ebay

[aperock]

Okay, I am new when it comes to Pearls. I wanted to buy a nice set of earings for my fiance. I bid and won a pair of South Sea earings that looked quite nice:

SOUTH SEA PEARL DANGLE EARRINGS
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=8919438060

I also won an "Akoya Sea Pearl Necklace" by the same seller
PEACOCK AKOYA SEA PEARL NECKLACE:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=8918281172

I was aslo in the market for a nice neckalce -- either south sea or akoya -- hopefully to match the earings. The seller suggested this:

SUSPENDED PLANTING PEARL NECKLACE:
http://cgi.ebay.com/27K-SUSPENDED-PL...temZ8919781082

It wasn't until I read the description of this last item that I realized that I should be more cautious.

I am wondering if I may have gotten ripped off on the earings. Also, I like the "Akoya Sea Pearl Necklace", and don't think it was a huge price to pay -- but I am wondering if I could have bought it cheaper somewhere else. Also what is it, dyed freshwater pearls or something.

Anyway -- I will probably buy the white akoya or south sea necklace from somewhere more repitable. Any suggestions? I don't mind buying vintage.

[jshepherd]

I would not trust a thing this seller says after reading this section on their 'suspended planting'.

The word Suspended planting mean, this pearls has been grown (cultured) twice within an oysters (mollusks).
1st is the insertion of the mantel tissue & grown for 7-7-1/2 years before they are being harvest.
As you may already know, fresh water pearls are better known as Non Nucleus pearls but hold on..this one are exceptional!! They have nucleus, Yes!! they do...just like salt water Akoya, Tahitian or the south sea pearls. And they have the most expensive nucleus as we will explain on the 2nd part how we do that.
2nd we hand selected the most roundness & the most lustrous one and re-inserted to another oysters (mollusks) than re-cultured them for the same length of time; Another good 7 years!!
So instead of using Mother of Pearl beads as a nucleus, the finest pearls from the first 7 years are being used.
The result is astonishing!! Its a dream pearls...the most lustrous pearls with exceptional thicker nacre; Even better than the ordinary south sea pearls & thats when the word PREMIUM derives. Almost perfectly round in shape, in fact you will find many that are perfectly round in shape.

Very few un-noticeable light flaws due to water enviroment and it may have few or with no blemish at all ! The body color is white with the most gorgeous light pink-tone over. Large pearls with the diameter should be at least 8.6 mm - 9.6 mm or large.

This is a total scam. And a seller with that amount of imagination will (I am sure) dream up descriptions for all of their pieces. There is not an ounce of truth in the entire quoted description.

[jshepherd]

Also it is important to note that their pearls are all from China - not Japan as stated. This does not make a big difference - but it is dishonest.
The Akoya strand does look like an Akoya - a dyed Chinese Akoya strand. And the freshwater strand is a Chinese freshwater. I cannot say for certain on the earrings, but I would doubt the karat, the diamonds (carat and quality), and the pearls. I cannot imagine using that type of backing for the stated quality.

[Kevin Canning]

So if we take the sellers word as honest then those pearls were grown for 14 years??

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Kevin,

Maybe that seller was simply trying to apply the myth of 0.004mm nacre accretion per diem that unfortunately some Japanese studies have published and which are highly dubious for volumetric reasons. For instance, in a set of comparative growth rate figures once posted by Jeremy, they claim the same 0.004mm per diem rate for both 3mm and 6mm starter beads which means that miraculously the bigger beads accumulate nacre 8x as fast as smaller beads. There are some operations that actually start with round-polished keshis and grow the pearls in several stages because akoya scallops do not live long enough to naturally produce pearls larger than 6mm unless you use a very large tissue graft in which case the resulting pearls are virtually guaranteed to come out baroque. These pearls are tremendously expensive and do not look any better than fine Chinese freshwater pearls.

Zeide

[jshepherd]

I highly doubt the eBay seller really put that much thought into it. Another one that really caught my eye earlier from this seller is that creamy-yellow strand with the super-thick nacre and mirror-like luster

http://cgi.ebay.com/AAA-LUXURIOUS-GO...QQcmdZViewItem

[Pearls_by_Angela_Carol]

Well, that all sounds fine, but the seller is also saying that the Black Akoya have a AAA++ luster and that the "suspended planting" pearls have AAA++ nacre thickness... again, another example of an arbitrary - made up grading scale.

But why shouldn't they make up thier own grading scale? They also say that Akoya is the Japanese word for salt water.

[Zeide Erskine]

That always makes me want to cook pasta - in akoya. The water for good pasta should always be quite salty even if one uses NoSalt brand.

Zeide

PS.: That is only half as bad as some sales people at Macy's that were trying to tell me that their Sequoia pearls are only grown in Japanese water.

[jshepherd]

Which are the Sequoia? I know they carry the Honora - which could be grown in Japanese water - they may pipe it through the Yellow Sea

[Zeide Erskine]

Since I was still living in Ahwahnee at the time when I was told that they had Sequoia pearls grown in Japanese water, I envisioned a giant redwood tree in a gargantuan bottle of Coca-Cola-brand Sakami water with tiny dull but flawless pearls rambling in the pine cones.

Zeide

[Pearls_by_Angela_Carol]

The Sequoia pearls are grown in the Sequoia Pearl National Park in Nevada. They are the largest pearl known to man. They can get as large as 40 feet in diameter - which makes for a very pretentious necklace. It's scientific name is Sequoiadendron pearlwishius and it is characterized by its bumpy brown surface.

[Zeide Erskine]

I am big, but not that big. Anyhow, their sequoia pearls looked more like thin-nacre akoyas to me. They wanted US$500 plus tax for a 5-5.5mm strand. The freshwaters they had were a far better deal.

[jshepherd]

It's scientific name is Sequoiadendron pearlwishius and it is characterized by its bumpy brown surface.

Now that is funny! Better be careful with those descriptions, they may make their way to eBay pretty soon

[aperock]

Thanks for the info! Maybe when I am down in Vegas next month I will visit a farm and pick out a Sequoia Pearl myself.

[aperock]

Okay, I still have a question about this ebay auction I won. Now that I have done a little more thinking... doesn't 8.5-9mm seem a little small for South Sea Pearls? Could they be made of freshwater pearls?

SOUTH SEA PEARL DANGLE EARRINGS
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=8919438060