Art:
I understand your reluctance to make a huge purchase like this online. It is nice to be able to see what you're buying and handle it in person before making the purchase--especially when it comes to jewelry. That said, I strongly suggest you consider buying online. When it comes to an item like ss pearls, they not easy to find--even harder to find good quality and value. Although price obviously matters, it's not like a TV where the product is readily available and all that matters is price. When it comes to Pearls, it's been my experience most local jewelers don't know a darn thing about them. Maybe they have a few strands and read the lit provided by Imperial or Mastrolini or one of the established old school vendors, but pearls make up a very small part of their business.
If you're lucky to find a B&M that even carries golden SS's, maybe they have one or two strands in the store (if you're lucky). My wife and I stop in to Tiffany's every couple of months to look around. They have had the same strand of 10-12MM Golden SS sitting in the case for the past year (asking ~$17,000 for it). That's the only one they have in the store--and that's Tiffany's!! Check out Pearl Paradise, Pearl Source, American Pearl etc--they have between 10 and 20 golden SS strands at any time. If you don't like a particular strand for whatever reason (color is too light, too dark, a blemish bothers you etc), you can get a replacement.
In addition, this vendors only deal in pearls. They know their business. Jeremy and I may have had tiny disagreement int the past <wink>, but there are maybe a handful of people on earth that know more about pearls than he does. He not going to risk his reputation by selling you a product that isn't perfect--and if it's not perfect, he's going to make sure you know about it in advance. He's not the only one like that---I have had great experiences with several other vendors in the past as well.
In addition, the reputable sites generally market each strand individually--so that the strand you see in the picture is the strand you're buying. It can be hard to tell color, tone and surface defects from photos, so, if you are uncertain, ask for more pictures in different types of lighting conditions. I have never heard of a vendor that wouldn't take the time out of his or her day to take some pictures of a $6,000 strand of pearls at a customer's request (if they don't do it--or take a year and a day--don't buy from them). They'll even gladly photograph flaws and blemishes on the strand. While they want their pearls to look good in photos, most of the reputable vendors aren't like Burger King that publishes pictures where the whopper in the photo doesn't look like any whopper you've ever seen at one of their stores.
If photos aren't giving you enough comfort, most reputable vendors also have liberal return policies. For example, Pearl Paradise, have 90 day return policy (other companies have 30, 60 and 90 day return policies as well) . You're not really taking a huge risk if you buy a strand and aren't satisfied for some reason. They will take it back--no questions asked (just like Costco or Amazon).
Practically, it's truly in their best interest to make you happy. Online business can only operate if they have their customer's trust. That means no hassles. At a minimum, they know that a person with $6,000 in disposable income to spend on a luxury item like pearls likely has friends they can refer or, if we assume the worst about vendors, that bad vendor also knows that if he tries to stick you with a $6000 strand of pearls, you have the resources to hire a lawyer and make their lives miserable.
I said my peace.
Looking forward to hearing what happens!!
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Originally Posted by Alex
