M
mikehrz
Guest
Pearlparadise.com has offices in Santa Monica, California. As I am a southern California resident and was looking for a pearl set as a graduation present, I made an appointment and visited the office. (They take one customer per day by appointment only.)
I was greeted by Kirsten, a very polite and helpful lady. She had some pieces waiting that I had expressed interest in. she was very attentive, answered all my questions, and basically showed me whatever I wanted to see. I am not among the wealthier clients pearlparadise has, I’m sure, and frankly, I did not expect to receive as much attention and accommodation as I did. Even my father, who accompanied me along with my mother, expressed surprise at the degree of attention we received. Kirsten informed me that their inventory was a bit low at the time of my visit, but once I made clear exactly what I was looking for, she promised to set aside the unfinished strand I had chosen and look for similar pearls in the next shipment. Again, this personal attention far exceeded my expectations.
The pearls themselves, well, let me put it this way. I haven't been shopping around that long, but I have been to roughly a dozen or so local retail jewelry stores, and I have spent considerable time browsing the internet as well. The pearls I saw while at the Santa Monica office surpassed, in most cases by a substantial margin, every single piece I’ve seen in person. I have seen maybe one strand that was better than the ones I looked at at pearlparadise, and that was an extremely expensive piece that probably retailed for $2000+. The freshwater pearls I saw at pearlparadise easily surpassed the akoyas I’ve seen elsewhere in luster and (lack of) flaws. These fw's were also much rounder than any others I’ve seen. To be honest, I had anticipated a much larger difference between the fw's and the akoyas; although the akoyas were also extremely good, better than any others I've examined, I think this is a case of the fw's being nicer than they had any right to be! And this was the tail end of the inventory?!
The prices are beyond competitive. Honestly, it's hard for me to compare the prices at pearlparadise with those elsewhere, because their pearls are so much nicer than the ones I’ve seen. The pearlparadise website lists retail prices for their pieces. Before visiting, I was a little skeptical about these, mainly because bloated “retail” prices are very common online. Having seen the product in person, I can honestly say that, if pearls of equivalent quality could be found in the retail market, then the prices would probably be very close to what’s listed on the site.
I have been shopping for pearls for a few weeks now. As I told Kirsten, I need look no further.
I was greeted by Kirsten, a very polite and helpful lady. She had some pieces waiting that I had expressed interest in. she was very attentive, answered all my questions, and basically showed me whatever I wanted to see. I am not among the wealthier clients pearlparadise has, I’m sure, and frankly, I did not expect to receive as much attention and accommodation as I did. Even my father, who accompanied me along with my mother, expressed surprise at the degree of attention we received. Kirsten informed me that their inventory was a bit low at the time of my visit, but once I made clear exactly what I was looking for, she promised to set aside the unfinished strand I had chosen and look for similar pearls in the next shipment. Again, this personal attention far exceeded my expectations.
The pearls themselves, well, let me put it this way. I haven't been shopping around that long, but I have been to roughly a dozen or so local retail jewelry stores, and I have spent considerable time browsing the internet as well. The pearls I saw while at the Santa Monica office surpassed, in most cases by a substantial margin, every single piece I’ve seen in person. I have seen maybe one strand that was better than the ones I looked at at pearlparadise, and that was an extremely expensive piece that probably retailed for $2000+. The freshwater pearls I saw at pearlparadise easily surpassed the akoyas I’ve seen elsewhere in luster and (lack of) flaws. These fw's were also much rounder than any others I’ve seen. To be honest, I had anticipated a much larger difference between the fw's and the akoyas; although the akoyas were also extremely good, better than any others I've examined, I think this is a case of the fw's being nicer than they had any right to be! And this was the tail end of the inventory?!
The prices are beyond competitive. Honestly, it's hard for me to compare the prices at pearlparadise with those elsewhere, because their pearls are so much nicer than the ones I’ve seen. The pearlparadise website lists retail prices for their pieces. Before visiting, I was a little skeptical about these, mainly because bloated “retail” prices are very common online. Having seen the product in person, I can honestly say that, if pearls of equivalent quality could be found in the retail market, then the prices would probably be very close to what’s listed on the site.
I have been shopping for pearls for a few weeks now. As I told Kirsten, I need look no further.
