Good sources for pearl information

[seedlingsjewelry]

Anybody have any good sources for pearl information? Hubby's nana gifted me with more stuff this week and I know some of it is faux but some hard to tell and if I use them in jewelry I need to have them as accurately labeled as possible.

Thanks!

[Dragonclaw]

I seem to recall that if you rub the pearl on your tooth and it feels gritty then it's supposed to be real. but I've never tried this... also look  at them with magnification if you see a seam they are plastic,

[Heathr03]

Here's an article -
http://jewelry.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_tell_if_a_pearl_is_real

[seedlingsjewelry]

Y'all are awesome, checking all this out, thank you! 

[seedlingsjewelry]

Ok so I tried the first test mentioned, the rub together test, but the pearls are quite small so it was really hard to tell if they were smooth or if they were slightly gritty.

I then tried the rub on my tooth method. Again, hard to tell. I think I need to make a friend locally who has an x-ray machine or something...

For now though, they will be faux pearls until I can figure out for sure.

One bag is labeled cultured but everything else will have to be a mystery!

[Eiriel]

One way I find it easy to tell is to check the holes, if they're been drilled. Faux pearls often have some of the coloures covering flaking off, or ruched up because of the drill. Real pearls will just have a smooth opening.

Good luck

[seedlingsjewelry]

One thing that I love about going through stashes like this is that I'm learning sooooo much. Thanks for the tip about the holes too!