greatpearls
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Round, Button, Baroque SSP
- Thread starter greatpearls
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jshepherd
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The first picture is of bead nucleated freshwater, and the rest appear to be tissue nucleated freshwater. The pearls are nice enough, but by the jpg names is appears as though they are being referred to as South Sea. None of the pearls are South Sea pearls - they are all freshwater.
greatpearls
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Hi Jeremy,
Wow!! are you certain just by looking at the pictures? these pearls were purchased in the philippines from a well known retailer in greenhills to be in particular and we were told that these were SSPs not sure about the baroque though...
im no pearl expert but the basic stuff i know how an SSP vs. freshwater feels and looks like. it still does not sink to me that i was ripped off because these pearls really look and feel like SSP's. another thing is if these were freshwater, then these pearls are real crappy freshwater pearls then, because of the blemmishes and imperfections?? i should have just bought a $2 pearl from china which is bigger and perfect
can you explain in detail what made you comment that these are freshwater? im really puzzled now...
hope to hear back from you soon.
thanks!
Wow!! are you certain just by looking at the pictures? these pearls were purchased in the philippines from a well known retailer in greenhills to be in particular and we were told that these were SSPs not sure about the baroque though...
im no pearl expert but the basic stuff i know how an SSP vs. freshwater feels and looks like. it still does not sink to me that i was ripped off because these pearls really look and feel like SSP's. another thing is if these were freshwater, then these pearls are real crappy freshwater pearls then, because of the blemmishes and imperfections?? i should have just bought a $2 pearl from china which is bigger and perfect
can you explain in detail what made you comment that these are freshwater? im really puzzled now...
hope to hear back from you soon.
thanks!
P
pattye
Guest
Hi GreatPearls,
Obviously I can't reply for Jeremy, but if you check out his website at PearlParadise.com you will see that he is very experienced in selling SS, Tahitian, Freshwater and akoya pearls. He is one of probably 10 or so forum members who have successful, well established online stores. He is one who actually travels to choose and purchase his pearls directly, has them custom drilled, has ownership in pearl farms (think I am correct about that) so he is extremely familiar with pearling every step of the way. And has petted and examined more pearls than most of us can only dream of!!
Pattye
so many pearls, so little time
Obviously I can't reply for Jeremy, but if you check out his website at PearlParadise.com you will see that he is very experienced in selling SS, Tahitian, Freshwater and akoya pearls. He is one of probably 10 or so forum members who have successful, well established online stores. He is one who actually travels to choose and purchase his pearls directly, has them custom drilled, has ownership in pearl farms (think I am correct about that) so he is extremely familiar with pearling every step of the way. And has petted and examined more pearls than most of us can only dream of!!
Pattye
so many pearls, so little time
jshepherd
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I am sorry to hear that. I have never personally been to Greenhills, but many people seem to have had a similar experience there. From what I have heard, all sellers claim to have South Sea pearls but sell Chinese freshwater.
The first set is clearly bead nucleated freshwater. It resembles a freeform baroque South Sea, but does not quite look the same. Here is a South Sea strand. You can see the similarity:
www.pearl-guide.com
Here are bead nucleated freshwater:
www.pearl-guide.com
The earrings have the shape, the color, the luster, and the surface of freshwater pearls. If I only saw pictures of the rounds, I would lean freshwater but would not be certain. But the buttons are without question, as is the set. This tells me they are all freshwater.
I know that the set with silver and stones was composed of freshwater because of the pearls again, and because the design is a common one made by a company in Zhejiang and sold at most of the kiosks in Shanxiahu.
Yes, you probably could have purchased the pearls for less in China as this is where they came from. But not for $2 - based on the size of the pearls. You mention one pair as 15mm. If they are really 15mm, that is a huge size, and they should be set on gold, not silver. Large round freshwaters are not cheap.
South Sea pearls are in a totally different league when buying and selling wholesale. Because producers sell them at auction, you are not going to find a "special place" to get them cheaper than the other guy. The best possible price will always be right around yearly market value. And to get that good price you have to be willing and able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, and have a producer willing to sell to you. I am guessing you spent around $20-$40 for the earrings and around $100 for the set. That would be China pearl market approximate value (set on silver). If the pearls were South Sea, the set would have cost $2-$3000, and the earrings around a thousand per pair as well, even though they are commercial quality.
Because South Sea pearls are so valuable, a lot of people try to pass other types of pearls off as South Sea. We see this constantly on eBay - white freshwater pearls sold as South Sea, black freshwater sold as Tahitian. We also see it online.
The first set is clearly bead nucleated freshwater. It resembles a freeform baroque South Sea, but does not quite look the same. Here is a South Sea strand. You can see the similarity:
South sea or larger baroque Akoya?
