worry about that

Just think of how much you will know about jewelry after all of this My favorite items are the OEC's.. yum. They have such a gorgeous brilliance to them. Even if they are not yours, it's still nice to be in the presence of such old and delicate pieces!

 

[that_someone_special]

LOL yes, how does it open? I see a pearl on the right side that kind of over laps?

 

[Cynthadia]

LOL yes, how does it open? I see a pearl on the right side that kind of over laps?

Drat, I guess I didn't close it all the way the last time I handled the necklace.

If closed all the way, it's almost impossible to tell where the lever/toggle mechanism is. Starting at the bottom, the first pearl to the right is the switch.

We're not talking brain surgery here, but I felt like a complete stupey when I couldn't figure out how to open the clasp. In my defense, all of the pearls on the outside of the clasp are identically set.

Yeah, trick jewelry, that's all I need.

 

[iLander]

Beautiful!

I adore that clasp! And the rings! So pretty!

We need neck shots! neck shots! neck shots!

LOL. Really a stunning collection.

 

[Lovinggems]

Beautiful collection, the necklace looks like Akoya pearls.

There's another website with lots of pearl enthusiasts, search for pearl guide, might give you a better idea on how to research your pearls.

 

[Black Jade]

YOu say its an estate necklace--when is she likely to have bought it?
EVen as recently as 1982 when I bought my first pearl necklace in Japan, they did not normally call cultured Akoya pearls "Akoya' because there was nothing else. (So no need to distinguish. There were different qualities of Akoyas but 'cultured pearl' always meant AKoya). Genuine pearls (not cultured) were something only very wealthy people had as family pieces and had generally been bought before 1920. Cultured freshwaters were an inferior product. They did not come in round or almost round shapes (they were usually what is called 'rice' pearls) had almost no luster and were not something one considered buying as a piece of fine jewelry. I may have the dates slightly wrong but I believe that the wonderful quality freshwater cultured pearls that come now from china have only been available since the late 1990's at earliest, so an estate pearl piece is unlikely to be freshwater, if it is older than that.

Yours obviously are not, but Tahitians had not been marketed well yet, were considered oddities and were not very expensive. South Sea pearls existed but were not so popular as the fine Akoyas, because they had the size but the orient and lustre are not comparable ==at least, they were not considered so then. Now it is just thought of as a different look and the size is a great selling point, but then an 8mm string of pearls was considered to definitely large and people wanted the orient more than the giant size. The 'golden' South Seas were not in the running, at least here in the US because yellow or yellowish pearls were not considered as desirable, either. Expensive cultured pearls had to be white with rose overtones. I know this personally because what I have are golden Akoyas and I was only able to get them because I bought in Japan, where they told me they did not export them because foreigners did not want them much--and that they didn't go with foreign skintones. I bought them because they went with MY skintone, which is a dark olive/tan--and indeed when I went back to the US with them, I was often asked why I had bought such a qualithy string of beautiful pearls in that very much less desirable color.

Sorry for the long post, and you should definitely look up and question more, but my point is, that it would be surprising if your pearls (if cultured) are not Akoyas, if bought before, let's say 1995 and I think it is impossible that they are freshwaters if they are bought before that date.

 

[Cynthadia]

Like every other piece in this collection, I don't know when these pearls were purchased. This is just a guess, but I'm thinking the pearls were purchased in the 70s or 80s, maybe even a bit earlier.

My partner took the pearls to an appraisal fair this past weekend. The fair was conducted as a fund raising event for a community center. Each participant was allowed to bring a maximum of 5 items and was charged $5.00 for each piece appraised. The appraisals were verbal only.

Taking the above into consideration, the fine jewelry appraiser had the following to say about the pearl necklace.

1. The pearls were very fine.
2. Very high luster.
3. The jeweler who made the piece must have had a tremendous inventory because the pearls are very closely matched in size, color, luster and shape.
4. He appraised the pearls as follows: $100 for each pearl (60 pearls) plus $500 for the diamond and pearl clasp) for a total of $6,500.

Who knows how accurate the appraiser's evaluation was. I question his observations because he identified the dark green and pink stones as tourmaline (pictured in the attached picture), when in fact the dark green stones are demantoids and the pink stones are sapphires.

We will be taking the pearl necklace and about a dozen other pieces to Chicago this July to have the higher end pieces formally appraised.

 

[portoar]

What beautiful pearls! Those are definitely something you'd want to keep in a safe deposit box and bring out for a night at the opera, a wedding, or some other "occasion." Also, just love the brooch with the demantoid garnet. I think you should take them somewhere more reputable for a further appraisal.

 

[PearlsOfJoy]

absolutely beautiful clasp, you''ll know if the clasp is meant to be worn in the front if the pearls are larger towards to the clasp as opposed to smaller. With a normal necklace the larger pearls will be in the center, graduating to smaller near the clasp.

2 things I want to mention though:

I have heard of people bringing pearls to the dentist for a quick and cheap xray ... I think those are only 150$ or so? If I had those rings I would definitely get them x-rayed!

Don't waste your time with this, the dentist x-ray is not the same type of x-ray that the GIA would use to verify the pearl. Besides that fact it is very unlikely, if not impossible that she would have a round, matched 9mm+ natural pearl necklace - unless of course she is royalty.

What beautiful pearls! Those are definitely something you'd want to keep in a safe deposit box

They are beautiful, but never store pearls in a safety deposit box they tend to dry pearls out, which can lead to yellowing.

 

[that_someone_special]

Good to know about the xray... I swear I read about that on... THE OTHER PEARL FORUM I won't recommend it anymore.

As far as this poster, I believe there was a TON of items that the partner inherited.. like huge ticket items. But I believe they were going to sell all of them.