Hi Angela - thank your for writing in with the following question:
"I recently received a pearl necklace that was bought in Korea around 1953. I took them to have them restrung and the clasp repaired, and was assured by the jeweler that they were natural pearls. Orginally they were not knotted. I was wondering if by looking at the pictures if you can tell what type of pearls they are, and of course any value.
I do plan on having them certified by the GIA eventually, but have no intentions of selling at all, but am curious of any information. I plan to keep them to be passed on, and would like to be able to provide that information when they are gifted.
Thank you for anything you have to offer. There are a total of 105 pearls including a pearl on the clasp. I do have additional pics I can send. The pearl earrings were bought at the same time."
Strand of pearls, for example, a necklace strand of Mikimoto pearls will be more valuable when presented in their original box. The problem with PEARLS is the word "natural".
Some people say, pearls are "natural" simply because they are not man-made pearls, synthetic pearls.
Whereas natural pearls are very rare and very valuable. Natural pearls have been formed without any help of man. If the pearls are individually knotted this will also be clue - good quality pearls, in most cases will have a knot between each pearl to protect the pearls from each other.
More info on pearls can be found at the following links