Another junk jewelry tub

[PAdiggertom]

Found another tub of junk jewelry at a antique store. I am surprised how hard these are to find. But I search through it all and didn't find anything. But my aunt was looking through it and found a piece with a marking on it. I put it under the loop an it's marked 14k! Lucky me. The clasp is broken but still. Not sure how to tell if pearls are real or not. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[captain_mike]

If you rub one of them against your front teeth and they feel slightly gritty, they're real. If they feel smooth (not gritty) they're fake usually

 

[diggummup]

Did you check the tub for vintage designer pieces as well?

 

[trdking]

Real pearls will always feel like sand paper on the bottom edge of your teeth. fake ones will have no grit and be completely smooth. This is a sure fire test for pearls. However some pearls are very valuable and some pearls not so much.

 

[PAdiggertom]

Did you check the tub for vintage designer pieces as well?

There's a few pieces with markers marks but I have no idea what brings value when it comes that. I don't know what's sought out for and what names to look for or design.

 

[PAdiggertom]

yeah I've known about the teeth trick. I rubbed them and it has a slight grit feel to them. Are all pearls perfectly shapped??

 

[The Urban Prospector]

A red hot needle will sink into fake (plastic) pearls.

 

[zombieraccoon]

yeah I've known about the teeth trick. I rubbed them and it has a slight grit feel to them. Are all pearls perfectly shapped??

if they are real they will usually have irregularities, and if you hold them up to a bright light you can differntiate by the lines on them if they are natural or cultured. theres a lot to go into grading them, but if the clasp is gold, they are "usually" real pearls, cultured vs. wild makes a huge difference in price, as does freshwater or saltwater.

I havent seen a junk jewelry tub worth buying in years. the only ones i come accross are the crap that didnt sell after being priced individually and sitting out foe months, so the stores throw it in a jar and label it $30-$40

 

[PAdiggertom]

if they are real they will usually have irregularities, and if you hold them up to a bright light you can differntiate by the lines on them if they are natural or cultured. theres a lot to go into grading them, but if the clasp is gold, they are "usually" real pearls, cultured vs. wild makes a huge difference in price, as does freshwater or saltwater.

I havent seen a junk jewelry tub worth buying in years. the only ones i come accross are the crap that didnt sell after being priced individually and sitting out foe months, so the stores throw it in a jar and label it $30-$40

What do you mean the lines? Also should they be transparent to a degree??
They all seem perfectly shapped, I'm having my doubts. Some of them looks like there an outer layer chipping off and exposing a white base.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice find!

 

[Butter Hat]

There's a few pieces with markers marks but I have no idea what brings value when it comes that. I don't know what's sought out for and what names to look for or design.

Look for Trifari, Monet, Napier. They're classics.

 

[zombieraccoon]

that could be wear feom them rubbing together. hard to tell from pics. usually they have knots between each pearl to prevent that, as well as to prevent losing tgem all if the strand breaks. from your description its difficult to say but not sounding good.

generally with pearls you should see twi colors when you look close under light, a color and tgen a tone over it., the drill holes are usually a giveaway they shoukd be smooth without burrs or bumps, and if you have a jewelers loupe there are swirly lines on real pearls, kinda like fingerprint ridges. if you have good eyes you can usually see them under strong light, this is what makes them feel gritty when you rub them on your teeth. the spacing and width of the lines and gaps between them will tell you whether the pearl is wild or cultured. Ot kind of like wild caught salmon vs farm raised. when you look at the meat, the fat lines are very thin on wild salmon, but they are very clearly much bigger on farm raised.

uniform pearls are possible but not likely, a very uniform pearl strand woukd fetch a rather tidy premium

 

[zombieraccoon]

Look for Trifari, Monet, Napier. They're classics.

Honestly, look for any mark at all and look the piece up, its a good way to learn vintage jewelry. Also look for heavy plastics, clear plastics, black plastics, and plastics withoud moulding lines, lucite, jet, celluloid, bakelite, and other plastics can be worth as much or mote than silver. exceptional pieces can be worth as much as fine gold jewelry. Even cheap Avon crap someyines does well, especially if sigbed by a artist such as liz taylor or ken lane did for avon pieces.