Pearl ID please. Are these Baroque?
Hi again and thanks for your help in ID on these pretty pink or peach pearls. Are they baroque? Freshwater? I think they're antique because of the filigree 10kt GF clasp? Hand knotted. Quality? I love learning more 🙂 Thank you all!
1 comment
idealgems1
·2 years agoThese look like typical freshwater cultured pearls. In the trade, pearls like this would often be described as freshwater "potato" pearls based on their shape. They are a little rounder and with smoother surfaces than freshwater "rice" pearls (jeweler have food on their minds, I guess 😉 ).
Originally freshwater cultured "rice" and "potato" pearls were often referred to as "Biwa" pearls; after Lake Biwa in Japan where they were originally farmed. But now they can originate from all over (even the United States), but China is the most common source.
Technically, they are baroque in shape. But that description would most often be reserved for cultured pearls kind of shaped like these that are salt water in origin (Akoya, South Seas, Tahitian, etc.).
They are not antique. This is a popular style of fishhook clasp widely sold still today. Natural freshwater pearls have been around for centuries, but cultured freshwater pearls like these almost certainly are, were from the 1970s and later.
To give you an idea of value, this month's edition of GemGuide (GemWorld International, Richard Drucker President Emeritus) shows an unfinished strand like this, 5 to 6 mm in length, in commercial quality, with a wholesale value of $5 to $35 for the strand, or in good quality at $35 to $75 for the strand. Then add on for stringing and the clasp. Gold filled fishhook clasps like this are less than $10 wholesale.
Hope this helps!