Pearls, amethyst and gold: the real thing has depth. Pearl Choker with Amethyst and 18K Gold
The famous test works: rub a pearl gently against the edge of your front tooth. A real pearl, natural or cultured, feels slightly gritty, like very fine sandpaper, because its surface is built of microscopic layers of nacre. An imitation feels glassy smooth. Thirty seconds, no damage, and it catches most fakes. Here is how to do it right, and the questions that come after, because "real" is only the first sorting.
How do you do the tooth test properly?
Gently. Slide the pearl along the biting edge of a front tooth with almost no pressure; you are feeling for texture, not carving into it. Grittiness means layered nacre, which means a real pearl. If teeth feel too intimate for a piece you are examining, rub two pearls against each other instead: real pearls grip slightly and produce a fine pearl dust; imitations slide like glass on glass. Both versions are harmless done gently.
What else gives a real pearl away?
| Check | Real pearl | Imitation |
|---|---|---|
| Surface against tooth | Fine grit | Glassy smooth |
| Matching | Small variations in size, shape and tone along a strand | Suspiciously identical spheres |
| Surface up close | Tiny irregularities, growth marks | Uniform, sometimes peeling coating |
| Drill hole | Crisp edge, layers visible | Flaking coating around the hole, glass core visible |
| Temperature | Cold at first touch, warms slowly | Plastic feels warm immediately |
| Luster | Deep glow with overtones, you look into it | Flat shine, you look at it |
The drill hole is the expert's shortcut: on a fake, the coating often chips exactly there, showing glass or plastic underneath. A loupe at the hole settles many arguments.
Natural vs cultured: both real, very different value
This is the distinction that actually moves money. Natural pearls formed by chance in wild oysters; before about 1920 all pearls were natural, they were staggeringly expensive, and fine antique natural pearls remain seriously valuable today. Cultured pearls, farmed since the 1920s by seeding the oyster, are real pearls too, and they are what almost every pearl necklace from the last century is. The tooth test cannot separate them; both are nacre. Certainty requires an X-ray at a gem lab, which shows the seed nucleus. So if you have inherited a pearl strand that could predate the 1920s, do not assume and do not restring it casually: have it examined first. It is the same do-not-touch logic as the rest of my inherited jewelry guide.
A single pearl, Swedish, 1957. Vintage Pearl Bangle, 18K gold, 1957
Do pearls age, and can they die?
Pearls are organic and they do age. Kept dry, sprayed with perfume, or stored against hard stones that scratch their surface, nacre dulls and can craze; jewellers speak of pearls "dying" when the luster is gone, and it does not come back. The care rules are short: pearls go on last, after perfume and hairspray; wipe them with a soft cloth after wearing; store them separately and wear them, since skin contact keeps them from drying out. A century-old strand that was loved properly can outglow a new one.
What are old pearls worth?
Honestly: most inherited cultured strands are worth modest money, because mid-century cultured pearls were produced in enormous numbers. What lifts the value is size, matching, luster, a fine clasp in gold, a signed maker, and above all the natural-pearl possibility on early pieces. Mother of pearl, the shell lining itself, is beautiful and common rather than precious. The clasp is often the sleeper: I regularly see strands where the gold clasp is worth more than the pearls. Check its marks with the hallmark guide before judging the whole piece.
Frequently asked questions
Are cultured pearls real pearls?
Yes. Cultured pearls grow in living oysters and are built of the same nacre as natural pearls; farmers only start the process. Imitation pearls, coated glass or plastic, are the fakes.
Does the tooth test damage pearls?
Not when done gently. You are sliding, not biting. If you prefer, rub two pearls together instead; the fine grip and pearl dust tell the same story.
How can I tell if my grandmother's pearls are valuable?
Check the tooth test, the matching, the luster and the clasp, then consider the date: a strand plausibly older than the 1920s could hold natural pearls and deserves a professional X-ray before you do anything else to it.
Why have my pearls gone dull?
Perfume, hairspray, dry storage and scratching against other jewelry wear down nacre. Dullness from surface dirt cleans off with a damp soft cloth; worn-through nacre is permanent.
Are baroque or oddly shaped pearls fake?
No, the opposite: irregular shapes are natural behavior. Perfectly identical spheres at a low price are the suspicious ones.
Should pearls be restrung?
Worn regularly, yes, every few years, with knots between pearls so a break loses one pearl instead of fifty. But never restring a possibly-early strand before it has been examined; original stringing can matter to value.
Read next: What should you do with inherited jewelry? · How to read gold hallmarks · How to date antique jewelry
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