How Do You Know If Your Pearls Are Real

When two pearls rub against each other their outer layers often erode a small amount.

How do you know if your pearls are real. A real pearl should bounce about 13 or 14 inches high whereas an imitation pearl s bounce will typically be much lower. If you run a strand of pearls along your teeth and feel a slight grittiness then the pearls are real you re feeling. Fake pearls feel warm and can be sticky when felt with fingers. When you touch a real pearl it feels cool and warms up when worn.

Counterfeits may have a weight that is ridiculously small or an exaggerated heavyweight. Perhaps the strangest way to tell if a pearl is real involves your teeth. If the pearls are completely perfect and identical in terms of shape size colour and surface characteristics. Position the pearl about 24 inches above a glass surface such as a mirror or coffee table and let it drop.

Real pearls are substantial and solid. If you notice a fine powdery white residue after rubbing your pearls this is probably powdered nacre a sign that the pearls are real. The first and the easiest way to tell if a pearl is real is by feeling it. You should be feeling the weight of the pearl when you hold it in your hands.

In a strand of cultured pearls you can always see very tiny differences between them even when they are top quality and well matched. When you examine real pearls closely or under magnification you ll notice tiny irregularities and ridges on each pearl s surface. A natural pearl has a unique weight. But it tends to take them longer to warm up against your skin than real pearls.

3 check whether the pearls are perfectly round. A surprisingly effective fix for knowing if pearls are real is to drop a pearl onto glass and measure the bounce.