Every jewelry box has a strand of pearls. The big question is always the same: are they real?
Vintage jewelry is full of pearls, and most of them aren't from an oyster at all. That's not a bad thing. Some of the most collectible pieces from Trifari, Miriam Haskell and Joan Rivers are faux pearls. But it helps to know what you're holding. Here's how to tell real pearls from faux, and what all the pearl words mean.
We have real and faux pearl pieces in the shop right now, including this peacock black freshwater pearl stretch bracelet for $24.
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Natural, cultured and faux: the three kinds
- Natural pearls form on their own inside a wild oyster or mussel, with no help from people. They're very rare and very valuable, and almost all of them are antiques.
- Cultured pearls are real pearls that a pearl farmer helped start by placing a tiny bead or a bit of tissue inside the shell. The animal does the rest, building up layers of nacre, the shiny material pearls are made of. Kokichi Mikimoto made cultured pearls famous in Japan in the early 1900s, and nearly every real pearl you'll find today is cultured.
- Faux pearls are glass, plastic or shell beads coated to look like pearls. Good ones were made with many layers of pearly coating, and some are highly collectible.
Freshwater or saltwater?
- Freshwater pearls grow in mussels in lakes and rivers, today mostly in China. They're often oval, rice, potato or baroque (irregular) in shape, and they're the most affordable real pearls.
- Akoya pearls are saltwater pearls from Japan and China, the classic round white pearl necklace.
- Tahitian and South Sea pearls are large saltwater pearls. Tahitian pearls are naturally dark, in gray, green, peacock and black.
What about black freshwater pearls?
Freshwater pearls don't grow black on their own. Dark freshwater pearls in black, purple, peacock and bronze are color treated with dye or other methods. They're still real pearls, just with an added color, and a good listing should say so. A pearl sold as natural black freshwater pearl is a red flag.
Ringed, potato and baroque shapes
Real pearls are rarely perfect. Freshwater pearls in particular come in lots of shapes: potato (roundish and slightly lumpy), rice (oval), baroque (irregular and free-form) and circlé (ringed), with grooves running around the pearl. Those rings and bumps are a sign of a real pearl, not a flaw.
How to tell real from faux
- The tooth test: gently rub the pearl along the edge of your front tooth. Real pearls feel slightly gritty or sandy. Glass and plastic feel smooth. Be gentle, and skip it on pieces you'd hate to scuff.
- Rub two together: real pearls feel a little grainy against each other and may leave a fine powder. Faux pearls slide smoothly.
- Look at the shape: a whole strand of perfectly identical, perfectly round pearls is more likely faux. Real pearls vary slightly from one to the next.
- Feel the weight and temperature: real pearls feel cool at first and warm up on your skin. Plastic pearls feel light and warm right away. Glass pearls feel heavy and cool, so weight alone won't settle it.
- Check the drill hole: under a magnifier, faux pearls often show the coating chipping or peeling at the hole, with glass or plastic underneath. Real pearls show layers of nacre and a clean, crisp hole.
- Look for overtones: real pearls often show a soft second color, like pink, green or blue, floating over the surface. Faux pearls tend to look flat and even.
Worn real pearls can lose their luster, especially around the drill holes. That kind of wear is normal for a pearl that's been loved, and it's another clue that the pearl is real.
Collectible faux pearls
Faux doesn't mean worthless. Majorica pearls from Mallorca, Spain, are man-made but beautifully made. Miriam Haskell used hand-wired baroque glass pearls, and Trifari, Monet and Napier made pearl pieces collectors love. Celebrity lines like Joan Rivers brought big, glamorous faux pearl looks to a whole new generation.
See it in person: real and faux pearls in the shop
Each one is a single piece, so when it's gone, it's gone.
Caring for pearls
- Put pearls on last, after perfume, hairspray and lotion, which can dull the surface.
- Wipe them with a soft, damp cloth after wearing, and let them dry flat.
- Never use jewelry cleaners or ultrasonic cleaners, and don't soak them. Water weakens the cord.
- Store pearls apart from other jewelry so harder stones and metal can't scratch them.
- Stretch cord loses its snap over time, so roll stretch bracelets on and off rather than pulling them wide.
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Do you have a strand of pearls that's been passed down in your family? Have you ever tried the tooth test on them? Tell us what you found.