| David,
Just to add to what others have already mentioned, Pearl City in Shanghai is a great place to shop for nice freshwater pearls, but there is little by way of high quality Akoya. Most of the shops do not carry any Akoya pearls at all, and the one shop I know of there that does carry the Akoya, only offer smaller diameters (up to 6.5mm) and only A-AA grade quality. Still, if AA quality is sufficient for what your looking for, you should be able to get a nice 18" strand for a very reasonable price. The nice thing about Pearl city is that there are soo many vendors in one spot, it is easy to bounce back and forth and compare price and quality.
If you are shopping for freshwater and only want natural colors, keep in mind that the only naturally occuring colors for the chinese freshwater is white, black, pink, lavender and peach.
Have fun!!
__________________
Andrew Paul Williams
President, National Pearl
National Pearl
www.nationalpearl.com
1-877-PEARL11
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