Looking for pearl necklace vendor recommendations

[theparachutist]

Hello all,
My 30th anniversary is approaching and I want to get my wife some pearls. Through this forum and other sites I've settled on saltwater, preferably Akoya, but I'm confused by what I read about grading schemes and vendors. American Pearl seems to have good pricing but how does their grading compare with Mikimoto? What does Hamadama actually mean? What about Pearl Oasis or Pearl Paradise - trustworthy and reputable? How does their grading compare? You get my point?

I know everyone has their own favorites, but as an utter novice when it comes to pearls I'd appreciate some suggestions and advice.

Looking forward to reading your posts.

 

[cmd2014]

I recently bought a strand of AAA Akoyas from American pearl (I didn't order online...I was in NYC on a business trip so went to their offices). They are stunning, and absolutely match up to top quality brands the way they claim. I compared mine to hanadama pearls in a very reputable B&M store yesterday and could not distinguish a difference (nor could their resident pearl appraiser), and since I happened to be in NYC when I bought mine, also compared them to AAA Mikimotos (priced at $13K in a half size down from the 7.5 - 8 mm that I bought). I could not see a difference there either. They have beautiful, sharp luster and are clean of blemishes. When I ordered an extender online for my strand they were sent by FedEx the next day....a perfect match and again, blemish free top luster pearls. I have found them to be helpful and easy to work with and I really couldn't be happier with my experience.

Here's a picture of my strand (in bathroom lighting taken with my iPhone):



I have also had very good experience with Pearl Paradise. I have not bought Akoyas from them (only freshwater pearls and Tahitians), but others here have and their pictures are beautiful. People here also recommend Pearls of Joy as another reputable vendor.

Edit: American Pearl uses the Mikimoto grading system of A, AA, and AAA, with AAA as the highest luster. They don't vary much in roundness or blemishing as they are all perfectly round to the eye and eye clean (I looked when I was there), but the differences in luster are noticeable. It's the same at Mikimoto: pearls are graded from A to AAA with AAA being the best, and they also are round regardless of grade and well matched in terms of the absence of blemishes (they too were eye clean regardless of grade), but the difference in luster is noticeable.

Pearl Paradise also uses an A, AA, and AAA scale for grading. Their grading descriptions are here: http://www.pearlparadise.com/t-Akoya-pearl-grading.aspx. I have not seen their Akoyas in person but they are very reputable, and what I have bought from them has all been of excellent quality.

Hanadama pearls must meet a minimum quality in terms of roundness, luster, and nacre thickness, as assessed by the Pearl Science Laboratory in Japan. They are all excellent quality because of this, but can vary between those that meet minimum standards to those that would be the highest quality pearls available. I have not seen PP's or P of J's strands in person, but photos posted by forum members show beautiful sharp luster and no blemishes, in a quality that looks from the pictures to be similar to my strand (although without side by side comparison like I did here and in NYC, it is impossible to tell for sure). Here you would be limited to an 18 inch strand as that is all that gets sent for grading.

Hope that helps.

 

[cmd2014]

Here's a better picture in my kitchen on a white background (no flash). The pink dots in each pearl is me being reflected.



With flash:

 

[dk168]

The best Akoyas are Hanadamas, and if I were in the market for a strand of these pearls in natural blue, I would be looking to get it from the likes of Pearl Paradise, Pearl of Joy or the The Pearl Outlet, all reputable and trusted vendors that I had used in the past.

DK

 

[cmd2014]

The best Akoyas are Hanadamas, and if I were in the market for a strand of these pearls in natural blue, I would be looking to get it from the likes of Pearl Paradise, Pearl of Joy or the The Pearl Outlet, all reputable and trusted vendors that I had used in the past.

DK

That may not be 100% true. They will all be very high quality strands, for sure, but all it means is that the strand has been sent in for evaluation by the Pearl Science Lab, and certified as meeting a set minimum standard of being very clean of blemishes, round, and with a minimum nacre depth of (Iirc) 0.4mm. Strands that have been sent in for grading which only meet bare minimum standards may not be as high a quality as other strands that exceed the minimum standards, but which have simply not been submitted for this grading. Mikimoto for example, to my knowledge does not submit their strands to be graded this way.

