Legit Check Now
Brand · 1 guides

Pearl: real vs fake

Every Pearl checkpoint on this site states a measurement, an accept range and how we arrived at it. No comparison photos we didn't shoot, no certificates.

Real vs fake guides
Real vs Fake Pearl: Weight, Nacre Rim, Drill Hole 13 measured checks
Checkpoints covered
  • Specific gravity 2.73 g/cm3 for cultured pearl; 1.05 to 1.20 for plastic; 2.40 to 2.50 for soda lime glass
  • Weight at 8 mm 0.73 g for one loose 8 mm round pearl; 0.30 g for the same bead in plastic
  • Nacre rim at drill hole 0.30 mm of nacre over the bead in a typical akoya; GIA records 0.15 to 0.50 mm
  • Drill hole diameter 0.80 mm on a standard full drilled pearl; the trade works between 0.60 and 1.00 mm
  • Nacre platelet thickness 0.5 micrometres per aragonite platelet, each 10 to 20 micrometres wide
  • Mohs hardness 2.75 on the Mohs scale, GIA lists 2.5 to 3.0 for pearl; window glass sits at 5.5
  • Strand diameter spread 0.50 mm spread across a graded akoya or freshwater strand; 1.00 mm for Tahitian and South Sea
  • Strand weight at 16 inches 30.5 g for a 16 inch strand of 56 akoya pearls at 7.25 mm; about 12 g in plastic
  • Bead share of volume 79 percent of an 8 mm akoya taken up by the shell bead when nacre measures 0.30 mm
Legit Check Now