[Carol]

Greetings:
(I tried to upload some pictures so you could compare the three strands - but I am having lots of trouble - maybe later )
My first experience in buying pearls at LingLing’s occurred this past August in her Shanghai store. My mission was to obtain a strand of 8mm, AAA, lavender pearls with a 14K gold clasp and in the end I did succeed in doing just that. This is the story.
Shanghai in August is very hot and very humid, a walk from the Bund down Nanjing Road to Pearl City takes a half an hour or so and you arrive soaking wet with sweat. I had understood that the shop I was looking for was on the 4th floor, so I took the escalator up and searched through a rabbit warren of offices, but alas, it wasn’t there. It turns out that it is on the second floor and there is a big sign above the front of the store announcing Ling Ling’s pearls. If you are looking for it, you can’t miss it; you just have to look in the right place.
When you go into any store in China, especially a jewelry store, there is no shortage of shop assistants to help you. Labour is cheap over there and all stores have lots of staff, in certain stores, there are girls whose only job appears to be to hold open the door for any customer wanting to enter. If you show any sign of being interested in the merchandise, they immediately give you a cold bottle of water and your shopping experience has begun.
A person need not worry about getting “real” freshwater pearls in China. They are all over the place, in every market, and the seller will happily get out a pocket knife to scrape the pearls, thereby showing you the “pearl dust.” They will show you how plastic pearls peel off and genuine pearls make white dust. Genuine pearls are everywhere and are really cheap, so I am not sure why they would bother with plastic ones, maybe for an expensive set, but surely if a person was spending big money they would check for authenticity.
I dealt with Nancy, who was very helpful and very pleasant. I told her what I was looking for and she hauled out hanks of pearls in the size range I was looking for. We settled on a set of pearls that would make a necklace and bracelet. We bargained over the price of the pearls and then we looked at clasps. What I found was that the clasps were way more expensive than I had thought. Gold clasps, especially ones with diamonds can up the price considerably. The other thing I found was that they don’t come down in price all that much. I am not sure if they could see that gleam of desire in my eye or what, but I am sure that Nancy knew I would buy those pearls. When you are hot, sweaty and have invested an hour in choosing and then bargaining for a product – it takes a cold heart to walk away! I certainly couldn’t!
So this is what I ended up with, a necklace and bracelet of 8mm, lavender, “best quality” (their term) pearls with a 14K gold clasp and I paid 800 Yuan for them. (About 7 Yuan to the dollar)
Just to compare, I bought the second set on a Yangtze River cruise ship. They are 8.2mm and I paid 300 Yuan for them.
The third set, I bought from a street vendor for 125 Yuan. Pearl enhancer, I bought from Ling Lings as well. I paid 750 Yuan for it.
I would have gone back and bought some more strands but our guide kept telling us that prices in Beijing would be better. When we arrived in Beijing, we went to the Pearl Market and found Ling Ling’s store, but they were not as helpful and they seemed to be very reluctant to bargain at all. I think this is a result of the Olympics coming to China – they are upping the prices in preparation of that event. In my opinion the store in Shanghai had much more to choose from in the area of “cheap gift items” and I wish I had spent more time there. In Beijing, I unfortunately ran out of time and couldn’t really do the whole choosing, bargaining thing. Probably a good thing for my credit card.
Anyways, it was quite the experience and I do think that I would be better at it the second time around, but it was fun and I am happy with what I did get.
And that, is my pearl buying report!

Carol

[Caitlin]

That was great! Here is the picture

[Carol]

Thanks for your suggestion Caitlin - the pictures really do show the comparison.
However, I am practically wailing with frustration at trying to post them - almost at the "I need a glass of wine" stage.
Can I email them to you?

Carol

Great story Carol! You are so adventurous.

I, too, find that bargaining is stressful when I really want something. Ultimately, being able to walk away is the only control I have. If they don't come after me, then I figure that's probably their best price.

I'm looking forward to seeing your pearls very soon.

