you didn't mention what size pearls you wanted; this will have a dramatic effect on the price.

jshepherd's company, pearlparadise.com, is well worth a look. i've seen the pieces in person; though i can't afford the high-end stuff, what i saw while visiting their offices was really good. see my testimonial in this same forum. also look at jshepherd's posts on various topics; you'll see he knows his stuff. i understand he just returned from a purchasing trip, so their inventory should hopefully be fully stocked right now.