Where can i find decent pearl jewelry... Bare with me....

[Tantrum]

I am not in the market for the gorgeous perfect expensive pearl jewelry. (i wish i were) but i am not wasting my time on the $2-5 aliexpress junk. lm rather overwhelmed by the whole search. So much of it is china garbage. Or the same china garbage from aliexpress thats been marked up to make people think "oh for this price it MUST be good"
I want something in like $25-75 range. with at least a gaurentee of actual REAL silver/gold plated clasps hooks. Etc. Or let me know if my search is impossible.

I know the pearls will not be perfect. Im ok with that. As long as the pearls are real and the metal is actually what they say it is im happy.
Earrings bracelets necklaces. And not full pearl strand necklaces. Im not that fancy. I dont think the farm animals will appreciate it as much as they should while i do chores anyway.
You all should see my laughable "miniature" stone and crystal collection. Its hard to love and collect gorgeous things on a tiny budget.

Thank you for your time.
Ive been reading posts on this site for a few weeks and keep learning so much. Finally decided it was time to sign up and ask for help.

 

[Sanippy]

Wen pearls on etsy sells some nice, inexpensive freshwater pearls. I'm pretty sure she can set them for you too in sterling silver!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Nearly all freshwater pearls come from China and, no, they are not all "China junk." They span the range from the cheapos to the glorious.

One thing that will cut your costs would be to buy the fittings and the pearls and, then, string or glue them yourself. You can find loose pearls from many different vendors, such as pearlescent (Wendy) or Etsy vendors, like Wen Pearls.

 

[newberry]

Another great source for loose pearls is http://www.kojimapearl.com/ Sarah is wonderful to work with. I can also recommend the three Pearl Dreams listed too. All of these sellers have many more pearls than those listed on their websites.

 

[Pareltje]

Tantrum, there are some Etsy vendors (Chinese) who sell decent pearls (Wen Pearl, Kongs Pearl, DIY Pearl). But you have to bear in mind that some of them are on holiday now. It's almost Chinese new year after all.

 

[JerseyPearl]

May I make a suggestion? You should buy the very best pearl (one or two) you can afford, rather than a larger number of relatively inexpensive ones. Personally, a gorgeous pearl set into a pendant can be dramatic, and beautiful.

 

[Sea Urchin]

Also, the Pearl Outlet (they have a cute silver tin cup bracelet for $49) and Catherine Cardellini- she specializes in baroque freshwater pearls and has some in your price range but she's in Australia.

 

[Karman]

Tantrum, there are some Etsy vendors (Chinese) who sell decent pearls (Wen Pearl, Kongs Pearl, DIY Pearl). But you have to bear in mind that some of them are on holiday now. It's almost Chinese new year after all.

Can recommend these sellers, as I've made orders with all 3 of them!
Wen Pearls has a great selection of strands. If you convo her, she will knot them for you and you can pick a clasp at no extra charge (as long as you don't choose the sterling or gold ones. Sterling ones I think are just $5 anyway)

 

[Lugana]

Since you don't want a full strand - for your budget you could also buy a pair of nice near-rounds tahitians from Jac (thepearlhouse on etsy) and turn them into studs or dangles. Silver findings are cheap and can be bought at bella findings, for example, that would guarantee them to be 100% real
The pearls would not be an exact match of course, but if keep a safe distance from multicolour mixes (that are difficult to match) and leave Jac a comment - I'm sure you would be pleased with them And gluing the pre-drilled pearls to pre-manufactured findings is dead easy, one can hardly go wrong there) just mind not to sink it in glue - think of the tiniest amount you would think is needed, then divide this amount by 3 and only then glue

I had a series of bad experiences with WenPearls recently, so I honestly would doubt to recommend her right now, probably not for the first purchase at least.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Lugana, what happened?

 

[Lugana]

Lady_Disdain, all sort of things, unfortunately.

Started with a few items missing from the parcel when I ordered a lot for my market stall. Like I've ordered 100 pearls, and they've put 95 etc. Or I've ordered a bag of 19 pearls, and she put only one pearl in. Irritating, but ok. I'm a nerd - I always count pearls Wen refunded me for the missing items after I complained.

