Greenhills Mall Pearl Appraisal Results

[SirMK]

Please share examples of purchases made at Greenhills Mall in PH that appraised well in your home country. Would love fresh and south sea examples!

I’ve bought them a few times. I once bought a ton of freshwater earring/bracelet/necklace combos for around $25. Most of them were white. It was for sisters, nieces, parents, in-laws, etc and they were free for them so no one complained. No one got appraisals though either because they were just freshwaters and it would’ve cost more than I paid for the pearls themselves. We did have a jeweler look at the few Tahitian pearls and they said we received a great deal but I never got them appraised. That said, and I don’t mean to sound cynical, but we were in there to discuss having them mounted on real white gold so if they were fake or less than I paid, it wouldn’t make sense to tell me they weren’t worth mounting.

This last time, I had a cousin ask me to buy her pearls and after numerous FaceTime calls we ended up getting a strand of Tahitians and matching earrings. She also didn’t get them appraised but her jeweler said she got a good deal. Again though, she was there to have them add clasps and posts and so on.

That brings me to this post: have any of you taken the leap of faith and done the appraisal of the pearls and are you willing to share the results compared to what you actually paid for them without exaggerating?

Here are the pearls that I bought for her and we spent about $1200 for them. (These are all the same set of pearls, just different angles, lighting, and magnification.)

 

[jshepherd]

This is indeed a strand of genuine Tahitian pearls. They appear to be in the 13 mm range.

Because there are not internationally recognized standards for grading pearls, an appraisal assigning value would be subjective. In other words, you could get one appraiser that says the strand is worth $1000, and another that might state $10,000. And they would both be correct.

What I can tell you from looking at this strand is:

The pearls appear to be medium dark (based on the first two photos), with little color saturation. They are heavily blemished, in the C-D range if sorted in Tahiti. Some appear to have very thin nacre. You can see this in the surface characteristics of a few of the pearls. I've added a close up of one of the pearls below to show you what I mean - middle pearl. This pearl would not have passed export inspection before lifting of the rules. Overall, it is real, but it is a very low quality strand. That said, for $1200 you did fine.

One thing to remember when shopping at Greenhills is that none - or very, very few - of the pearls come from the Philippines. None of them - zero percent - come from Mindanao, which is what I was told countless times while there. The vendors travel to China and frequent the Hong Kong shows. Nearly all the pearls in Greenhills are sourced this way.

 

[SirMK]

This is indeed a strand of genuine Tahitian pearls. They appear to be in the 13 mm range.

Because there are not internationally recognized standards for grading pearls, an appraisal assigning value would be subjective. In other words, you could get one appraiser that says the strand is worth $1000, and another that might state $10,000. And they would both be correct.

What I can tell you from looking at this strand is:

The pearls appear to be medium dark (based on the first two photos), with little color saturation. They are heavily blemished, in the C-D range if sorted in Tahiti. Some appear to have very thin nacre. You can see this in the surface characteristics of a few of the pearls. I've added a close up of one of the pearls below to show you what I mean - middle pearl. This pearl would not have passed export inspection before lifting of the rules. Overall, it is real, but it is a very low quality strand. That said, for $1200 you did fine.

View attachment 466168

One thing to remember when shopping at Greenhills is that none - or very, very few - of the pearls come from the Philippines. None of them - zero percent - come from Mindanao, which is what I was told countless times while there. The vendors travel to China and frequent the Hong Kong shows. Nearly all the pearls in Greenhills are sourced this way.

Thank you very much!

 

[SirMK]

If I’m reading this right, I should probably try to just buy these in Hong Kong then correct?

 

[jshepherd]

There aren't any pearl markets like Greenhills in Hong Kong. There are a few markets where pearls are sold, but you'd have to go into mainland China to get to those sorts of markets. The shows in Hong Kong are restricted to wholesale buyers. If you're able to get into the show, then yes, you'll find a lot of Tahitian strands like this.

 

[SirMK]

Thank you for the wealth of information! Where have you found to be the best location to buy pearls for a good rate? Just curious if I have the chance to cross paths in those areas and surprise the wife!

 

[jshepherd]

The best pearl markets I've found have been in China. There is a great one in Beijing - the Hongqiao Market. I haven't been there in about 20 years, but this is where I bought the first strand of pearls that launched Pearl Paradise in the 1990s.

There is one in Shanghai as well - The Hongqiao New World Pearl Market in Shanghai

The biggest one is in Zhuji.

Prices in China are better than other markets around the world because the freshwater pearls in those other markets all come from China. But this doesn't mean you'll get a great deal. Market vendors are very savvy, and they sell and negotiate for a living. Whether or not you get a deal depends on you, and your selection + negotiation skills.