Identify Real pearl

The growing popularity of pearls and the growing advancements in the manufacturing and production processes it is becoming ever hard to spot the difference between fake pearls and cultured pearls. There are a number of simple tests you can do including simply identifying them by their name, the sun test and weighing them. However, there are some more complicated tests that can be carried such as subjecting the pearl to a powerful x-ray.

The sun test is one of the more revered tests for uncovering fake pearls, by subjecting the surface and luster of the pearl to sunlight or very bright indoor lighting. Real genuine pearls won't have a perfectly matched surface and you must specifically look for differences in the color and tone of the pearl. If the surface of the pearl is perfectly matched it was either unimaginably expensive, or more likely fake. This is because of the huge advancements of technology with regards to producing fake pearls that are perfectly round with a high-quality perfectly matched surface, with no differences of color and tone. This is because real pearls are solid nacre and are never a perfect sphere, whilst cultured and fake pearls are manufactured to be perfectly round. Therefore, merely carefully inspecting your pearls will be enough to identify them.

For the more demanding of originality, your pearls can be subjected to x-rays to see if they are fake or have been cultured. By looking inside the pearl you will be able to tell if it has been bead-nucleated, this is when a core is inserted into the oyster for the rest of the pearl to grow around. This is a key factor in the production process of cultured pearls, particularly freshwater pearls in the largest producer of freshwater pearls, China. However, if your pearl is the real thing it will be composed of solid nacre and therefore there will be no core inside of the pearl for the x-ray machine to detect.

Real pearls are composed of solid nacre and will therefore be heavier than the fake or cultured pearls which are composed of much less nacre and will be lighter than the real deal. This means that simply weighing your pearls and comparing them against the weight of pearls that you know are fake or cultured could be enough to identify fake from real. Another simple at home test you can carry out is looking at the pearls under a magnifying glass. Real pearls that have been naturally created and harvested will have an uneven surface with ridges and irregularities. Fake pearls however, will have a texture of grainy smoothness to their surface, allowing you to identify them as fake.

However, the simplest of all the tests that can be carried out is simply identifying the names in the product that you are purchasing. Names that would be in the titles of fake or cultured pearls include, faux, simulated, glass, plastic, resin, artificial and manmade. Cultured pearls should ideally be labeled somewhere on the product to inform you have they have been manufactured artificially in a man-made environment.

It is essential that if you want peace of mind and a high re-sale value, you should have these tests carried out by a certified professional. This will allow you to obtain a gemologist certificate that for around $150 will give you peace of mind and prove to anyone that your pearls are the real artifact.

Q.1 How do i tell real pearls from fake pearls?

The most basic test is the tooth test. Glide gently the pearl along the edges of your teeth. Real pearls will give an abrasive organic feel while fakes give a slippery feel. For a pearl necklace, rub two pearls against each other. If they give a gritty feel, they are most probably real pearls. High Quality shell pearls (imitations) can be very convincing. Buy from a trustworthy jeweller and you will not need to worry about fakes.

Q.2 Are cultured pearls real pearls?

Cultured pearls are as genuine as natural pearls, as both of them are grown inside living molluscs in oceans and lakes. The differences between cultured pearls and natural pearls are comparable to the the differences between the strawberries we cultivate in farms and the wild strawberries we find in the wood. Cultured pearls are generally bigger, rounder and of nicer colours than natural pearls.

Q.3 How rare are raw natural pearls?

Raw natural pearls are rare. They are found in perhaps one of every 100 pearl oysters, and of the natural pearls found, only 1 out of 10 is of good quality. Many species yielding natural pearls are under protection. Over - harvesting can damage or deplete the oyster beds. The activities of pearl culturing are in many ways more environmental friendly than the fishing of raw natural pearls.

Q.4 Are cultured pearls as valuable as natural pearls?

Natural pearls once commanded much higher prices thatn cultured pearls. Today, a natural pearl of big size and perfection will still command a higher price than a cultured pearl of similar size and quality. But actually, natural pearls are often imperfect and relatively smaller (6mm on average) than cultured pearls, while sophisticated pearl cultivating techniques can yield cultured pearls of superior quality in big sizes (12mm or up). These cultured pearls can come with an impressive price tag.

Q.5 How can I tell good-quality pearls from low-quality pearls?

Good quality pearls look shiny and lively, and the surface is clean. Low-quality pearls have major blemishhes or cracks and hollows, and the surface look dull.

Q.6 Can I find a pearl in my dish of oysters?

This is the fantasy of many. But the reality is, even if you find a pearl in your dish of oysters, most likely it would be of poor lustre, resembling a little pebble rather than a pearl. Edible oysters which are appreciated for their gastronomic value do not ptoduce lustrous nacre and have little in common with the species of molluscs used for pearl culture.

Q.7 Do pearls really form from a grain of sand ?

Contrary to popular belief, pearls hardly even result from the intrusion of a gain of sand inside a pearl oyster. Instead, a pearl forms when an organic patticle gets trapped inside the mollusc. An organic patticle can be the result of an injury of the oyster itself or an intruding parasite.