You can read about it here on PP's website:

http://www.pearlparadise.com/c-18-hanadama-pearls.aspx

Other vendors do send in strands to be certified. Some only send in their top quality strands (i.e. those that greatly exceed the minimum standard) - like Pearl Paradise - and others send in those that might just meet minimum standards. There will be a difference. I've personally compared strands that were certified but just met minimum standards to other, non certified strands that were AAA, and the AAA were better quality hands down. It's why you have to go with a reputable vendor and make sure you understand their grading system.

 

[NacreLover]

Some of us here on Pricescope have seen certified Hanadama akoyas from PP and AP side by side. There was a huge difference in quality between them. We were very surprised since they should have been identical in quality. If I was you I would have both of them send you a strand and see for yourself If you are shopping for Hanadamas. I shop at PP and would buy mine there if I was in the market for them. I would also tell you to compare other grades of akoya's side by side with like grades. You're spending thousands on this strand and it is a big anniversary gift.

 

[Kay]

Back in 2005, I bought my first akoyas. I purchased a 51" strand of 7-7.5 mm AAA white with rose overtone akoya pearls with mystery connectors from American Pearl for $4780. They provided great customer service and I thought the price was very good compared to local retail stores. I posted a glowing review at the time (link is below).

I recently went to Pearl Paradise in LA to look for a new necklace. I asked them to restring and lengthen my AP akoya strands. Jeremy pulled out a hank of his AAA akoyas to try to match (color and luster) additional pearls to my AP strands, but the PP AAAs had a much higher luster than my AP “AAA” pearls. We ended up using AA+ pearls from PP to match my “AAA” pearls from AP.

Out of curiosity, I checked akoya prices on the PP website. To buy the same size pearls in true AAA quality, it would cost $2065 for 7-7.5 mm AAA 51" with 4 mystery connectors from PP. I could have gone up a size for less than what I paid AP: $4035 for 7.5-8 mm AAA 51" with connectors from PP. I definitely feel disappointed that I could have gotten a lot more for my money (or just saved money) if I had known about PP back when I bought my pearls from AP.

(If I could have $4800 back to spend now, what I would really want is two 8-8.5 mm Hanadama strands: 17" + 18" to wear as a double strand, individually, or as a 35" rope.)

I have no idea what kind of budget you have in mind. The Hanadamas from PP are amazing, but the AAAs are also beautiful and I would be very happy with them. Even the AA+ (what I have) is beautiful. I regret not going larger than 7-7.5 mm, and I always wear them as a double or triple strand to make them seem more substantial. A 17” or 18” strand of 8-8.5 mm (or even 7.5-8 mm) in AAA or Hanadama quality would be an amazing gift. You could always add another strand later for another occasion if your wife would like to have a double strand.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pearls-51-strand-from-american-pearl.48766/

 

[bsomlo]

theparachutist -- what a lovely gift for your wife!

Akoyas have a sharp luster and are very round -- they can have ivory/cream, silver or pink/rose overtones. You should buy from a reputable vendor since akoyas are beads covered in nacre and if they are short-grown (not left in the oyster long enough) the nacre will be thin and wear off sooner rather than later. This is done to make a profit earlier, but the quality of the akoya is poor.

AAA akoya from a reputable vendor should be great, and hanadama is the best since it is lab certified in Japan as having a certain minimum nacre thickness (.4 mm) as well as other attributes. I'm sure AAA can be found that is as good as, or even better than, hanadama -- but with hanadama you know what you are getting and you will receive the lab certification.

I own a 9 to 9.5 mm hanadama necklace from PP. Its nacre thickness is .7 mm (which is very thick for akoya and pleases me). My pearls went through the typical treatment so it is "pinked". They look white on, but they have a pink overtone which many find attractive. PP also sells natural white, untreated hanadama strands.