Cheers,
Blaire

[pearlpunk]

i wouldn't mind taking a peek at your pearls too. i live in singapore and am actually relatively close to some of these pearl producing / whole-selling countries. but never have enough nerve to buy them myself! you might just inspire me to be a bit more adventurous in the future
but i love large freshwaters, about 10-11 mm ones....

Yay a photo! All of them are nice but I love the one on top with the yellow gold clasp because of the color. Of course I can't really tell just from one photo but it looks like it has some nice overtones and the lavender isn't at all muted. It's very rich.

[pernula]

I like the top one too. Besides color, the bottom one also does not seem to have good matching. 125 yuan is very good value though, isn't it?

Pernula

[Carol]

Yes, the bottom ones are from the market - but hey - but for $18.00US you just can't beat the price!
If I was to give any advice, it would be to go and buy an inexpensive set - like the top ones. They are very nice and at around 100US could not be considered expensive. Once you have managed to negotiate a size, clasp and price on those, the next set would be much easier to obtain. I would have liked to get a big, fat set of white ones with a nice clasp - but unfortunately time was not on my side.
Truthfully, I didn't think that I was up to the whole challenge of bargaining. But everything in China requires negotiation - even a bottle of water varies in price. Someone else may have been able to buy that set of pearls from Ling Ling for less.....but in the end I was pretty happy with the pearls and the price I paid for them.
However, like any addict............I want more...........

Carol

Hi Carol,

very interesting report and good comments, some made me smile... Very curious about the photos.

[Alice]

Hi Carol,

Your story is so interesting . But, I think that real best quality pearl shouldn't be scraped, it will hurt the pearl's surface. Pearls are unique, even they look like the same, there are still some diffrences between each other on the shpaes, surface, etc. By the way, if you come to China next time, maybe you can come to Shanxiahu where there's a big pearl market, it is about 3 hours by train from Shanghai, I'm sure the price and quality will surprise you.

Alice

[Raisondetre]

I've just come back from Guangzhou. Quite a fruitful trip. My main aim was to get some stuff for my best friend, so I wasn't really too bothered with negotiating. I buy wholesale predominantly anyways for clothes and accessories, so for the quantities I'm buying they just shave a couple dollars off a strand, throw in a free clasp, and that's about it. I went to Liwan Plaza - the whole basement is a jewellery wholesale market, from glass to crystal to sterling silver and even African jewellery. Most of the stores, however, sell all kinds of pearls, predominantly freshwater as expected. I wasn't too interested in the other kinds since it's not really the source anyways, but I set off to find some 7-8 mm white and pink strands. The down-sizing was quite obvious, but the vendors did tell me that the sizes were graded to the nearest 0.5 mm instead of the full mm. I was not too happy with the luster of most of the white strands, and in the end opted for the most expensive of the lot for 220 yuan with a free sterling silver clasp. Since my friend did not specify a white gold clasp and I deemed the quality of the pearls AA at best, I didn't bother. They did give a discount on the cheap bracelets and pendants my mom liked so those were practically free, so it wasn't a bad deal at all. The strand I got was apparently 7.5-8 mm (to be confirmed) with good luster, a rose overtone and sad to say, only 85-90% blemish free. Some ringing and pits in almost all the pearls. A far cry from the stuff I usually get from PP and TPO (I only buy AA+ and above for light-colored CFWP). For the price I can't really complain, but if there were high quality pearls I'd be glad to get some in person myself. I'd already trudged through at least 20 stores before I went back to the one my mom bought from last time. The other stores pretty much quoted retail prices and did not even want to bother with small purchases.

The pink strands were lovely, slightly off-round but with very good luster and virtually blemish free. I was told the size was 7-7.5 mm, but I'll have to compare it with my 7-8 mm strand when I get home before I'll believe it. I'd call it AA+. Happy with most aspects apart from size. The price was the same - 220 yuan with a free sterling silver clasp. They strung both strands right in front of me. Pics to follow once I get back to Sydney later in the week. I got some really nice tops with pearl accents as well. So not the same thing, but it's kinda cool.

