Confused. Mother of pearl or fresh water pearl?

[zengirl]

This neckalce description is confusing me:

http://buypearls.co.uk/pearl-necklaces?product_id=179

Any ideas?

[pearlescence]

They have a .co.uk but are in Beijing. At a guess I would not expect them to have heard of the Distance Selling Regulations
I have sent you a private message (notifications top right of the page)

[Caitlin]

Zen girl
I think once you get your first necklace, you should start looking for quality not cheapness, though at some sites you can get both. Our member, Pearlescence is in England and has some very unique items. She does go to Hong Kong twice a year and gets the pearls at the best prices.

She always tries to have something from the latest trends, ie souffle pearls and Edison type pearls and Kasumi-like pearls. What is special about the 3 named is they are very colorful and loaded with overtones and iridescence. She also has all the standard stuff, so I would recommend you form a relationship with a real person in England who can get or make anything you should desire. Just looking through her web pages is an education in pearls. Though I have trouble with her high contrast images with shadows, she has a spectacular variety for a single store and truly stands above the competition -and any of the sites you have asked about.

In fact every one who sells here goes through a peer review process and any dodgy claims get bad reviews, so you can trust the venders here far more than random ones found on the web. We even have a few good eBay and Etsy sellers here.

I recommend you get an education by visiting peoples stores. You will be blown by how many kinds of pearls there are. You have a nice klonky freshwater necklace. Not it is time to look past more white, round pearls before you come back to them, unless you want an akoya necklace. Well, please click through sellers' links here and do start with Wendy's (pearlescence) I expect your education will be brief and comprehensive-

that baby no doubt, was wearing akoya pearls, thus the extreme luminescence you noticed. You have the eye, now meet the pearls!

[Marianne]

Yes, by all means, get in touch with Wendy! She is the real deal and so are her pearls

[Amrita]

Yes, by all means, get in touch with Wendy! She is the real deal and so are her pearls

Agreed. No chance of any doubts about pearls' quality if you deal with Wendy.

[lisa c]

Oh, zengirl you're already bringing a bit of humor and zing to PG. I was confused by the listing, too.

I do think that the remark at the bottom of the ad, "freshly farmed", was priceless.

My advice (which you didn't ask for) is return everything you can, and spend a tad more with ANY of the vendors here, to get your money's worth. Take a shortcut and learn from any of our mistakes, before the adventure starts adding up without the delightful pearls you're hoping for.

(I'm not a vendor)

[zengirl]

Thank you very much everyone. Very sensible advice.

It's quite simple. I actually DO want a classic strand of pearls. I know what I want:

16" length necklace
Approx 10mm size
Pearls, as long as they're real
Not a nasty cheap clasp
Not more than about £200

I found the website I posted the link to 'Pearls Only,' which has exactly that:

http://www.pearlsonly.co.uk/freshwat...ace/17286.html

.. and sends the certificate along with it. But are people suggesting I may not get what I order (ie another dodgy site?) If so, I'm annoyed! Who would have ever known there was so much deception and fraud among pearl sellers?! (Well you guys here obviously, but probably no-one else). So can anyone here do what I would like at about that price?

[Caitlin]

You are talking about the necklace you ordered? You will get one very like the one in the picture. I think it is a fine choice! I only wondered if you would get the one in the picture, but it is a common practice when you are selling many of the same kind. They photograph a typical one as an example.

That size pearl for under $200 is hard to find in good qualities and costs at least 3x the price you paid when you do. The good ones 8-9mm and over cost exponentially more than the ones you bought which would be considered commercial quality. Commercial quality can have fantastic luster, it is the shapes and surfaces that are off.

If anyone has anything, do you mind if they PM you?

[zengirl]

Yes of course, I'd be delighted with any PMs.


With the £160 necklace it says on the certificate that will come with it:

Luster AAA
Body AA
Shape AA


Not sure what commercial grade means so I will go and research that now.

Edited to say: Just noticed you're talking in dollars and I'm talking in pounds. I'm English and live near London. That price of £200 is in pounds not dollars (just in case there is a mix-up). It's about $300.

[Marianne]

The pearlsonly people also have a website based in Texas USA... They have their own grading system featuring AAAA pearls. I would be cautious.

[Caitlin]

• Commercial grade pearls
• Visibly off-round.
• Fair to poor luster; low rate of reflection.
• Reflected light sources are blurry.
• Blemish rate less than 50% on each pearl surface.
• Strands will display spotting and blemishing.
  
• Fair matching; will find variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size.

From Pure Pearls. Sometimes commercial grade will have spectacular luster but be graded that low for the shapes, the rings, and possible blemishes. Any one of those criteria indicates a commercial grade.