You may have seen jewelers rub pearls against their teeth. This is a way to tell if they are real. To tell if the pearls you like are real pearls, simply rub two of them gently together to test the texture of the surface. If they feel slightly grainy, they are probably real. If they are perfectly smooth, they must have been manufactured because there is no way for an oyster to produce glossy pearls.
You don’t have to splurge on the real thing to get pretty pearls: painted plastic can very much look like the real thing. Be carefully though, as these are just painted beads, and the paint can chip over time. Inspect the pearls carefully, and if the paint is already flaking off, don’t buy them.








