posted on March 31, 2004 09:47:25 AM new
Is there a sure-fire, "do-it-at-home" test to determine if pearls are cultured or "faux"? I've gotten a question from a bidder about a pair I've got on auction and neither I nor the lady I'm selling them for knows. Any help is appreciated...Thanks!
posted on March 31, 2004 09:53:35 AM new
There isn't a inexpensive, non-destructive method that is foolproof. You can have them x-rayed, but that costs money. You can try to scratch the coating off a pearl, but that is destructive.
Now you're going to get half a dozen people telling you to rub them over your teeth. This won't help. Some of the fakes feel just as gritty as the real cultured pearls.
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Peasant 2: Who's that there?
Peasant 1: I don't know... Must be a king.
Peasant 2: Why?
Peasant 1: He hasn't got sh*t all over him.
posted on March 31, 2004 09:57:50 AM new
Just one more thing.
Some of the pearl buyers are on a crusade. I had the misfortune to run into one. I had a string of pearls that were sold to me by a close friend, who said they came from her family and they were real cultured pearls. So I listed them that way and they sold.
The buyer contended they were faux. I refunded her money quickly. She sent them back but what she had done was damage a couple of the pearls deliberately so that the string could never be worn or sold again even as faux.
I get madder than a wet hen every time I think about that.
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Peasant 2: Who's that there?
Peasant 1: I don't know... Must be a king.
Peasant 2: Why?
Peasant 1: He hasn't got sh*t all over him.
posted on March 31, 2004 10:10:10 AM new
The rubbing on the teeth has worked well for me in the past. I've done it with pearls I have which I KNOW are real and some I KNEW were fake.
There may be other methods. If I got that question from a buyer, I'd do the tooth test and then report how it felt to the buyer and let her decide further.
Short of taking them to a jeweler, I don't know another test you could give them, but someone here might. Good luck!
P.S. I think there must be three kinds of pearls--natural ones found in oysters; cultured ones (which are true pearls, too), the seeds of which were planted in the oysters; and the fake ones. I believe the naturally found ones are more valuable, but I could be wrong.
___________________________________
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posted on March 31, 2004 11:11:59 AM new
Well, Adele, until you've had a chance to snack on all the types of faux pearls that have been manufactured over nearly 100 years, I'll still contend the rub-on-teeth method is woefully inadequate.
Happy munching.
There ARE a few general rules-of-thumb one can use.
The clasp: If it is marked 14k or similar, that's a good sign. Precious metal clasps usually go on real pearls. (There is, of course, nothing stopping anyone from putting one on a string of fakes.)
The stringing: Real pearls tend to be knotted so that if the string breaks, you don't have to crabwalk all over the floor to recover them. Again, not a definitive sign as many faux strings are knotted as well.
The shape: Real pearls, while matched, tend to have tiny individual shape variations. A string of perfectly round pearls is probably faux. Again not definitive as the fakes have gotten better at imitating natural variations over the last couple of decades.
[The King gestures to the window.]
King of Swamp Castle: One day, lad, all this will be yours.
Prince Herbert: What, the curtains?
King of Swamp Castle: No, not the curtains, lad, all that you can see stretched out into the far reaches of this land! That'll be your kingdom, lad.
posted on March 31, 2004 11:19:50 AM new
There are natural ( aka "wild" ) pearls, which tend to be very pricy as they were harvested one at a time in the wild.
There are cultured pearls, which were inexpensive when I was a sprat, but can go for quite nice prices now.
There are freshwater pearls, which come from mussels instead of oysters. Low value.
And there are faux pearls.
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Minstrel: [singing] Brave Sir Robin ran away, bravely ran away away. When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled. Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about, and valiantly, he chickened out. Bravely taking to his feet, he beat a very brave retreat. A brave retreat by brave Sir Robin.
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Mar 31, 2004 11:20 AM ]
Lol, Fluffy. I still get mad over this and it was a cheap set. Last year a woman and her daughter came into my shop and while I helped the elderly lady with a necklace I didn't notice her 50ish daughter chewed up a five row pearl and rhinestone choker and then before I could stop her she chewed one of the earrings.
When I passed her the set I did quote the price of $25 to her because she'd asked. Then afterwards she looked at me and said "These aren't real, I just did the tooth test". $25............ Well, DUH!
posted on March 31, 2004 07:58:18 PM new
empress dowager of qing dynasty will take pearl ground into powder to preserve her looks.
if you do the same and find it does not make you look any younger,you know you have bot faux pearls.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
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posted on April 1, 2004 01:05:46 AM new
fluffy, thank you for your input in this thread. i have always been confused about the pearl issue and always call any i have "just white beads" LOL! this thread has been very informative for me.
fluffy and kiara, those "chew em up" people just make me want to get out my pellet gun! right in the kister!
posted on April 1, 2004 08:59:38 AM new
Fluffy
I don't blame you for being upset. Whenever I discuss refunds - I always say that I will be happy to give a full refund once I have received the item in "as shipped condition".
With that stated you're likely to never hear from them again if they have damaged the item.
In addition to what Fluffy suggested, which is all correct, you can look at the hole with a good loup. If you see any layered look they are most likely real. It's hard to describe but if you look at known real pearls and good faux pearls you will see what I am saying.
