[tanakarn1]

Dear all,

I am going to purchase a necklace for my mom. One company offers me this necklace (please see attached photos). It is a 3-row Akoya with pink over tone, 8-8.5 mm, 16-18 niches. Are these good pearls? & How much would it be? I don’t know much about Pearls. Please suggest me.

Many thanks!

[tanakarn1]

Here are Bigger photos

[pattye]

Hi Tanakarn1,

Wow, speaking as a Mom, that would be a great gift to get!
What grade are the pearls? You might get a nice necklace from one of the online stores that participate in this forum, for somewhere around $5000-and up from there. The pearls look very pink in the photo, and very perfect.(Almost too perfect.) Do you want to tell us more about where you are thinking of buying them? You will definately pay more in a retail store. Do they have a return policy??? And unfortunately some unscrupulous online pearl sellers may show you a photo of a very perfect looking pearl necklace, but it will not be a photo of the one you will actually receive, which will be much less perfect.
We can be more helpful if you give us more information.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[salem]

Hi Tanakarn1, and welcome!

I want to echo Pattye's comments. Knowing the vendor and the quality of pearl(as advertised..A-AAA) will help a lot with determining a fair price. From coming to this forum and checking out some of the reputable sellers here, I have learned a lot about pearls and can make better judgements for myself when buying online. There are a lot of companies that seem to post faudulent descriptions and photos stolen from other sites, just like there are many that offer incredible deals. The pictures were lovely though. Good luck!

Jen

[tanakarn1]

Thanks to Pattye and Jen for your suggestions,

These pearls are offered by an online store with a return policy. The pearls are AAA grad with pink overtone, the best quality this store has. For me, the photo of pearls looks beautiful, but as you said, the real one may be not. I hope they did not use Photoshop in these photos.

This necklace is quite expensive. So, before I buy it (for my mom), I need a help from you to estimate the price of this necklace. Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Many thanks!
Tanakarn

[pattye]

Hello Again,

Also might suggest you do a search under forums for the name of the online company, as some have been discussed here. Please let us know how it turns out!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[jshepherd]

The pearls look good - they look like AAA. If they are 8-8.5mm, they really cannot be from China. Anything larger than 8mm, especially in a grade like that, comes from Japan. If the pearls were 7-7.5mm, they could easily come from China.

[jerin]

Hi Tanakarn1!

I as well second the posts from the other members plus that I am really suspicious since You do not tell the seller´s name! Is it perhaps a seller on Ebay?

In that case You should be very, very cautious, many of especially chinese online sellers are "borrowing" photos from respectable sellers and what You see is not necessarily what You´ll get!

High shipping costs and a short returning time should make You think twice as well....

To get an impression of what fine Akoyas will cost You, check out
the websites of the following sellers: (wholesale prices)

Pure Pearls.com
Pearlparadise.com
The Pearloutlet.com
Pearls by Angela Carol.com
Pearls and Jade.com

and so on (if You check under "Cultured Pearls" I think You can find a lot more of online vendors).

Personally I would recommend You to check Freshwaterpearls of the highest quality, the so called "Freshadamas" at Pearl Paradise.com. These pearls can be worn everyday and they will last for a long time (solid nacre without nucleaus) and the price will be a lot lesser than Akoyas of the same size.

The shine of freshwater pearls is more of a soft satiny glow, very often with orient, which is mostly absent in Akoyas because of their over-treatment.

If You are to get the most "metallic shine" pearls, go for Akoyas though!
All You need in that case is a lot of money and if Your mum wears the pearls often, You should be prepared to have to buy another necklace after a couple of years.....

Let us know what You have chosen.....

[salem]

Just as an aside, PearlParadise also has a lovely triple akoya stand in their contempary bridal section. Each strand is a different size, 5mm, 6.5mm and 7 mm, I think. Anyway, you may want to look at their site. The necklace is for AA+ and sells on the site for about $800, I think. And you can upgrade to AAA for $500 more? They are the only one I have purchased from so they are the only ones I feel fully confident to endorse. Although, all the sites Jerin posted have great reputations here and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from any of them.

From what I have learned, Akoyas 8mm and up have a huge price jump because of the rarity. Also, you may want to consider the size of your mom. I am only 5'3", so for me a triple strand of 8.5 mm pearls at choker length would, I fear, overpower me.

Good luck.

Jen

[jshepherd]

Hi Jen,

Actually, the price jump is not really due to rarity, it is due to origin. Nearly all "Japanese Akoya strands" today (and I use the term "Japanese Akoya" very lightly), are composed in large part of Akoya pearls harvested in China. But 8mm and up is a different story. The Chinese have not been able to produce this size is large quantity at a consistent quality. So most strands in the size range, and all strands larger are harvested in China (save for the rare one or two).

There is a little caveat in the industry that allows any Akoya pearl touching Japanese soil (and many believe only Japanese hands will do) to be sold as product of Japan. This policy dates back to the Japanese Diamond policy of 1953 (a.k.a. The “Export Aquatic Marine Products Act”). Basically, all pearls, no matter where in the world they were actually cultured, were to be sold as product of Japan. Simply put, they are able to get around what most of us view as dishonest representation simply because the technology is a product of Japan. Every cultured pearl of the time was cultured using Japanese technology. Therefore, every cultured pearl was a Japanese pearl. In the earlier years, even Mississippi river pearls were imported into Japan and exported as Japanese Biwa. Even today, all Tahitian pearls exported from Japan carry a tag “product of Japan”.

Any honest dealer (even those who make advertisements that guarantee their pearls are Japanese) will admit there is no difference between Japanese or Akoya pearls. No one, not even the GIA lab can tell the difference. But these same dealers will charge more for the pearls, claiming they are Japanese. How? Because legally they can. If they were every to say they guaranteed that their pearls were cultured in Japan, this would be an outright lie (those pearls smaller than 8mm, that is). But how can you prove it? Everyone knows it, but how can you prove it?

This is what makes the difference in the market price of 8mm and larger Akoya pearls. It is definitely not a rarity factor as the majority of Japanese production is in this size range today.

[tanakarn1]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments,

My Mom already has a Freshadama strand that she wears often. I would like to give her an Akoya strand to wear in special occasion. I have learned a lot about pearl from this forum. This is a nice place for Pearl Education. Thank you one again!

PL. I never buy things from ebay. I would rather not say the seller´s name to avoid conflicts between Pearl sellers.

Very best regards,
Tanakarn

[jshepherd]

I think they look real. The seem to be of AAA grade as well. If the company is reputable the pearls should be fine.

The only thing that really concerned me was that they are described as Chinese. This is not the cast in that size range. If the seller is Chinese they have almost certainly purchased the pearls in Japan or from a Japanese company. As far as blemishes, it is very difficult to make them out in a photo anyway. They may very well have some blemshes. They are so shallow in Akoya, they can be hard to see.

[pattye]

Hi Ashley,

Thanks for coming right out and saying it, they look like shell-pearls. That was my first thought also. But you'll are so much more experienced. They just look so identical.

Tanakarn, I have never perceived any conflict among the honest sellers here on the forum.

Jeremy and Ashley, thank you as always for the "rest of the story" and the experts view!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[tanakarn1]

Thank all of you for extensive discussions. Could anyone please tell me what “shell-pearls” is?

To Pattye and others, if I have said something not appropriate, I apologize.

Very best regards,
Tanakarn

[jshepherd]

Shell pearl is just a type of fake pearl. If you go to eBay and type in "South Sea Pearl" you will find almost nothing but shell pearls. They are usually 10mm+, perfectly round and flawless, and made up of fancy colors.

Nothing inapproriate was said...