Over the years I've been collecting trophies of failed pearl purchases. My first was one of those cheapish freshwater chokers strung with small freshies at random intervals on what looks like fishing line to me. I paid almost US$150 for them. This was 9 years ago before I even got into pearls. I was in a hurry to get something that matched my debutante dress, and a full strand of what was probably a 7-8 mm Akoya strand with visible blemishes was quoted for a whopping US$1500 in a B & M store in Sydney's city center. After that sticker shock I pretty bloody happy to plonk down a "mere" 1/10th of the "original". I only ever wore it once, and the pearls are so bad I wouldn't even pay $10 for them now. I even bought a "matching" pearl bracelet which I didn't realize was made of plastic at one of the markets, blissfully unable to tell the difference at the time. Upon reinspection, I can see the large drill-holes with gum sticking out of it. Such is the power of knowledge. I'll most likely never wear those again but keep them for my possible children to play with.

My parents went to Taihu in 2002. I did not tag along for that trip and as usual the tour guide took them to the obligatory touristy stores that sold merchandise for 4-5 times their net worth. Easy prey they were. My mom bought some really watered down pink and purple strands that were 8-9 mm, ringed, pitted and so poorly matched I'd barely pass them for AA in my most drunken stupor (not that I drink). The luster is merely acceptable, and there are only 1-2 pearls in each strand with luster I'd deem acceptable for "A" grade pearls. I think she paid US$150 for each of them. Not heinously expensive, but certainly not worth it for the price. Now that she's seen my freshwater baroques she's wondering if the color's faded from those strands. I quite doubt it. They were probably just ripped off with poor quality goods in the absence of expert guidance. Quite amazing how much I've picked up just from this forum in the last 6 months or so.

As I said, the knowledge continues to build, and the thirst is only getting stronger. Can't wait to get my hands on yet more high quality pearls. The blues and purples are just making me drool ...

To be honest, unless you're really into getting dirty or buying huge quantities, the trip to Shanxiahu for a couple strands wouldn't be worth it. Way too time consuming. It's a good experience though.

[jshepherd]

It is good to finally be back. I feel like I have been traveling for months!

Originally Posted by Raisondetre

To be honest, unless you're really into getting dirty or buying huge quantities, the trip to Shanxiahu for a couple strands wouldn't be worth it. Way too time consuming. It's a good experience though.

Perfectly put and so true! For most people the value of the trip would be in the experience. It is a good place for serious buyers, but for smaller buyers Shanghai would most likely be the best place. It is easier to get to. It is more comfortable (and clean). And it is much easier to do business there. Overall prices will be higher in Shanghai, but prices are really what YOU make them as a buyer. Some may be able to do better in Shanghai.

Great blog about Guangzhou. I have never actually purchased pearls there. At one time I thought it may be a viable place as there were factories there. But most of them closed up (M&J for example) because land prices got too high. There still are a few traders there but I know of no serious wholesalers.

Hi Raisondetre,

just want to tell You how much I enjoyed reading about your "pearl shopping trip". It is so nice to hear about the personal experiences of each of our members, including Jeremy of course, who really does an outstanding job with all the long articles and photos. That goes for GemGeek and all the other posting members as well.

Thank You!

Very interesting, Raisondetre! I can imagine all the goods you went through to get those strands. I loved getting to share in your experience. Pictures later? (You know how I am about photos)

Cheers,
Blaire

[Raisondetre]

Pics to follow in about 48 hours. I'm in Singapore at my parents' place and I have no idea where the digicam is since I last left. Pity I didn't manage to contribute for your b'day pics! I'm going to have a blast photographing everything. In fact I feel a little pathetic confessing that that will be the first thing I'll be attending to once I hit home when I should probably book in my car for a routine service that's 6 months overdue ...