Antique Pearl Necklace

[civil_war22]

Great grandma gave me a pearl necklace she has had for a very long time and asked me to get it appraised and sell it for her and I cannot find any info on it other than a jeweler stated they are genuine pearls possibly from Persian gulf and are old. Anyone know a price or possible age of a necklace like this. Tested and checked out as authentic from a friend at Zales so just looking for some additional info.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[gunsil]

Is the clasp marked 14K? They look like cultured freshwater pearls to me, and the clasp isn't a very old style of clasp. Good pearls usually will have a gold clasp. The valuable pearls are perfectly round, these are fairly inexpensive pearls. I just looked up freshwater pearls on ebay, there are a lot that look just like yours and they are very inexpensive, like ten strands for eighteen bucks.

 

[civil_war22]

I'm not sure gunsil what type they are. Zales said Persian gulf pearls and they are authentic from what the jeweler said by examining them under scope in the drill hole and a couple other tests. My great grandma swears up and down she got these in the mid to late 50's. I haven't seen a marking on the clasp either and that was one of my concerns also

 

[rock]

Fresh water pearls are usually oval. Saltwater pearls are usually more round. If the clasp was silver or gold it would be marked as such. No mark then it is just metal type of a clasp.

 

[gunsil]

Fresh water pearls are usually oval. Saltwater pearls are usually more round. If the clasp was silver or gold it would be marked as such. No mark then it is just metal type of a clasp.

Where pearls come from makes no difference in the shape of the pearl, they come in all shapes whether from fresh or salt water. Most of the cultured freshwater pearls we see are made by inserting a grain of rice in the oyster, hence one usually gets an oval shaped pearl. They do however make cultured freshwater round pearls, and cultured saltwater pearls can come in many shapes also, look up baroque pearls. The ones cw22 posted look like oval freshwater cultured pearls. Cultured pearls are in a sense real pearls so they will test as real pearls. Real NATURAL pearls are another whole ball game. They are so rare and valuable that I bet Zales doesn't even have one for sale. They are usually sold by firms like Tiffany or Cartier. Natural pearls can go for thousands of dollars per pearl, making some single strand pearl necklaces go for over $100,000.00!! There have been natural pearls that have sold for over $20,000.00 each!! Value of these natural pearls depends on shape, size, and color, with perfectly round being the most desirable and the larger the more precious.
CW22, I am sure your pearls tested out as genuine because cultured freshwater pearls are real pearls, they just aren't worth a lot of money. It is quite possible that your Great Granma obtained them in the late fifties, they have been making freshwater and saltwater cultured pearls since long before then. The fact that the clasp is unmarked seems to indicate that they were inexpensive back then as they are now. I have seen many cultured pearl necklaces with 14K and even 18K clasps, but those are usually associated with nice round cultured pearls of nice color. Basically the necklace you show falls under the category of "costume" jewelry. They are still pretty to many women, they just aren't worth a lot of money. I recently bought a nice perfectly round 7mm diameter cultured pearl of fine white color to replace a damaged one in My aunt's ring and the single pearl cost me fifty bucks. I have bought un-knotted strands of freshwater cultured pearls to use in jewelry projects and they are less than ten bucks per strand for those similar in shape, color, and size to the ones you show. I seriously doubt they are natural Persian gulf pearls or they would more likely have a fancy clasp of at least 14K gold.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

I have never been able to do anything with pearls! I have a super long mikimotto necklace,
no one wants to give anything, for it!
I also have a designer pearl necklace with big gold pendant, again, no one wants it.
Even in my etsy store, the black pearls I have are AWESOME! No one seems to want to get up off any money for them.
Check ebays completed listings, see what some may have sold for in the past. Good luck, too.

 

[tamrock]

I have never been able to do anything with pearls! I have a super long mikimotto necklace,
no one wants to give anything, for it!
I also have a designer pearl necklace with big gold pendant, again, no one wants it.
Even in my etsy store, the black pearls I have are AWESOME! No one seems to want to get up off any money for them.
Check ebays completed listings, see what some may have sold for in the past. Good luck, too.

Indeed, pearls are not what they were in the past. 15+ years ago I traded a gold watch for a beautifully matched size, color and orient, graduated string of Akoya pearls that was priced at $300. and I don't think I'd get much over $50 for them today. I'll give them to the first daughter of mine who finds a man to marry so she can wear it on her wedding day I'm thinking now. Still there beautiful to look at.

 

[Silver Simon]

No offense but that's to long for me to read, later

Short attention span? Thanks for letting us know you didn't read it....