Posts Tagged ‘pearl earrings’

There are many varieties of pearl, both real and fake, and it’s not always easy to tell the difference between those that are genuine and those that are imitations. Even amongst genuine pearls there are many different classes of both natural and cultured varieties, all with their own different properties and all valued very differently as pearl jewellery. You don’t want to be fooled when buying pearls, so here are a few ways to help differentiate between a genuine pearl and a fake:

The Tooth Test
It’s said that if you rub a pearl against the biting edge of your front teeth, you can tell whether it’s real or fake by the feel of its surface. Genuine pearls usually have a rougher, more irregular texture whereas fakes are glassy and perfectly smooth. In reality this test is far from foolproof, as fakes are often made to appear completely genuine and cultured pearls in particular can often be very smooth, especially if they are dyed.

The Sun Test
Another indicator is to take the pearls into full daylight and look closely at the lustre, or iridescence, on their surface. Unless they are extremely rare and expensive, real pearls hardly ever appear perfectly matched in full daylight and you will be able to see slight imperfections in the colour and lustre.

Surface Magnification
Don’t underestimate the power of a magnifying glass – a closeup look at the pearl earrings, necklace or brooch can tell you a lot, and is one of the most effective ways of distinguishing between genuine and fake pearls. The surface of a real pearl is crossed with hundreds of tiny almost invisible crooked lines, making it look almost scaly under magnification. It also helps to look closely at the drill holes in the pearl, which are normally as small as possible in a real pearl as the gems are valued by their weight. The holes are usually drilled from both ends and meet in the middle, making the passage narrower at the centre of the pearl.

Shape
One of the most obvious ways to identify real pearl sets is to look closely at the shape of each pearl and whether or not they are close to being identical – real pearls are hardly ever perfectly round, and it is almost unheard of to find a whole string of pearls of exactly the same size, shape and weight. Those which are will be very expensive, or they are more than likely imitations.

X-Ray
The only truly reliable way to be sure a pearl is authentic is to have it verified and certified by a qualified gemologist. You can have the pearl x-rayed for a price, showing any variations in density and identifying the nucleus to determine how the pearl was originally formed. To be worth paying the price you need to first be fairly sure that the pearl is genuine, but many imitation pearls look very real and it’s the only way to really be 100% sure without damaging the pearl.