[TSH]

Hi,
I have a pearl necklace and some loose pearls from the Gulf of Tonkin.
I wanted to have them appraised since there is a possibility I may be getting more for the purpose of selling. I am located in the Bay Area and have gotten two estimates for appraisal costs-one for $125/hour, and the other for $150/hour.
I thought I read here on the forum that appraisals can run as low as $35/hour. Does anyone know of any reputable appraisal services in the Bay Area that charge this price or at least closer to that price?
Thanks.

[jshepherd]

Try Sharon Wakefield from NW Gem Labs. She is very reasonable, and will give you a very accurate report regarding type and quality of pearl.

The pearls are from the Gulf of Tonkin? What farm is producing SSP out there? I know there are Akoya produced in Northern Vietnam...

[Slraep]

Hello TSH,

If they are from northern Vietnam, then they are akoya. And usually very bad quality akoya. All the good stuff is swiftly exported, so unless you got these from someone you know and trust, and they cost you small fortune, they are most certainly low grade or rejected akoya.

You can't imagine how many of these northern Vietnamese akoya I have seen. Relatives of mine that travel to Vietnam always come back with strands of them. Most are only MOP beads with the slightest hint of nacre. This is what they sell them to tourists.

TSH, I am hoping your pearls turn out to be decent quality. Or that they are something other than akoya. It's a long shot, though.

Slraep

[TSH]

Thanks for your responses, Jeremy and Slraep.
I will look into Sharon Wakefield's services, as you suggested, Jeremy.

Let me explain that I am doing my best in trying to find out as much information as possible about these pearls although there is a bit of a language barrier as my Mandarin is limited, and the person who sent me the pearls has a limited English vocabulary.

Anyway, perhaps I have been wrong in where these pearls are from. I am unfamiliar with this particular area of Asia/China and have just been looking at maps online. He says they are from Beibuwan (North Bay) of South Sea. He also says he is located in Yingpan Town, Beihai City, Guangxi Province.

Any more thoughts on where they are from? Are they truly South Sea pearls?

Jeremy, buy the way, I do not know what farmer he got these pearls from; he only said that he got them directly from the farmer.

Hope to hear from you soon.

TSH

[jshepherd]

Those would be Akoya pearls, not South Sea, unfortunately. Your friend must have picked the strand up from either a market there, or one of the factories. The pearls are in a strand (finished), so they could not have come directly from an actual farmer.

In order to determine the value you need to know the quality of the strand and the size of the pearls. If the pearls are round, without blemishes, and have a very highly reflective surface, it is a good strand. If it is off round (even slightly), with surface imperfections and low luster, it will not have too much value.

[Meech]

Hi Jeremy,

Are you familiar with any appraisers in the Chicago area that you would recommend for looking at CFWP?

Regards,

Meech

[Richard W. Wise]

Finding appraisers is difficult particularly for exotic items. Most appraisers are very familiar with diamonds and have almost no familiarity with anything else. Though there are now two nationwide appraisal organizations, NAJA and another who's acrornym escapes me, most appraisals are done by jewelers.

Beware of jewelry store appraisals. Many jewelers use aprraising as a platform to attempt to gain you as a client. This is the old low-ball or "I can get it for you cheaper". The minute you hear that or any variation thereof, its best to walk because what you are going to get, maybe pay for, is a backdoor sales pitch.

If you use a jeweler, check his stock. Does he have a good inventory of pearls? Stripped to basics, comparison is about the only way to appraise. If he doesn't deal in it, how is he going to know? Pricelists exist but they are tricky to use..

Last week a client got a "ball-park", thats a free appraisal on a ruby he was purchasing from me. The ball-park ended up being 35% less than I paid for the stone in Burma. Free advise is worth what you pay for it.

By the way, I charge $150.00 per hour.

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Richard,

I can second that assessment. We had an appraiser on this forum who had what were probably Burmese deep golden pearls that she was thinking may be big akoyas. She tought they may be worth in the US$600 range. And then there was the unnamed jeweler in Canada who thought that he could get an 18-inch strand of top-quality Vietnamese sinanodonta woodiana for US$ 400.

Zeide

[TSH]

You were right, Jeremy. They are indeed Akoya pearls. I am still in the process of finding out other information about them as well.
Thanks for your input.