[pattye]

Well, Casey and Lemur,You missed being put down, one upped, manipulated, insulted and taken advantage of----* Pattyeso many pearls, so little time

[salem]

From what I remember, she got called on one too many bluffs and either got asked to leave or just slunk away in shame. It did become quite dramatic at the end and I think she disappeared around Feb. 2007. That was when I joined, so I remember a lot of the aftermath.

[salem]

Hmm...interesting... I just clicked on her user name to check out her profile. While I was right, her last post was 0/31/07, she was last active on September 22, 2007. I can'T help but wonder what she came to check out.

[Hanaleimom]

I was at Ben Bridge Jewelers over the weekend and saw an exotic-looking FW strand. I asked the sales rep. to take it out of the case for me to examine it. He told me "It is not cultured pearls, it's freshwater."

[tanakarn1]

I and my friends were in an airport in Europe and were looking for pearls. Vendors of one store told us that CFWP are fake pearls and Majorica shell pearls are real saltwater pearls and my friends believed them. Anyway, I had explained to my friends about this and recommended them to visit pearl-guide.com

Tanakarn

[Pearl_dreams]

At a nearby jeweler's, I was told by one of the employees that freshwater pearls all have beads in them just like Akoyas do, and that the Akoyas they sell were in the water for 3-5 years. When I contradicted him, the man frowned and questioned where I was getting my information from.

Hopefully he reads Pearl-Guide.com now-- it's not good to know less than your customers do. But sometimes people are so sure they are right, they don't look any further for the truth.

[Kevin Canning]

"NATURAL PEARLS AREN'T AS GOOD AS CULTURED!"

Its funny this must be part of the chain store sales manual, because I have heard this waaay too many times!

I must admit though, I still go into jewelry stores and ask about pearls just for a good laugh. It seems the closer you are to tourist dollars the more outlandish the lies are.

[olmander]

My experience is twice an 'upps' with Tahitians, when shop owners (one a physical person, one an internet seller) were trying to convince me that dark FW pearls are Tahitians, and that of course REAL Tahitians would cost a fortune but those in front of me were Chinese cultivated Tahitians (read - all dark pearls are caled now Tahitians). The price was also not low for a strand of ordinary died FWs...

I noticed that in Europe altogether prices for pearls are much higher - same items of a similar quality but twice more expensive. Can anybody explain this?

Oh yes, one more fun: if somebody remembers a discussion about my so called biwa pearl which I gott in Brussels as a biwa pearl and the jewelier tried to convince me that all the FWs can be called Biwa pearls. And it turned out to be en excellent SS 15 mm -ha-ha!

[Casey.R]

The thing I run into a lot is that people don't believe FW pearls come in beautiful natural colors. When I wear mine and people ask about them. I always tell them the colors are natural. But some people believe the color injected into the pearl while it's still in the shell ( that would be a lot of work if it were true) or that they must be dyed.

[Pearl_dreams]

The dealer I bought my 11-11.5mm dyed peacock circlé CFWP from last summer told me they were abalone pearls! His English was quite limited so I didn't bother to dispute it.

[BluePawprint]

Saw an enhancer pendant in a shop window today!
Went in, saw more pearls and asked questions.

I pointed to a row of dark, drop-shaped pearl pendants, "what are those?". The Sales replied, "Oh! These four are South Sea Pearls! From Japan! This fifth is just a Cultured Pearl."

I pointed to a strand of white pearls, "what type of pearls are they?". The same Sales replied, "Oh, Akoya pearls! From Japan! They only come in a string like this!"

I pointed to some white pearl pendants below the strand, "And these?". Sales said, "These are Cultured Pearls!". Some looked to be "multi-colour" like those I've online here, so I wanted to know if they are Akoyas or Freshwaters. "Are they Akoyas?". Sales replied, "No, Akoyas come only in a string! These are just Cultured Pearls!".

She insisted the South Seas and Akoyas aren't Cultured Pearls. I can't tell Tahitians from Dyed Freshwaters. I can't tell Good Freshwaters from Akoyas. I can't tell faux from real (and too chicken to do the tooth test). But she wasn't very enlightening, nor enlightened. Got me all bewildered.

[Pearl_dreams]

It sound like she was using "cultured pearls" to mean cultured freshwater pearls, and that that last dark drop was a dyed CFWP rather than a Tahitian.

The fact is, pearls are virtually all cultured now-- some with mantle tissue + beads (Akoya, SS, GSS, Tahitian, Cook Islands, Cortez, fireballs) or just mantle tissue (most freshwaters.) Not many natural pearls around anymore, and certainly not at the local jeweler's, though I know Jeremy sells some and maybe some other vendors here.

As for the "tooth test", it would not tell you whether the pearls were saltwater or freshwater-- only if they were real vs. imitation. Frankly I'd never do the tooth test on someone else's pearls-- it's so unsanitary; the human mouth carries so many bacteria. If I were the seller I wouldn't allow a customer to test my pearl with their tooth.

Instead I'd explain the other ways to determine if a pearl is imitation. Imitation pearls (and low luster cultured pearls) will not have overtones (Majorica imitation pearls have slight red and green fake orient but not overtones, which are seen in the dark central part of the pearl.) Lustrous white cultured pearls will show pink, silver, cream, green or blue overtones-- Tahitians have their own overtones. Tahitians do look different from dyed CFWP. In the dyed CFWP, the colors are more of an oil slick effect, or the way gasoline looks in a puddle-- a surface color, not a deep glow.

Also, if you examine the surface with a 10X loupe (magnifier) you will see that the surface of a cultured pearl looks smooth compared to that of an imitation pearl. To me the surface of an imitation pearl looks pebbly, like orange peel. If you have a loupe, you can practice with known cultured and imitation pearls. And if you don't already have a loupe-- it's a handy thing to own!

[BluePawprint]

Originally Posted by Pearl_dreams

It sound like she was using "cultured pearls" to mean cultured freshwater pearls, and that that last dark drop was a dyed CFWP rather than a Tahitian.

As for the "tooth test", it would not tell you whether the pearls were saltwater or freshwater-- only if they were real vs. imitation.

Hmm, yes, I think you're right- she probably used cultured pearls to mean freshwater pearls!

Oh I did mean the tooth test to differentiate faux from imitation. Yes, I'm too chicken to use this test on my own pearls, let alone other's.

I'm still thinking about the enhancer I fancied. I'm not familar with prices, does USD$620 sound about right for a drop-shape, no blemish, unknown lustre (I can't determine, didn't bring own pearls for comparison), dark Tahitian pearl (11mm x 12.5mm pearl size) enhancer pendant with abit of tiny diamonds?

[jshepherd]

Originally Posted by BluePawprint

I'm still thinking about the enhancer I fancied. I'm not familar with prices, does USD$620 sound about right for a drop-shape, no blemish, unknown lustre (I can't determine, didn't bring own pearls for comparison), dark Tahitian pearl (11mm x 12.5mm pearl size) enhancer pendant with abit of tiny diamonds?

That definitely sounds like reasonable retail.

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by Kevin Canning

Quote:
"NATURAL PEARLS AREN'T AS GOOD AS CULTURED!"

Its funny this must be part of the chain store sales manual, because I have heard this waaay too many times!

To be fair: isn't there a little bit of truth.... Meaningless truth, but still.