Freshwater Pearl Necklaces

Every freshwater pearl necklace here is a strand we sorted ourselves: roughly 7 in 10 of the strands offered to us are rejected, and a strand we call round or near-round is matched within 0.9 mm from clasp to clasp. Each one is hand-knotted on PE fiber and ships with a Certificate of Authenticity recording its listed size, grade, shape and color. Below is what the common search phrases actually mean for this collection, and where we do not carry a style, we say so.

A real pearl necklace is nacre grown by a mollusk; an imitation is a coated glass or plastic bead. Ours are genuine cultured freshwater pearls, and the certificate that ships with each strand records the specifications you see on the product page. A seller's certificate is not an independent appraisal, and no "AAA" label means anything on its own, because there is no industry-standard grading scale for pearls. Two home checks settle most doubts, the tooth test and the drill hole; the full procedure is in how to tell if pearls are real.

Every necklace here is a single strand: one row of matched round pearls, hand-knotted on PE fiber, with a clasp at the back. The 7.5–8 mm Gem Grade strand is the one most people picture and the one to buy first, the strand that works at a wedding and with a T-shirt. Each size comes in two grades: Gem Grade, perfectly round with a sharp, mirror-like luster, and High Grade, near-round with a softer satin luster, at a lower price. Because they are knotted on PE fiber rather than silk, they don't need restringing every few years; the knotting can last for decades.

A graduated pearl necklace grows from smaller pearls at the clasp to the largest at the centre. It is the historic shape of a pearl necklace and suits open and V necklines best. We do not carry a graduated strand at the moment: every necklace here is the same pearl size from clasp to clasp. For the most presence at the front, our largest is the 10.5–11 mm Gem Grade strand.

We do not carry double-strand, triple-strand or multi-strand sets at the moment. The layered look is two single strands worn together, a shorter one under a longer one, often in two pearl sizes: a fine 3.5–4 mm strand at 16 or 18 inches with a 7.5–8 mm strand at 20 or 24 inches. Every necklace here comes in all four lengths, so any two can be layered.

Every necklace in this collection comes in four lengths, and the 16 inch choker is the shortest: it sits at the base of the neck and is the length for crew necks, strapless and off-the-shoulder necklines. A freshwater pearl choker is the same strand as the longer lengths, with fewer pearls, so it is also the lowest price for a given pearl size.

We do not carry 36 inch rope lengths. Which length suits which neckline, and how to measure, is in our necklace length guide; how pearl size changes the look at each length is in pearl sizes explained.

Pearl size is stated to the nearest 0.5 mm, measured at the widest point, never rounded up. Our strands come in three sizes: 3.5–4 mm, fine enough to read as a dainty pearl necklace; 7.5–8 mm, the classic size; and 10.5–11 mm, which is large for freshwater and as chunky as we go. A dainty pearl necklace and a chunky one are the same pearls at different sizes; luster, not size, is what to pay for first.

The metal in a pearl necklace is the clasp. Every strand here is offered with a sterling silver or a gold clasp (14k solid gold on Gem Grade, 14k gold filled on High Grade), chosen on the product page. On a white strand, silver reads cooler and quieter; gold warms the pearls' rose overtone and suits the champagne gold strands.

Freshwater pearls never grow black: a black freshwater pearl necklace is always dyed or irradiated, and a deep, uniform gold on an ordinary freshwater pearl is usually a treatment too. Our gold strands are Edison pearls in their natural color, never dyed, and each product page says so. Our white strands carry a soft rose overtone, the natural color of the mussel species that grows them. We also carry pink, purple and champagne gold strands in 7.5–8 mm, all natural body colors, never dyed or treated; natural gold is the rarest of the four. The full list is in pearl colors explained.

Cultured means a farmer started the pearl by placing a small piece of mantle tissue in the mussel; the mussel then builds the pearl from nacre exactly as it would in the wild. Virtually every real pearl sold today is cultured, including every strand here. Natural pearls, formed by accident with no human step, are rare, antique and sold at auction, so a "natural pearl necklace" offered at retail is almost always a cultured one mislabelled.

Ordinary freshwater pearls are tissue-nucleated: there is no shell bead inside, so the pearl is solid nacre all the way through and has no coating to wear thin. Our gold strands are the exception, Edison pearls grown over a small bead under 2 mm or more of nacre, which wears like a solid pearl. That is the honest structural advantage over bead-nucleated saltwater pearls, and the longer answer is in are freshwater pearls real?.

For a wedding the 18 inch princess length on a 7–8 mm or larger strand is the classic choice, and the 16 inch choker for a strapless dress. Pearls are also the traditional gift for the 30th anniversary and the June birthstone, which is why a strand tends to stay in the family. Matching pearl earrings and a bracelet in the same size make a set.