PEARL BUYERS BEWARE! Please read BEFORE you buy!

Is that jewelry made of REAL pearls?

If you want REAL GENUINE NATURAL PEARLS, be alert for the following terms:

SHELL PEARL

These are not pearls at all, but man-made beads concocted from ground shell! 鈥淪hell Pearls鈥?are manufactured by reconstituting a mixture of pulverized mother of pearl shells (the lustrous inner lining of a mollusk shell) and/or fish scales combined with a binder. A shell bead (usually mother of pearl) is then dipped into or sprayed with this mixture. The bead is allowed to dry, then sanded and shaped. The fabrication process of dipping/spraying, sanding and shaping is repeated. The mother of pearl base gives the bead weight and the 鈥減earlized coating鈥?gives the bead 鈥渄epth鈥?and 鈥渓uster.鈥?nbsp; These simulated imitation faux 鈥減earls鈥?can often pass for nature's own creation; however, a 鈥渟hell pearl鈥?can easily be detected by the tooth test and by looking closely around the drill hole - the shell color inside is visible, and the pearly finish is often chipped just around the hole.

Here are examples of 鈥淩EAL鈥?pearls:

The following are examples of 鈥淪hell Pearls鈥?- which you can tell from the photos are just a little too round and a little too shiny compared to 鈥淩EAL鈥?pearls:

Some sellers will actually intentionally 鈥渇uzz鈥?the photo so you can鈥檛 tell the difference:

Advertising for 鈥淪hell Pearls鈥?can include misleading titles such as 鈥淪ea Shell Pearl鈥? 鈥淪outh Sea Shell Pearl鈥? 鈥淭ahitian Shell Pearl鈥? 鈥淭ahitian Sea Shell Pearl鈥? 鈥淔resh Water Shell Pearl鈥? 鈥淎sian Shell Pearl鈥? 鈥淎sia Shell Pearl鈥? and other variations of 鈥淪hell Pearl鈥? The listings often include the vocabulary of 鈥淩ARE鈥?鈥淩EAL鈥?鈥淕ENUINE鈥?鈥淣ATURAL鈥?鈥淥RGANIC鈥?and 鈥淣ACRE鈥?and may even apply a grading system! The grading system to evaluate the quality of REAL pearls includes color, nacre quality, luster, size, shape and surface quality. Because the characteristics of 鈥淪hell Pearls鈥?are controlled by the mechanized fabrication process of the manufacturer, to attempt to apply this system to imitation simulated faux 鈥減earls鈥?is fallacious, erroneous, inappropriate and just plain wrong!

Another deceptive technique used in eBay Live Auctions is describing an item as simply 鈥渟hell pearl necklace鈥?and then setting the 鈥淓stimate鈥?value at thousands of dollars! By grossly overstating the value and omitting information as to the nature of these inexpensive man made beads, buyers are being led to believe they are buying REAL pearls, and can bid up to several hundred dollars for a strand worth maybe 40 bucks. This practice continues because the unaware buyer thinks he got a great deal while the unscrupulous seller is laughing all the way to the bank.

IF YOU WANT REAL GENUINE NATURAL PEARLS THEN AVOID LISTINGS USING THE TERM 鈥淪HELL PEARL鈥?

MAJORICA PEARL

The process of manufacturing 鈥淢ajorica Pearls鈥?begins with workers who make the opaque nucleus of the beads by melting the tip of a translucent glass rod over a torch. The hot glass flows onto a coated copper wire which is electromechanically rotating. The size of the bead is regulated by the intensity of the flame, the melting time and the speed of the rotating wire. After the beads are removed from the copper wires, they are dipped into a mixture made from fish scales. After about 30 layers, the 鈥減earls鈥?are dried and drilled and assembled into jewelry. These imitation simulated faux 鈥減earls鈥?are also easily detected by the tooth test.

IF YOU WANT REAL GENUINE NATURAL PEARLS THEN AVOID LISTINGS USING THE TERM 鈥淢AJORICA PEARL鈥?

CONCH PEARL

REAL 鈥淐onch pearls鈥?are extremely rare and valuable. No one has yet devised a method for culturing conch pearls, so every one you see will be a natural pearl. It is estimated that only one in 10,000 conchs produces a pearl, and that less than 10 percent of those are of gem quality. REAL Conch pearls are usually small in size (3 millimeters or less) and baroque or oval in shape. Colors are generally pink or a salmon-colored orange-pink, although they are occasionally yellow, brown, white, or golden. The conch pearl often has another important surface feature called a "flame structure," which is a unique pattern in the coloration. The flame structure generally appears in the pink or white-pink pearls, although the other colors sometimes also exhibit it. REAL Conch Pearls look like this:

Since conch pearls are naturally both rare and unique, finding matching pearls for sets, earrings, strands, and so on is extremely difficult, thus significantly increasing both the cost and the value of such sets. So if you see 鈥淐onch pearls鈥?advertised in perfectly matched strands or sets, you are probably actually seeing 鈥淪hell pearls鈥? As described above, 鈥淪hell Pearls鈥?are cheap man made imitation 鈥減earls鈥?

IF YOU WANT REAL GENUINE NATURAL PEARLS THEN BE CAUTIOUS OF LISTINGS USING THE TERM 鈥淐ONCH PEARL鈥?

GLASS PEARL

鈥淕lass pearls鈥?are simply coated glass beads. The glass gives the beads weight, and the opalescent iridescent coating can be quite convincing, but it will peel off in time. Some item descriptions can be very deceiving, especially when you are looking at a jewelry piece made with a mix of pearl and glass materials.

IF YOU WANT REAL GENUINE NATURAL PEARLS THEN AVOID LISTINGS USING THE TERM 鈥淕LASS PEARL鈥?

FAUX PEARL
SIMULATED PEARL
IMITATION PEARL
Generally just a plastic bead with an opalescent iridescent coating which will peel off in time. Obviously not REAL pearls.

PLEASE THOROUGHLY INSPECT YOUR PEARL JEWELRY PURCHASE UPON DELIVERY TO ENSURE YOU HAVE ACTUALLY PURCHASED REAL GENUINE NATURAL PEARLS.

The tooth test is the easiest and most telling 鈥?simply rub the bead gently across the front of your tooth - REAL pearls will feel gritty, while faux pearls will feel smooth. Inspect the drill holes for the tell tale sign of a chipped coating. The hot pin test will detect plastic 鈥?heat a pin red hot and stick the bead 鈥?a REAL pearl will stop that pin dead in its tracks, but the pin will slide into a plastic bead like butter! And if you are really brave you can touch the bead with fire 鈥?REAL pearls don鈥檛 burn (but the string does so please be careful)!

As an honest seller of REAL pearl jewelry, I am furious with the multitude of dishonest pearl sellers on eBay. I just want to get the 鈥渨ord鈥?out about these scams going on. I would appreciate it if you would email me if you know of any other scams I should include in this guide. If this has been helpful please vote below (I鈥檓 trying to get my score up!). If not, please email me and let me know what I can do to improve this guide (I鈥檓 always happy to receive suggestions and constructive criticism!)

I wish you happy shopping!

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PS To ensure the best shopping experience, my advice is to always check the Seller's feedback before you buy!

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