Those are akoya. Akoya have those clumps and protruding waves of nacre.
www.pearl-guide.com
Here are bead nucleated freshwater:
Nucleated Freshwaters From China
I just arrived today from a quick trip to Asia. I was finally able to examine a sizable lot of nucleated freshwater pearls. Although I am not sure yet of the marketability of nucleated freshwaters, I did buy 2 strands (not to sell, only to photograph, examine, and maybe send one to the GIA to...
www.pearl-guide.com
The earrings have the shape, the color, the luster, and the surface of freshwater pearls. If I only saw pictures of the rounds, I would lean freshwater but would not be certain. But the buttons are without question, as is the set. This tells me they are all freshwater.
I know that the set with silver and stones was composed of freshwater because of the pearls again, and because the design is a common one made by a company in Zhejiang and sold at most of the kiosks in Shanxiahu.
Yes, you probably could have purchased the pearls for less in China as this is where they came from. But not for $2 - based on the size of the pearls. You mention one pair as 15mm. If they are really 15mm, that is a huge size, and they should be set on gold, not silver. Large round freshwaters are not cheap.
South Sea pearls are in a totally different league when buying and selling wholesale. Because producers sell them at auction, you are not going to find a "special place" to get them cheaper than the other guy. The best possible price will always be right around yearly market value. And to get that good price you have to be willing and able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, and have a producer willing to sell to you. I am guessing you spent around $20-$40 for the earrings and around $100 for the set. That would be China pearl market approximate value (set on silver). If the pearls were South Sea, the set would have cost $2-$3000, and the earrings around a thousand per pair as well, even though they are commercial quality.
Because South Sea pearls are so valuable, a lot of people try to pass other types of pearls off as South Sea. We see this constantly on eBay - white freshwater pearls sold as South Sea, black freshwater sold as Tahitian. We also see it online.
V
Valeria101
Guest
Magnified images show allot of detail, don't they... would venture to say that good ones show more details than one could see w/o magnification in person if not allowed to touch the pearls
Of course, I wouldn't feel good about being duped, even if I was duped into a good deal Only you know how good or bad it was, as that's a matter of money. Otherwise, what's not to like!
Of course, I wouldn't feel good about being duped, even if I was duped into a good deal
Only you know how good or bad it was, as that's a matter of money. Otherwise, what's not to like!
Caitlin
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Hi Greatpearls
Now that I've seen the pearls I think they are freshwater too. Value-wise, you probably got just what you paid for them.
The pearls business is full of intrigue and flim flam from the wannabees who can only sell the knockoffs. Knockoffs in this case means passing CFWP off for another kind of pearl to the uneducated and gullible public.
As it is easy to pass CFWP off as another kind of pearl the honest seller must always be clear that it is a CFWP, even when it looks like a Tahitian or Lop Noor or whatever. Believe me, CFWP have selling points of their own.
*
I forgot to say that Jeremy has the best record of being correct on the kind of pearl in the "ID my pearls" questions. Esp when in disagreement with another former resident pearl expert, he has been correct every single time, even when no one believed him.
We all like to play the game of "identify the kind of pearls in the picture", and there are a couple of threads at least with fantastic examples- one started by Perlas, esp, not to mention the quiz re hanadama vs freshadama.
You really can tell a lot from a picture, esp. a decent picture. It just takes practice, practice, practice!
Now that I've seen the pearls I think they are freshwater too. Value-wise, you probably got just what you paid for them.
The pearls business is full of intrigue and flim flam from the wannabees who can only sell the knockoffs. Knockoffs in this case means passing CFWP off for another kind of pearl to the uneducated and gullible public.
As it is easy to pass CFWP off as another kind of pearl the honest seller must always be clear that it is a CFWP, even when it looks like a Tahitian or Lop Noor or whatever. Believe me, CFWP have selling points of their own.
*
I forgot to say that Jeremy has the best record of being correct on the kind of pearl in the "ID my pearls" questions. Esp when in disagreement with another former resident pearl expert, he has been correct every single time, even when no one believed him.
We all like to play the game of "identify the kind of pearls in the picture", and there are a couple of threads at least with fantastic examples- one started by Perlas, esp, not to mention the quiz re hanadama vs freshadama.
You really can tell a lot from a picture, esp. a decent picture. It just takes practice, practice, practice!
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jshepherd
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Thanks for the vote of confidence, Caitlin. Although I am not even sure I remember which rezident expert you are referring to
I realized later that I should have added something. Those nuked freshwater may actually sell very well on eBay. I know there is a market for them, but I have not really seen anyone selling them there yet.
I realized later that I should have added something. Those nuked freshwater may actually sell very well on eBay. I know there is a market for them, but I have not really seen anyone selling them there yet.