Then I've received a few items that didn't correspond to the description or photos at all. Described like "rare 3A high luster" and they didn't even look like pearls - very dull and not worth anything. The photo was either of a different strand or of this one but soaked in oil to imitate the luster. Wen refunded me 50% of its price after some communication.

Then Wen suddenly upgraded another parcel from standard delivery to DHL without prior consulting with me, which would mean paying customs for me. OK. She did it for good, probably. She didn't want the parcel to be lost. Ok. You know she first sends it with courier to Hong Kong and only then it's shipped to DHL? Usually this little trip takes a week. Well that suddenly upgraded parcel of mine was travelling somewhere in China with no tracking for over a month. And Wen didn't reply to my messages at all for over 2 weeks (I sent 4 or 5 messages simply asking where are the pearls, no conflict involved or anything). She replied to me after 2 weeks with DHL number, that showed no tracking history for another week ("due to the line of parcels with DHL" as explained Wen). I'm quite a calm person with such things, but I guess someone else could get nervous. The pearls arrived, in 46 days after I placed my order. With DHL they were for 3 days only. Where they were rest of the time - I don't know)) the problem was that I wanted these pearls before the New Year, for presents, and got it long afterwards.

She has nice pearls for little projects, but I've decided to stop buying from her at least for a while after all these. Looks like they have too many orders or shortage of stuff was much difference before.

 

[MSC]

That's a shame to hear, Lugana, but I'm glad you eventually got your orders. I've only ordered once from her and had a mixed experience myself, but I kept my expectations pretty low pearl quality-wise. I think Wen is good for inexpensive pearls for inexpensive projects.

 

[LVLanghanke]

I will say that I have had quality issues with ThePearlHouse. I did not expect anything grand but was still left quite disappointed. Pearlescence is fantastic and I have had good experiences with Wen, but have only made two purchases. PP is great for finished pieces, and they stick by their return policy.

 

[Lugana]

MSC, well, I did score some great items with Wen, but it's more like a lottery with her - sometimes you expect a great item by the photos and it's just average in its best in real life. I also wanted to gift her a proper ruler, because quite often 15mm pearls turned out to be 13.7mm, for example but well. You are right, her prices make big allowance to lower one's expectations) I don't discourage from buying from Wen, just warning a first-time buyer that it might be not very smooth)

I will say that I have had quality issues with ThePearlHouse.

Oh dear. Tell us more please?..

 

[LVLanghanke]

Lugana,

A while ago I bought some AAA NR dark mix as well as som dark clean drops to create a set of earrings and a tin cup for my mom. The 3As were a mixed bag. According to their grading scale, I would only classify 1 out of 7 as 3A in terms of surface and color and that one was definitely drop shape, not NR. None of them had "high" luster. Two of them were in such bad shape surface-wise that I ended up using some Tahitians I had bought secondhand to replace them. The drops and 3 of the 3As were just a medium grey. No overtone or anything. The drops were clean, though, I will give them that. My mom was very pleased with the set, but I could make a necklace out of cat poop and she would love it. I ended up giving her my keshi akoya strand from PP because she wouldn't shut up about how much she loved it every time I wore it and my dad bought her a metallic white strand from PP for Christmas to match and she wears those much more. That was the only order I ever placed with TPH and it was a while ago, so maybe they were just having an off day, but I'm not willng to risk it. I was located in the US at the time and shipping was quite quick, I'll say that.

 

[Lugana]

LVLanghanke, your story sounds very disturbing to me. Jac has all sorts of pearls, but (at least with my orders) I could only thank him for always being consistent and honest with grading. Did you message him upon receiving the order? I mean actually having to discard his 3A graded pearls for surface issues.. that's like thunderstorm to me! Was the situation resolved in any manner?..

 

[LVLanghanke]

I did not contact him, no, because honestly, I didn't think to. I generally consider Etsy a risk, so I just kind of accepted it and then closed my account after another bad purchase from a different seller (for something else entirely) made me lose faith. I'm just sticking to self-supported venues from now on unless I feel like taking a chance on eBay every now and again. Looking back, I definitely should have said something. It's far too late now, though. If he's been consistent with you, and all I really see are glowing reviews on PG, I assume he was having an off day.

 

[LVLanghanke]

At least my mom likes the set. And that's what matters most.