How to Identify Real Pearls?
This guide should help you distinguish fake pearls from real ones.
Real pearls are made by oysters, natural or cultured, that live in fresh or salt water. As natural pearls are extremely rare, almost all pearls on the market are cultured pearls.
All pearls sold at Die Süssperlen are genuine cultured freshwater pearls.
Fake pearls or imitations are often made from glass, plastic, alabaster or shells. Whereas some fakes can easily be identified, well-made fake pearls such as the Majorica pearl which is made out of glass, are harder to identify.
Here are some tips to identify real pearls:
- Touch and feel the temperature
Real pearls feel cold to the touch until they warm up after a few seconds in contact with your skin. Fake pearls made from plastic often feel warm to begin with. Fake pearls made from glass beads can also feel cool at first, but compared to real pearls it typically takes longer for the glass beads to warm up.
- Look for tiny irregularities
Real pearls are never perfect. When you look at a real pearl under a magnifying glass you can notice small irregularities and ridges. Moreover, when you look at a piece with multiple pearls, even when they are matched very well, there are always small differences between the individual pearls. If you see pearls that are flawless and identical, you are probably looking at fake pearls.
The luster of your pearl can provide a further indication to the trained eye. Compared to real pearls, the luster of fake pearls is often glassy and unnatural.
- Examine the color
Pearl experts call the translucent color on the outer surface of a pearl "overtone". Whereas some real pearls do not have an overtone, those that do feature some variation and depth. Fake pearls, however, often have a uniform overtone without depth.
- Observe the shape
Perfect roundness is rarely found in pearls. Instead, real pearls are often pear shaped, oval, or irregular (baroque), and every pearl has a unique shape. If you find pearls that are perfectly round, or of perfectly identical shape, it is a sign that you may be looking at a fake.
- Rub the pearls to check surface feel
Real pearls, due to their origin, have a layered structure that manifests itself in their surface texture. To feel the texture, rub two pearls lightly. Whereas fake pearls often feel smooth or glassy, real pearls should feel slightly gritty.
- Feel the weight
Compared to real pearls, pearls made from plastic are often lighter. Pearls made from solid glass beads on the other hand are much heavier than real pearls.
- Check drill holes
In real pearls, drill holes are usually very small. In fake pearls, the drill holes appear larger, and the coating around the drill holes sometimes appears thin or chipped around the hole.
Note that you should always combine multiple of these methods to make sure your pearls are real. In case of doubt, a gemological laboratory can perform a conclusive test.