Synthetic pearls

1.Majorica Pearls

Majorica pearls are considered fine synthetic pearls that are often found in high-end departments stores like Barney's or Nordstroms. Most traditionally seen in white, black, grey and gold, these pearls maintain a "realistic" palette of colors, and are VERY convincing - especially the newest versions featuring circled Baroque shapes.

Majorica pearls have been in production since the late 1800's on the Spanish island of Majorca. These man-made pearls are created by repeatedly dipping a solid glass orb (to give the "pearl" a realistic heft or weight) into a substance called "essence d' orient".

The exact recipe is a heavily guarded secret, however it is commonly known that the pearl-like substance is a liquified mix of ground up fish scales, powdered mother of pearl and oil. The "pearls" are dipped approximately 30 times to give them a nice, thick coating over the bead and then hand-polished to remove blemishes, bumps or uneven areas of coating.

Another dead give-away is their plastic-looking shine versus the softer glow of most cultured pearls.

 

2.Shell Pearls

Shell pearls also exhibit perfect uniformity in shape, color and reflectivity. Common colors are: white, black, grey, gold, pistachio, brown/chocolate, and soft pink.

They can be made in two ways:

Crushing the interior mother-of-pearl found in mollusk shells into a fine pearlescent powder. This mother-of-pearl powder is used to coat a bead nucleus, very similar to the process used in creating Majorica pearls.
Creating rounded beads out of a saltwater pearl oyster's shell using the thickest part near the hinge. These pieces are smoothed and rounded out into perfect spheres and then dyeing them in various colors. The shell pearls are then baked at high temperatures to ensure the coloring is permanent and then given a high polish.

Shell Pearls will display very uniform rates of light reflection, and their colors will all be solid, uniform hues with little to no natural shading/variation.

3.Swarovski Crystal Pearls

Swarovski Crystal Pearls are always labeled as synthetic pearls by the manufacturer, and are easy to spot due to their plastick-y looking shine and perfect uniformity in color and size.

These pearls are created using a Swarovski crystal core or bead, which is then coated with a powdered mother of pearl substance available in a rainbow of colors.

Swarovski Crystal pearls are extremely durable in terms of daily wear and tear, and an excellent alternative to real pearls for costume jewelry or clothing purposes - the pearls can even be dry-cleaned without damaging the outer layers.