Pearls

I've always struggled with pearls to know what's real and what's glass, now I know what the teeth test is meant to feel like.
I picked up these two pearl necklaces and tested them on my teeth, the white ones maybe a little rough but not much, the brown ones to my surprise very gritty. I didn't realise how obvious the difference would be as I was looking for subtle grittiness not like sandpaper!.
The brown ones are real, they need a wash but under a loupe they have a beautiful iridescence. Is there a way to determine if they are dyed or naturally that colour?. Presumably most cheaper pearls are freshwater but are there any other indications of quality or where they came from? Sellers on eBay etc seem very confident as to what they have but is that just salesmanship rather than fact?
I'm not selling, this is just for interest. I'm likely to change the clasp for a prettier one and restring.

The white ones are good quality glass I think and have a really lovely well made clasp which is stamped 'RM' 925 B1 on all its bits. Does that ring any bells with anyone as to the maker or is that likely to be the maker of the silver findings and nothing to do with the necklace?

 

I know nothing about them, but they look lovely together.

Your pictures are wonderful.

To the joolies.....are the "brown" ones considered to be "black" pearls?

Just asking, cause I really don't know....unfortunately.

 

Very pretty.

 

In some cases they may know what they have. In other cases, wishful thinking backed up with a confident attitude.

 

Grittiness is variable & more pronounced on some pearls than others. Don't write off the white ones just yet. To be sure, I just nibbled at pearls on a strand that is visually very convincing but that I know to be artificial. There's no grittiness at all. Fingertips can't tell the difference, but to the teeth they're, well, glassy. I recommend that you tooth test any pearls you have & any others that give you the opportunity to do so without objection from others.

The brown ones will definitely have been dyed & would not be considered black pearls.

 

I have a set of pearls with the same closure clasp shown here that was either my mom's or my grandmothers. I don't wear as I am afraid I will lose it.

 

Thank you for that answer Bronwen....now I know.

 

Which clasp do you mean? I'm not sure how the one on the white strand works because in pix the 2 ends look like they're for 2 different types. Another mark of genuine high quality cultured pearls (most of us are never going to see a necklace's worth of spherical natural salt water pearls) is that they will have a double fastening, sometimes a safety chain, more often a classical fish hook style pearl clasp, the kind where you first have to hook the male end onto a little bar at the mouth of the female end & then push it in so it snaps in place. If it pulls open, the hook still catches it.

If the cord is sound, check especially where it attaches to the clasp, & the clasp closes firmly or is the type described above, you should be able to wear your inherited strand without issue. I do not hesitate to wear a princess length strand of graduated artificial pearls that belonged to my grandmother. Good pearls, even good artificial ones, are knotted, limiting how much loss there can be if the strand breaks.

 

The way I encourage people interested in cameos to engage in eye training, looking at cameos in both artificial & natural materials, to learn to tell the visual difference, I also encourage trying all kinds of materials against the teeth to train that sense.

 

The tooth test on pearls I learned years ago.........but beyond that............

 

These are not freshwater pearls.
Faux pearls are glassy, no grit.
Like Bronwen said don't discount the white ones. Try a few more not just one.

 

Agh, just when I thought I knew what I was looking for!

Here are more pics. It is as you describe. You push the lever to release the pin and the pin comes out but hooks around the little bar. Then you unhook it.
I’ll load some photos in a moment.

 

Which ones?
Or do you mean the brown are cultured?

 

Neither
Fresh water pearls are irregular.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=fresh+water+pearls&FORM=HDRSC2

Not a pearl expert. Willing to be corrected.

 

The brown/grey ones appear to be cerclé, having those grooves/bands around them? I don't recall ever seeing that until I got into beading myself & was buying pearls to work with. They are genuinely pearls, cultured freshwater, but no memory of them in pearl necklaces of my youth, so, despite vintage looking clasp, think that strand is newer.

I think you & your teeth are right about the white pearls being glass, although hard to explain why. Something about the lustre & the type of findings used. Also appear not to be knotted? Good pearls, unless they have suffered a mishap, are always knotted.

 

One pearl showing a dimple and one irregular size one. All a slightly different shade too.

 

Correct- no knotting. I also think they are just too perfect to be real. They are lovely and very pretty but not a single blip or dimple anywhere.

 

Clever clasp!