Your Opinion Please! First pearls purchase

[Katbran]

First - she's probably right about the GSS prices..in general they have been increasing.
Second I think all the pearls are pretty - not knowing what you paid it's hard to tell if you have over paid.
Third - as to her pricing. While it's true that large online companies that buy bulk get a better price that those of us who plow through the strands to buy 3 or 4, the small guys have no overhead other than the buying trip. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if smaller people can sell at a much lower price.
fourth - The T's are nice but if you want overtone then don't keep them. Nice pearls with overtone aren't hard to find. As nice as the surface might be I never buy pairs without overtones , while they might be a bit less expensive, to me they look like shiny beads.
Five - In pearls as in most things..you get what you pay for.. if you want AAA or AAAA or whatever scale you are using, you have to pay for them. No one, even at wholesale, gets those pearls cheaply. They can cost thousands wholesale.
Six - WSS can have , highly sought after, pink overtones. I had some 15mm perfect buttons with strong pink overtones last year.

[JerseyPearl]

I second Katbran's comments here.

[pearlbop]

Thanks Katbran, JerseyPearl,

I checked again and converted the prices to USD properly (didn’t do it properly the first time)

Tahitians: ~USD 280
GSS: ~USD 360
WSS pendant: ~ USD 230

Could you tell me what you think would be fair/ normal for these pearls (if you need more photos I can take more)

I’m trying to figure out what grade these are in the first place, as I don’t know what scale my seller is using except that she said there are indeed higher grades than her “AAA”, but she doesn’t stock those

If i can get these pearls roughly graded to the official A to AAA standard, I can at least figure out if I’m willing to pay more for higher grades from other sites

Kat did you post/ dyou still have pictures of your WSS buttons? They sound very nice!

[CrazyMissy]

not bad for a first buy! think of them as training wheels, you are still getting to know your style. Do you prefer gssps over whites? Round tahitians over baroques? the sharp luster of akoyas or satiny finish of wssps?

just my lousy 2 cents though: the tahitians looks a bit flat grey. for studs, find something nice, round and with interesting color play. something dark with strong green overtones? or cherries? or go peacock?

If the gssps are too light-colored for you, return them. check first what shade suits you best. I thought I would look badass with Jewelmer's deep gold studs (and i was willing to take the plunge, yes I was that insane!), only to discover that oops... I look better with their lighter 18k shade. Yeah, that kind of realization hits you.

Another thing I learned: perfection isn't everything, so don't beat yourself up for not buying top-notch. a lot of PG-ers here have harvest strands, baroque tahitian ropes, that sort of pearls are not exactly AAA levels but are lustrous and beautiful in their own way that suits the owner's style. Personal experience, again, I thought I would go crazy getting myself a tenyo-grade rope. Guess what? That's a little far from my mind now that I have a baroque akoya rope -- it's far from perfect, but it looks awesome for daily wear.

[pearlbop]

Thanks CrazyMissy!

I checked out your strand, so gorgeous! Also, I barely even noticed the uneven surfaces until I started to look for them when reading your post. It seems like the luster hides alot!
Am starting to realise that going for perfectly round may not be a big deal since it's actually not that noticeable from far off.

How was your experience custom ordering from PP? I notice you're from Singapore too and I've never been able to claim back GST on orders returned, say, from Net A Porter. And if you don't mind disclosing, how much was this strand?

[Pearl Dreams]

pearlbop, you can estimate prices of a rope by doubling the cost of a single strand. See this page for single strands of baroque akoyas:
https://www.pearlparadise.com/search...=baroque+akoya

[CrazyMissy]

I bought a double baroque akoya strand, had it customized to be a single rope, swapped out the double clasp for large orbit clasps. This way, I have the option of wearing it single and long, or double and short.

Including GST (7%), Fedex shipping... it was still a good deal, and Erin from PP was very accommodating with all the photo and customization requests I had prior to the sale. Cost-wise, I think it was a bargain given that it amounted to a single 18-in strand of a much smaller set of pearls here that didn't impress me.

