I am completely new to pearls, but I'd like to buy something nice for my SO.

[Romantheomen]

Pearls to me look very rich yet simple, and always beautiful, but I know not one thing about them. I'm looking to buy a nice pair of earrings for my fiance for the sake of spontaneity. I'm the type of person that hates anything that is not legitimate, and I want to make sure I buy authentic pearls for my dearest. By authentic I mean that they are actually pearls, they don't have to be naturally cultivated in clams, but they cannot be knock-offs. I frankly have no idea what terminology is used by retailers and what words I need to look out for in order to avoid falling into their cleverly worded marketing schemes into buying "almost" real pearls.

I'd want the earrings to be in the $50-$150 range; I don't even know if real pearls sell for that cheap. This is one item that I found so far that might be interesting, but again I have no idea if it is real.

http://www.anandia.com/p158-Akoya-Bl...-Earrings.html

[GemGeek]

Since they are both dyed, I think you should go with freshwater pearls. The nacre will wear better as they are solid nacre. The pearls you are looking at are okay and the price is right, but look at the AAA selection of freshwater earrings here: http://www.pearlparadise.com/8090-mm...rrings818.aspx

There are lots of other good vendors. Are you in the USA?

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Hi, These pearls are GIA graduated which means they will be delivered with a certificate telling you the grade and source. But these pearls are cultured. You find a very good explaination about Akoya pearls in the pearl guide here:
http://www.pearl-guide.com/japanese-akoya-pearls.shtml
Regards

[Romantheomen]

I am in the US. How notable are the differences between AA+ and AAA?

[GemGeek]

First, to clarify, they have a staff member who has received GIA education prepare an appraisal certificate for your pearls. It is not a GIA certificate and GIA does not train people to assign a letter grade to pearls. Pearl Paradise has all their staff GIA trained in pearls and they send an appraisal too. It's a nice extra to have. The Gemological Institute of America does pearl reports, not certificates. I'm only saying this because I see confusion on this a lot.

Roman, go back and click on the link I posted and look at the photo of the two grades together. You can see that the AA is kind of a button shape and the AAA is very round. Also, there is a better surface quality on the AAA, which appear darker and bluer in the photos.

[perlinda]

Black pearls unless they're Tahitian pearls are most likely dyed. Does your fiance like black pearls? If you're not sure, it's better to go with classic white pearls.

Trusted online vendors (such as pearlparadise.com, pearlsofjoy.com, purepearls.com, thepearloutlet.com) would have stud earrings in your price range. Grading would vary from one company to another, but for Pearl Paradise, AA+ and AAA in freshwater pearls would have similar quality except one is very round (AAA) and the other is less round (AA+).

Round pearls are considered to be more valuable so they have higher price. But if you think that's not gonna bother your fiance, you may go with AA+ grade.

Good luck on your search

[GemGeek]

Good advice!

[pearlescence]

In bigger sizes of pearls it is arguable that buttons sit better on the earlobe because they don't stick out quite so much. A 14mm button looks and sits well, but a 14mm round would probably look a bit silly and arrive before the wearer's nose...!

[Amrita]

You're funny, Wendy!

[Pearl Dreams]

Here's my suggestion: Instead of dyed freshwaters, how about some naturally colored, naturally metallic freshwater pearls studs?

See these beauties, 8.5-9mm (they also sell smaller ones):

http://www.pearlparadise.com/8590-mm...ings-3675.aspx


I have the lavender ones in that size; here is what they look like:

http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/att...chmentid=11689

[haralambie]

Hi all,
I am as well new, on the hunt for a beautiful gift for my wife. I went to the shops here and prices seemed huge. Therefor I found this nice forum with great suggestions.
So, to make it short, my question is: can I be absolutely sure that the pearls from pearlparadise.com are for real? The prices are indeed much better...
Thanks.

[haralambie]

Well, I have taken few steps in advance - as I lack patience - and decided to go ahead and buy. Worst news, they don't deliver to Romania... Wrote them an email, waiting for an answer. Depressing.

[Amanda]

They are indeed real - in that they are cultured pearls. Almost all pearls for sale in the world are cultured, which means that the pearl-growing process is started by man inserting something into the shell, to encourage pearls to grow.

[Alex]

Hi all,
I am as well new, on the hunt for a beautiful gift for my wife. I went to the shops here and prices seemed huge. Therefor I found this nice forum with great suggestions.
So, to make it short, my question is: can I be absolutely sure that the pearls from pearlparadise.com are for real? The prices are indeed much better...
Thanks.

yes, the pearls that you're looking at on the 'pearl paradise' site are indeed 'real'

they are a 100% bone-fide site

good luck with your search

[haralambie]

Thank you for the answers. Indeed, they also seem to be nice as I'm having a good conversation over the email.
Though, can you please tell me of other sites that sell pearls? I don't think another topic would be entitled so I'm still asking here, sorry for that.