I doubt Mr. Mikimoto intended for ebay and the market in general to be flooded with cheap akoyas. And given the fact that what I saw is considered top-quality, I can only imagine what the really cheap stuff looks like. (the horror...)

Tara (the driller) was very nice, and like I said, I wasn't too upset that the pearl got chipped, so I wasn't going to hold it against her and the Tahitian is quite clean and round. Even my brother, who isn't really much of a pearl expert, could immediately see the difference between the slightly off-round fw and the round Tahitian.

Oh, I almost forgot: When my father looked at the freshadama earrings with a magnifying glass, he said, "Are you sure they're real? They're so smooth and flawless." Yes, dad, they're real.