www.925-1000.com

Hi,

I purchased an antique pearl necklace only to find out the pearls were glass with a pearl covering on them. They have a gold clasp with a small diamond. Seeing that the pearls were fake, I assumed the gold would be as well but upon acid testing it it comes out as at least 18k gold (my diamond tester broke so Im going to assume its a real diamond). I wanted to return the necklace but returns are difficult due to the lockdowns in some countries so I may keep it for the gold value/history (if anyone can pin it down).







I hope the photos are clear enough. Can anyone decipher this mark? The only mark I can tell us 'ARGENTINA' and it looks like 'N 3[?]' and the mark which I believe is the gold hallmark is a box with some characters in it but its half cut off/double stamped. ANYONE know anything about antique Argentinian gold/marks? There's no 750 or any other purity ratings on any of the other pieces (all of which test at least 18k) so I am assuming due to its age its probably not standardized there when this was made. I have included some different views of the clasp where the mark is as well as the clasp (front and back) itself. The necklace is in pieces so I didnt include a photo of it. Can anyone help?

On a side note out of curiosity, does anyone know if this is common? Is it common to put fake pearls on an 18k gold & diamond clasp? Did someone steal the original pearls?

Thanks a lot!! I appreciate all your help.
DD

Hi,
Looks like 750 within the rectangle.
Pearls are not stolen, the way they are beaded and attached to the clasp tells everything is genuine here; beads are inserted into a molusce and very thin layer of nacre is secreted. Inserting a microscopic irritant would take many years to create a real cultured pearl; not profitable.
Regards

AG2012 wrote:Hi,
Looks like 750 within the rectangle.
Pearls are not stolen, the way they are beaded and attached to the clasp tells everything is genuine here; beads are inserted into a molusce and very thin layer of nacre is secreted. Inserting a microscopic irritant would take many years to create a real cultured pearl; not profitable.
Regards

Thank you! I still cant see it but it tests 18k so it must be where its marked 750. I have lots of cultured pearl necklaces, this is just a very very thin film over a clear glass bead (you can see through the entire bead where the film has chipped off). The film isnt even lacquer quality, its definitely some fake opalescent layer. I find it strange they'd put a 18k clasp on that. **shrug**. Thanks for the reply though I appreciate it!