You need to decide what mm pearls you would like to get for your wife and then you can check the prices of AAA versus hanadama. I tend to like short strands (typically 16" for me), average length is 18", but my hanadama strand is actually 26". There are pros and cons to all lengths.

By the way, you may want to buy matching earrings at the same time. There are a million "whites" and matching earrings later may be harder. If you buy a longer strand than your wife wears, you could also have 2 to 6 pearls removed to make matching earrings (from simple single stud to dangles with 3 pearls per earring).

hanadama (note they also sell blue hanadama, called madama, which are silver/powder blue with pink overtones -- another gorgeous option):

http://www.pearlparadise.com/c-35-hanadama-pearl-necklaces.aspx

Have fun and keep us posted.

 

[dk168]

I am au fait with PP's write up on Hanadamas, and I have also been inside a Mikimoto store to look at their pearls.

IMHO, I have no doubt Miki's AAA quality pearls meet the minimum standards required for Hanadamas and may even exceed them, and they do not need to have their pearls externally certified in order to find willing customers who are prepared to pay a significant mark up in order to say their pearls are Miki's.

However, for those who are not prepared to pay through the nose for Miki's, having pearls certified to a recognised standard such as Hanadamas will offer assurance for the purchasers that they are buying the best while saving themselves lots of money.

DK

 

[cmd2014]

Some of us here on Pricescope have seen certified Hanadama akoyas from PP and AP side by side. There was a huge difference in quality between them. We were very surprised since they should have been identical in quality. If I was you I would have both of them send you a strand and see for yourself If you are shopping for Hanadamas. I shop at PP and would buy mine there if I was in the market for them. I would also tell you to compare other grades of akoya's side by side with like grades. You're spending thousands on this strand and it is a big anniversary gift.

My understanding after having been there is that American Pearl sends in strands that only meet the minimum standards for Hanadama certification, but don't exceed them, and based on their website information, PP only sends in their highest quality strands for certification. But PP clearly identifies their Hanadamas as their top quality, where AP is clear that they are not theirs (and that they fall somewhere between an A and AA on their preferred grading scale). I'm not sure what the politics of this is (nor do I really want to know), but it's a lesson on knowing each vendor and their grading system, as well as a lesson that not all Hanadamas are created equal (some are clearly better than others). When I was at AP I looked at them all, and the AAA were much nicer than the certified Hanadama strands, and the Collection Quality pearls were the nicest. So you just need to be aware of that and not assume that because a strand is certified Hanadama that you are necessarily getting the best quality strand out there. For some vendors, this would be true, but not for others.

I also picked between multiple AAA strands while I was at the office (I must have looked at 50 of them, all in the same size and quality range), and there were definitely some that stood out from others...so there is also definitely some variability inside of each classification bracket, no matter which one is in place, or where you are buying from. I suspect PP is similar in that as well having watched some of the Facebook chats where some strands "jump out" even within the same lot. So the advice to buy a few strands and pick the nicest one is a good one.

Just so that the OP can compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges, it's probably good to be aware that between PP, PofJ, and AP the AAA quality strands are probably pretty similar (with some within-category variation). I would probably compare Hanadama at PP and PofJ to the Collection Quality at AP. That way he can compare pricing of similar product in deciding what route to take. All of the vendors we are talking about have unconditional return policies, so you're only out return shipping if you live in the US.

 

[NacreLover]

My understanding after having been there is that American Pearl sends in strands that only meet the minimum standards for Hanadama certification, but don't exceed them, and based on their website information, PP only sends in their highest quality strands for certification. But PP clearly identifies their Hanadamas as their top quality, where AP is clear that they are not theirs (and that they fall somewhere between an A and AA on their preferred grading scale).

There are costs involved in getting the strands xrayed for nacre depth and certified, Why send sub par strands in for this service when you won't get anything back for doing so. If they are such a low grade as you say they are this makes absolutely no sense.

