Are these "Palawan golden south sea pearl" authentic and worth their selling price?

[jini]

Are these "Palawan golden south sea pearl" authentic and worth their selling price?

Hello, everyone!

Recently, I have been searching online for South sea pearls sold in the Philippines and have stumbled upon this online shop based in Palawan. I sent them a message and asked how much is the price for a loose 12mm deep golden south sea pearl with grade (or class? Idk the correct term) AAA. They told me that each pearl costs Php10,000. I have checked their instagram and fb pages and they seem legit with business certificates and the like. I know I should be very cautious with online sellers but I really want to have pearls to wear in an event in a very near future. I cannot personally go to the Philippines and inspect the pearls so I just have to trust the buyer, which my instinct tells me is legit. My question though is, based on the pictures below of their AAA class pearls that they sent me (which I cropped btw), are they really worth the price of Php10,000 (US$217) each?




As you can see in the photo, there are also some slight imperfections which someone said are called "fish bites". I have also read in some other forums that one can buy golden SSPs in Palawan for as low as 5000php per pair so I am not sure if these are fairly priced.

I only have fresh water pearls and I do not know anything about SSPs except what I read online. Everytime I search for SSP and Philippines, Mr. Google always suggests the pearlguide.com forums. I hope you can help me decide if the price for these pearls are worth closing the deal with this seller or not.

I would really appreciate your help. Thank you!!!

 

[GemGeek]

It's hard to say. They are a good size, probably button shaped, which is good for earrings. Does the price include earring settings?

Welcome to Pearl-Guide!

 

[jini]

Thank you, GemGeek �� I'm glad to have found this site. No, the price does not have a setting yet and the price is for each round south sea pearl. But I do not really know if they are button shaped. i have seen other photos and they do not appear to be button-shaped. Are they worth it? Here are some of their recent photos.

 

[GemGeek]

Hmmm. They don't look very round, but they do look nice. If they have a good return policy, then maybe you should take the chance.

 

[jini]

Thank you, GemGeek

 

[KAC]

Something about the color doesn't seem right, these MAY be color treated.

It's hard to say from pictures, but I would ask if they are color treated. They may not know or tell you if they were, but I would at least ask.

 

[jini]

I heeded your advice. I asked the seller and they said it's the natural color of these pearls since Palawan pearls are known for their golden colors. I still do not know if they're dyed or not. I've already bought the pearls, btw. And they were pretty. Thanks.

 

[pattye]

The pearls look lovely in this photo. I was concerned when I saw the greenish cast in the other photos. Enjoy your beautiful earrings!

 

[jini]

Thanks, Pattye. I think I will really enjoy wearing them. �� By the way, I am curious what the presence of greenish cast tells about a pearl. May you please tell me? Thank you!! ��

 

[Cees]

Dear Jini, the pearlfarms in the Philippines produce pearls for their own use in their own retail shops ( Jewelmer), the non used pearls will go to some reliablebuyers and to their auction in Hong Kong. Cogent, another producer of fine Philippines pearls send them also to auctions to Hong Kong. All retailers in the Philippines, Greenhills in Manila and elsewhere buy their golden pearls on the Fairs in Hong Kong or from wholesalers from Kobe and Hong Kong. A number of those wholesaler enhance these golden pearls, but inform their buyers about the enhancement. As Jeremy and others know this they will not buy these pearls. I watched these purchasing many times and the buyers were always Asian customers.

 

[jini]

Thanks, Pattye for the explanation. I also depend on the photos and trust on the supplier since I bought them online. I was quite happy with my purchase because for us who do not have any pearl knowledge, they are beautiful so I will still enjoy wearing them.

But knowing about the story behind Palawan pearls which I have to thank Cees for, I already doubt if what the seller told me is true. I researched and found out that there are other smaller pearl farms in Palawan. I asked the seller before and they told me these are really from Palawan and I believed them because they are Palawan-based business as shown in their business certificate. It's ok with me if they bought these from Hongkong if they cannot buy directly from the farm but I really want to at least have a genuine Palawan pearl that's why I bought it from them, not from Greenhills or other parts of the country. Thank you again, Cees. I'm afraid I cannot return it. I will just have to accept the fact that they are real south sea pearls, just enhanced. Having known the price of Jewelmer pearls, I just got what I paid for. I will have to save more so I can buy from Jewelmer next time.

You've all been helpful. I learned a lot. Thanks!

 

[JerseyPearl]

If you love them, then the purchase was a solid one! They are lovely pearls and you should enjoy wearing them.

 

[Katbran]

They look lovely and they were not horrendously expensive...I mean you can pay 400$USD for a plastic fashion necklace...If you love the way they look then that's great and you should, as JP says above..'enjoy wearing them' !

 

[Cees]

Many buy enhanced golden pearls, on Tuesday I had wholesalers over from Kobe, Japan and they had one bag of golden pearls and those were treated also. I don't buy them, but many shops do and when they tell their customers it is up to the decision of the buyer to buy or not.
But when I visited Greenhills some years ago, sellers would not even tell you if these pearls were enhanced or not and that is bad.

 

[turquoise712]

Some retailers did tell me which were enhanced and which were ‘natural’, though you never know. I bought from sellers with a return policy, sold me the undrilled, locked up and hidden ones, took a while bargaining with me, so gained my trust. I was told to go get it checked and then return them if “fake” colour, quality etc. so I’ll go get a valuation....or a refund....this is probably as good as it gets for pearls that won’t break the bank like Jewelmer.