If you're around, maybe wait a little longer for the SG jewelry fair in June? You get to hold the pearls there and bargain too!

[pearlbop]

Thanks guys.

CrazyMissy, I actually wrote in to them asking about yours and they told me it's back in stock waiting to see if they will have one that I really like.

I also checked out Golay Pearls - noticed that you and quite a few others have bought from them. I get what everyone else is saying about overtones for Tahitians now. They also have beautiful, deep golden pearls. All still out of my current price range though!

PP is also having some really nice tahitian off rounds/ baroques for sub 1500 USD! am really tempted but have spent too much on other things recently

[Elisha]

Hi pearlbop,
I am from SG too and totally agree with crazyMissy about shopping during the jewellery fairs at MBS if you do not wish to buy online. This year, they will be in late July and late Oct. Pricewise, it is comparable to the recommended online vendors but the best part is that you can see the pearls before purchase. There are a few stalls selling settings and the pearl sellers are usually more than happy to set them for you.

[Katbran]

To be honest the Tahitians are ok ,the look like AA to me , but the colour seems a bit ordinary. In the first photo they don't look like they match at all with one being darker and with better lustre. If they are the same pearls posted with the dark pair they look better but still just ok . They are attractive enough and they are large studs so the price, to me, seems like a normal retail price... if a bit high. So you weren't overcharged but frankly the money might have been spent on slightly smaller with better colour. They came with Gold backs I assume for the price.. ?

The White SS - cream isn't very popular here so I don't know if that has effected the price. And there are the diamonds and gold to be considered.. the lustre looks pretty good.. not sure about the colour as I've not seem pinky cream only pinky white. In the first photo it looks like there are marks near the face but I dont know if its the lighting. Again the price seems fine for what it is and the bail being gold.

The gold SS pair ( like the look of the dangle ones at the bottom) = frankly it's hard to say as the colour is difficult to determine from the photo. I'm thinking they are coming out darker than in RL. But again, the price isn't outrageous.

Seems like you have basically paid retail. I don't think you should buy anymore from there , it's not really a deal. You should go to the Singapore show and find something stunning. Honestly its so hard to buy pearls unless you can see them.

[pearlbop]

Hi Katbran, Elisha

Thanks very much for your advice

The earrings do come with the gold backing. Since I ended up paying retail, I guess I will take everyone's advice and wait till the fair or check out the trusted online vendors here (asking PP about the same type of pearls Missy posted about).

Also,

I asked Erin from PP about the WSS because I was using it to try and show the contrast against my skin to choose an appropriate necklace. I may have sent her a bad photo and in general I'm not good at identifying colours but she said it didn't look creamy at all to her.

Am a bit confused because I've seen another post somewhere on PG (can't find the link now) that said there is the main body colour and overtone. So you could have a main body colour that is white, grey, etc, with secondary overtones of pink, silver, etc.
Where does cream fall into here?

a bit mind boggling because alot of websites just let you chose between pink, silver and cream. maybe to simplify it for consumers

[pearlbop]

Also, when you say retail, do you mean the likes of shops in a mall or the likes of PP?

Thanks!

[Pearl Dreams]

As to colors, pearls are made not by machines but by living oysters, so there is going to be a range of colors...even a range of whites from warmer ones to cooler ones. I see cream as a warmer white body color and silvery white as a cooler, almost bluish white body color.

[Katbran]

I agree with PD - cream can be anything from a strong cream colour to a soft white and the silvery white is quite different to a plain white. Definitely a very cool shade.

Have you ever tried to choose a white paint for a wall.... after you have worked you way through about 100 shades of white paint you come to realise that 'white' is not white.

And when I say retail I mean B&M (bricks and mortar) stores or online. . it's all retail.

As for the colour - could easily be your photos. Certainly anything reflecting onto the pearl will change the colour in a photo.