 

[pkinnew]

theparachutist - Welcome! I love it when husbands buy pearls for their wives - lucky woman!!! I've read the posts and while I haven't compared the Mikimoto grades with PP's I can say that I have natural white Handamas from PP and they are incredible! If you can afford them I think it will be the gift of a lifetime! Good luck shopping!

 

[cmd2014]

My understanding after having been there is that American Pearl sends in strands that only meet the minimum standards for Hanadama certification, but don't exceed them, and based on their website information, PP only sends in their highest quality strands for certification. But PP clearly identifies their Hanadamas as their top quality, where AP is clear that they are not theirs (and that they fall somewhere between an A and AA on their preferred grading scale).

There are costs involved in getting the strands xrayed for nacre depth and certified, Why send sub par strands in for this service when you won't get anything back for doing so. If they are such a low grade as you say they are this makes absolutely no sense.

I can't speak for AP, as I don't know them, never spoke to them about this, and am just making an educated guess based on what I saw going on in NYC. So take this with a big grain of salt.

I think the point is to show that 'subpar' strands can and do get this certification which can then be charged a premium for (which happens in some B&M stores and with some less reputable vendors online -and please know that I do not mean PP or P of J or any of the other reputable vendors recommended here). My sense is that AP feels that the Mikimoto A-AAA grading system is a better one as it offers a finer differentiation between grades that protects the consumer from paying a premium markup for something that can widely range in quality, and that they would like a universal adoption of the standard so that the consumer can be protected. They don't keep a large stock of Hanadama strands...they have a few on hand to allow people to compare the broad range of quality it can represent, and price them according to the matching quality they happen to be in case someone really wants to buy one.

I think it's best understood within the context of the marketplace in which they live: NYC is a competitive market with screaming high rents and tight profit margins. Sellers need to buy as inexpensively as possible and get the top dollar possible for items. With Akoyas, the Hanadama certification allows for a significant up-charge for the certification alone, which makes it tempting to send in the bare minimum quality strands that will meet certification, that you can then sell at a higher price than you would otherwise be able to command. In the diamond district alone there are literally dozens of vendors selling lowest quality Hanadamas as "top quality" pearls (for top retail prices) and the end result is that people end up paying for a perceived level of quality that they are not actually getting. It's truly a buyer beware market. I think within this context, AP are just trying to let people know that vendor reputation becomes key when there is such a range of quality represented by the Hanadama certification. It would be like setting a benchmark for a diamond that anything over a VS2, H, good cut diamond is 'top quality' knowing that while many reputable vendors will send in their IF, D, ideal cuts in, others will send in the VS2's, and then charge for them like they are the IF D's, and the consumer will have no way of knowing the difference.

But that's just me reading between the lines as I do not know anyone at AP, nor did we have any kind of discussion about it....I simply did my research, shopped around in retail stores before my appointment at AP, looked at the range of products both there and at Tiffany's and Mikimotos (and wheezed a bit at the prices), and at a host of B&M stores, sorely tried DH's patience (as it wasn't bad enough that I was in meetings all day...I had to drag him through every jewelry store in mid-town to obsess over strands in a way that only a pearl fan can), noticed the differences and picked what worked best for me and my budget. If I was in LA I would have done the same at PP. I wanted to look in person as this was a big purchase and I happened to have an upcoming trip to New York through work. The best benefit though is that it increased my confidence in online purchasing....so the dam has broken!

 

[theparachutist]

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to thank you all for your advice and suggestions. I've ordered an Akoya AAA necklace and matching earrings from PP and I'm waiting for them to arrive.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[bsomlo]

Wonderful! Please post pictures and give us your impressions when they arrive!

 

[Kay]

That's great. I look forward to hearing about your wife's reaction to such a wonderful anniversary gift.

 

[ckrickett]

I can't wait to see pictures! especially neck shots if you wife is allowing!

 

[pkinnew]

Congratulations! I am looking forward to hearing about her reaction!