Buying Pearls

[jkerouac]

I'd like to buy my wife a pearl pendant necklace for Christmas. Needless to say, she has a variety of necklaces for special occasions and every day, including a very expensive traditional pearl strand that used to belong to my mother. But she doesn't have a black pearl pendant, and I think this is a look that would work well for her both during the week in the office, and for special occasions.

A local high-end AD featured a very nice black pearl pendant in their Christmas catalog, and I plan to visit them and a couple of others over the next week to see what they have in person.

But I also decided to check out the on-line dealers. Blue Nile is one of the best known on-line jewelry dealers, so I started with them. Then I did a search and checked out a few dealers that popped up in the search results. I then went to Amazon and found a place called americanpearl.com. They seem to have the broadest selection and prices. In particular, I thought Blue Nile seemed to offer better value for the dollar than the AD, but AmericanPearl.com seemed to have better value (and selection) for the dollar than Blue Nile.

Has anyone here dealt with American Pearl?

Are there any other dealers that you would recommend? And do you have any other suggestions?

By the way, these are the leading contenders in my search:

http://www.americanpearl.com/ro66004732262.html

http://www.americanpearl.com/ro66004852262.html

[aeroguy]

Where I live, pearls are cheap, cheap, cheap... When I visit back in the US I bring my family members strings of beautiful pearls and they LOVE them. Women here where I live (on an island in the South China Sea) don't have any interest in them

You have good taste in the choice of pendant design though.

[tomtofa]

I was going to suggest Mikimoto pearls - they have a good rep.

But then I checked out their online offerings - way up there in price, and the settings aren't as creative as the ones you've found. Seems like you've found a good source.

[Craytonic]

Mikimoto is "the" brand to buy, they have a very distinctive clasp. They are the rolex of pearls (not the Patek or Vacheron though).

Way over-priced for what you get. I lucked out when my girlfriend for some strange reason decided pearls are the ONE thing in life she doesn't care who they are made by. Shocker. Saved me 2/3 the price though!

Best bet is to find someone local who imports by the finger (bunch of strands) and have them make you something. I know you are looking for a pendant, as you already have the strand necklace. I would still talk to someone local and see if you can get a deal. There is an older jewerly store her that does lots of estate jewelry that has a direct connection, you might check for something like that where you live.

[jkerouac]

Thanks, guys. Excellent suggestions.

The Mikimoto Web site had a couple of pendants that would be fantastic, but at $2k or so. A quick search shows that several of the ADs that I planned to visit carry the Mikimoto product lines, so they are certain to have additional options to complicate my search.

There are also at least two stores here that might buy and customize their own pearl necklaces, as Craytonic suggests.

It would take some convincing/serious education to get me to increase the pearl budget that high, but I have the next two weeks to complete my search.

The other option is to hold off until we are in the South Seas ourselves!

Thanks again, gentlemen, and best wishes for your holidays.

[gioarmani]

Get the irregular shaped pearls--the asymmetry in them is much better looking than the proverbial spheres.

Also ask where they were cultivated--the shiny coating on the outside is called the "nacre". Obviously, the thinner the nacre, the faster they will wear & lose their luster, and it differs, depending on where they were raised. On Japanese (Ayoki pearls)--technically the worst because they're the thinnest--it's only about 1/2 mm thick. Then you have the Tahitian pearls at about 2mm thick. The best are the true South Sea pearls, at about 4mm thick.

[ryyannon]

Where I live, pearls are cheap, cheap, cheap... When I visit back in the US I bring my family members strings of beautiful pearls and they LOVE them. Women here where I live (on an island in the South China Sea) don't have any interest in them

You have good taste in the choice of pendant design though.

Sorry for temporaily taking this thread off-topic, but aeroguy has really aroused my curiosity concerning the island he lives on in the South China Sea.

I couldn't care less about pearls (although I agree with gioarmani on the beauty of naturally asymmetrical (also known as 'Baroque') pearls over all others) but I am interested in visiting out-of-the-way places, particularly in Southeast Asia.

If aeroguy doesn't want to blow his cover publicly, I'll take the liberty of PMing him about his island - which already sounds like an interesting place.

Sorry for the interruption - and now back to the subject.....