how to identify a real pearl

t is very well said by Jean De La – “Next to sound judgement diamonds and pearls are the truest things in this world.”

Pearls are just appropriate to complete any attire. Sole or blended with some diamonds in a strand or ear-drops, pearls add a perfect dash of sophistication and beauty to the wearer.

Pearls are valuable and rare, but soon after being discovered in ancient times, the pearls are produced artificially by using machines. And, for sure you would not want to pay a fortune for the pearl which is not real. So how can you identify a real farmed pearl out of many fake ones? Here we are sharing few interesting tips to help you identify the actual pearls out of the fake ones.

Lustre, Surface characteristics and Matching

You’ll notice very tiny ridges and irregularities on the surface of each pearl while closely examining the real pearls. You will always notice very tiny differences between cultured-pearls in a single strand, even when they are of great matching and very good quality. If you see a tremendous perfection an in terms of colour, size, shape and surface characteristics, then they are most probably fake.

Adding to that, cultured pearls reflect light differently from the fake ones. The lustre of fake pearls has a glassy look and is unnatural.

Shape

Mostly real pearls are very rarely round in shape. Even if a strand of pearls has perfectly round pearls, such pearls are extremely high in price value and very rare.

Weight

Fake pearls are generally lighter than the real ones.

Surface Feel

The layered nacre structure occurs to form a textured surface on both the natural and cultured pearls. The best way to feel a real pearl’s surface is by lightly rubbing them against each other or on your front teeth. The real ones will feel a little gritty, the fake ones would, however, feel glassy and smooth.

Temperature

The most recommended and easy step to check real pearls- touch them and feel the temperature. Real pearls are cold to touch for the first few seconds before warming up against your skin. Fake or plastic pearls have the same temperature as the room temperature and you would not feel the slight cool temperature when you touch them. However, fake pearls that are actually glass beads can be cool to touch in the beginning, but they take comparatively longer time to warm up than real pearls.

Drill Holes

Real pearls have smaller drill holes as compared to fake ones with larger drill holes. The coating around drill holes of fake pearls is often thin and shiny when seen under magnification. The chipped coating around drill holes of fake pearls often gets peeled off by the time.

It is advised not to consider a single method alone to identify the real pearls, rather combine several of the above-listed methods to reach a conclusive judgement whether the pearl is real. You can also have the pearls tested in a gemological laboratory. Your retailer should also tell you the true condition of the pearls you are buying. Always remember that “Natural pearls are formed without human intervention and are extremely rare and expensive.”