are these pearls real?

Hello everyone,

Just wondering if any of you could help me determine whether pearls on
this picture are real...

http://www.andreassteiner.net/temp/

Many thanks in advance!

Do you have any sort of history on them? They look real to me, mainly
because of the way they are tied - it looks like silk cording and the
standard industry clasp for real pearls - but it is hard to tell by
pics alone - I did notice that there is some sort of peeling going on -
or at least the pic shows that - so they could be coated glass. Either
way, they have a unique coloration, I fnd them really pretty....

Denise R
Glitzy Glass Studio
www.needbeads.com
www.glassbeadz.com

On 5 Feb 2005 05:51:57 -0800, "Glitzy Glass"
wrote:

Do you have any sort of history on them? They look real to me, mainly
because of the way they are tied - it looks like silk cording and the
standard industry clasp for real pearls - but it is hard to tell by
pics alone - I did notice that there is some sort of peeling going on -
or at least the pic shows that - so they could be coated glass. Either
way, they have a unique coloration, I fnd them really pretty....

I bought them at a bargain/discount mall in Asia. I first thought they
were real but just not the best quality. I liked them (and still do)
for the colour. Having looked at them again, they feel different than
my other pearls. There is some peeling in quite a few of the beads and
it seems to be a thin layered coating of some sort and it comes off
rather easily. At the same time, I have heard of real pearls
'peeling'... They are also heavier than some imitation pearls I have
but they might be coated glass, like you said.

Hey Andi - I found this information on this page - still sounds like
they could be real....
If you are on the internet looking for the answer these means that you
probably inherited a strand of pearls and you are just curious, if they
are fake you really don't want to spend any money on them. Here are a
couple of things that you can look for:
Pearls are organic they age with time. They will show signs of wear, as
they are exposed to the wearers skin acids will slowly erode the outer
layer, making the pearls feel rough. The older the pearls the more wear
they should show.
Look at how the Pearls have been strung, there are some unwritten rules
in the jewelry trade, one of them is that Pearls are knotted. This
means that there should be a knot between each Pearl; they should have
been strung on silk.
Another unwritten rule is that they should have a pearl clasp, and this
clasp should be made of silver or gold. Test the clasp with a magnet,
not the spring end but the hook end. It should NOT be magnetic.

Here's the link to the page for even more info
http://www.jsbeads.com/Fresh-Water-Pearls/fwp-Fake.asp

Denise R
Glitzy Glass Studio
www.needbeads.com
www.glassbeadz.com

Hi Denise- many txs for the info. Each pearl was individually knotted
( I asked for it at the store). I'm still looking for a magnet around
the apartment, though... Oh, when I rubbed the pearls against each
other, they felt really smooth, unlike my other ones which are rough.
And when I bit or rubbed the pearls against my teeth, they also felt
smooth, again, unlike my other ones. I heard this was a test to
determine whether pearls are real or fake. They're fake when smooth.
They ought to feel rough, gritty or sandy. Anyhow, remember how I
mentioned there was some sort of peeling on the pearls? Well, I
decided to removedthe peel from a couple of beads and when rubbed
against each other, they were rough. I also did the tooth test and
they're rough! So, I have a feeling that the store coated the pearls
(clear coating) to make them appear more lustrous than they really
are. The non-coated beads look quite nice! Well, 30 more beads to
go... By the way, I burned some of the coating and it burned quite
fast with black smoke...would you happen to know of a clear coating
one would use to make something appearto have more lustre?

it's probably just some sort of laquer. it's good that removing the
peeling bits didn't harm the pearls..they're such a beautiful color!

-Amber.

I don't know anything at all about pearls, but I know what I like:
Those are the most beautiful pearls I've ever seen, real or not. That
color is fabulous...

Tink
Check here for available work:
http://blackswampglassworks.com/latest.htm

The fact that they are knotted, and the type of clasp are not reliable clues
as to whether the pearls are real. Anyone can knot any kind of bead with
small holes, and use any type of clasp on them. REal pearls will feel gritty
if lightly scraped by a your tooth (yeah, in your mouth, ewww), glass and
plastic will not. (I have now seen pearls that have been polished,
apparently in a tumbler, and they did not have a gritty surface, but I think
this treatment is only applied to pearls that still have a lot of shell
attached, so much that you'd be reluctant to call them pearls as opposed to
shell beads)

Georgia
http://georgiamorgan.net/html/pearls.htm


"Andi" wrote in message
...
Hello everyone,

Just wondering if any of you could help me determine whether pearls on
this picture are real...

http://www.andreassteiner.net/temp/

Many thanks in advance!

On 5 Feb 2005 07:22:43 -0800, "
wrote:

it's probably just some sort of laquer. it's good that removing the
peeling bits didn't harm the pearls..they're such a beautiful color!

-Amber.

Hi Amber- the peeling bits came off rather easily but after six beads,
my fingers gave up:-) I also love the colour and have decided to not
bother continuing with the peeling. I did buy them for the colour in
the first place, so real or not, I will just enjoy wearing it :-)

On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 15:51:55 GMT, Tinkster
wrote:

I don't know anything at all about pearls, but I know what I like:
Those are the most beautiful pearls I've ever seen, real or not. That
color is fabulous...

Tink
Check here for available work:
http://blackswampglassworks.com/latest.htm

Tink-thanks, I love the colour as well!