HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE REAL AND FAKE PEARLS...? I feel undressed if I dont have my pearls on.

My pearls are my secure blanketLady Sarah Churchill. A desire for having this gem of ultimate beauty is not merely enough to be secured. You need a basic knowledge of pearl quality or a reliable source for purchasing the real pearls. All glitters are not pearls also. There are many types of faux, fake, costume or imitation pearls. They are made of glass, plastic or fish scale imitations. These substances are coated with pearl essence or paints. For example, majorica pearls are a form of fake pearls and are neither natural nor cultured. Fake pearls are processed to look like expensive akoya or south sea pearls. We need not apply destructive tests that cause damage to pearls like rubbing or cutting pearls. If we rub the pearls against each other, a residue in the form of powder will be released from the nacre layers of real pearls. Similarly if we cut a pearl we can find the truth. We can notice the nacre layers in natural or cultured pearls where as more layers of coatings are present in fake pearls. Instead of these some simple procedures will do the needful. From the name of pearls we can judge to an extent. We can identify fake pearls from their names. The terms like simulated, faux, glass, plastic, resin, artificial and manmade usually denote fake pearls.
COLOUR OF PEARLS

Real pearls have body colour enriched by an overtone colour. Fake pearls have one body colour. Their colours look flat and lack depth.
REFLECTION OF LIGHT AND SURFACE QUALITY

Real pearls reflect light beautifully and are having a natural lustre. But fake pearls have an artificial lustre and looks like a glass. When real pearl strands are viewed under light we can notice a slight difference among each other as no two pearls look alike. There will be a difference in terms of size, overtone and surface quality. Even superior quality cultured pearls have tiny thin layers when looking at them closely. But on contrary to this, in fake pearl strands each pearl looks like the exact copy of other. Their surface also looks perfect. Real pearls have surface ridges like finger prints when viewed under magnification where as fake pearls have bubbles or matte patterns on their surface.
TOOTH TEST

When we rub pearls across our teeth real pearls feel gritty while fake pearls feel smooth.
TOUCH TEST

Real pearls are cool enough to touch before warming up. But this coolness is not felt with the fake pearls as they always have the room temperature.
DRILL HOLES

Real pearls show smoothness around drilled holes. But fake pearls have roughness or bump around drilled holes as if the pearls have been melted during drilling.

WEIGHT OF PEARLS

( Pearl Caliper. Picture source- GIS website) Pearls are counted by hand and then weighed with an electronic micro balance that captures weight in grams (mounted or strung), carats(loose) or carats and grains(loose natural). Pearls are measured using the special digital calipers. Real pearls are heavy in weight and fake pearls are having light weight.
COSULTATION WITH A GEMOLOGIST

If we are unable to judge, we can get the help of a certified Gemologist.The laboratory of Gemological Institute of America is not only the most recognized authority for diamond grading but it is also a leader in the identification and classification of natural and cultured pearls since 1949.

(Picture of large pearl earring. Source-GIS website) The Gemologist identifies the nature of pearls using standard Gemological testing and advanced testing equipments like Real time x- radiography, UV-Vis reflectance

spectroscopy and XRF. Real time micro radiography equipment is used to measure the nacre thickness of bead cultured pearls. Under a controlled viewing and lighting environment, the Gemologist determines colours and classifies the other factors using a comprehensive set of pearl masters. These pearl master sets include a hue circle and various colour grids to determine colour and types of pearls. Specific master sets of strands are used to classify lustre, surface and matching.

Purchasing of pearls from a reliable buyer is a meaningful option if you are not ready to undergo all these procedures. A reliable shop or source sells only real certified pearls and there is no necessity for testing. For example, Hyderabad, the Indian city which is known for pearls is having more than thousand year glorious history for pearls. It is having pearl shops that exist for generations and pearl trading is their family profession. Hence if we procure pearls from these sort of source there is no need for the fear of quality and also for variety as they are flooded with lots of designs. Any way we have to pay a sensible dive under the ocean of the current availability of surplus original and fake pearls, to get the quality ones.