What is your favorite online pearl vendor?

Sarah at Kojima Pearl (www.kojimapearl.com) is awesome. I was able to visit her shop in person last November, and spent hours playing with the Kasumi pearls. What a treat! I love the artistry of her designs.

Jose at Tahitian Pearls.biz (http://www.tahitianpearls.biz/) also has a great place. He has some very well matched, yet colorful and less expensive Tahitian strands.

You can buy Sea of Cortez pearls directly from the farm in Mexico at www.perlasshop.com/ Unique and wonderful pearls.

Finally, my very favorite Tahitians are the Kamoka pearls at www.kamokapearls.com.. Click on the boutique button to be transported to some lovely eye candy. Josh grows some gorgeous pearls and the luster of Kamokas is my favorite. You can also find Kamokas on eBay at agustus-collection. Sven has some nice close-up photos, and single Kamoka pearls are available. I've worked Kamokas into some of my latest jewelry pieces.

Each of these vendors has a different point of view and I hope you enjoy looking over their web sites.

Attachments

Kamoka Pearl with Roger Dery Citrine and 24kt gold weaving by T Lee

Pendant_2405.jpg (190.01 KiB) Viewed 1651 times

Multicolor Tahitian Necklace from Kojima and Tahitian Stud Earrings from Tahitian Pearls.biz

TahitianNecklaceEarrings_1584.jpg (153.89 KiB) Viewed 1651 times

Wow, those tahitians are stunning! I'll have to check out Kojima. Flygirl, is that your pendant? It is very pretty and innovative. Do you have a website, or am I not allowed to ask?

Written by minousbijoux » May 25th, 2012, 5:03 pm:Wow, those tahitians are stunning! I'll have to check out Kojima. Flygirl, is that your pendant? It is very pretty and innovative. Do you have a website, or am I not allowed to ask?

Thank you, minousbijoux. Yes, that is my new pendant. I don't have a website, as I am not a vendor, or anything.

I have personally designated 2012 to be the year that I set my stones, rather than buy more and more new ones.
This Roger Dery citrine was high on the list. The designer was T Lee. She does have a website. www.tleegold.com Enjoy!

I have bought pearls from each of the venders listed so far. I have met in person all of the principals of the above listed vendors except for Catherine with which I have exchanged emails. All are great companies.

catherine is a bit hard to visit with as she lives ups north in AU near or in Darwin.......alligators, hurricanes, and hot humid weather. still one day i'd like to travel around AU and visit with her. [hubby is from Western AU so it is possible!]

Written by Fly Girl » May 25th, 2012, 4:05 pm:Sarah at Kojima Pearl (www.kojimapearl.com) is awesome. I was able to visit her shop in person last November, and spent hours playing with the Kasumi pearls. What a treat! I love the artistry of her designs.

Jose at Tahitian Pearls.biz (http://www.tahitianpearls.biz/) also has a great place. He has some very well matched, yet colorful and less expensive Tahitian strands.

You can buy Sea of Cortez pearls directly from the farm in Mexico at www.perlasshop.com/ Unique and wonderful pearls.

Finally, my very favorite Tahitians are the Kamoka pearls at www.kamokapearls.com.... Click on the boutique button to be transported to some lovely eye candy. Josh grows some gorgeous pearls and the luster of Kamokas is my favorite. You can also find Kamokas on eBay at agustus-collection. Sven has some nice close-up photos, and single Kamoka pearls are available. I've worked Kamokas into some of my latest jewelry pieces.

Each of these vendors has a different point of view and I hope you enjoy looking over their web sites.

Thank you for sharing the names of those vendors, Fly Girl! I really enjoyed looking through them.

Your pendant is beautiful, and those tahitians...

I'm not entirely happy with my recent pearl purchases, which is what prompted me to research other vendors. I love the white freshadama pearl studs I received a week ago from PP. Yesterday I got my 10.74 pink metallic exotic pendant from them as well. I'm not convinced it's metallic but the luster is very nice and so is the color-- I'm happy with the pendant and will keep it but I'm disappointed with the earrings. Luster is underwhelming and they're more brown than pink (I had asked that the earrings match the pendant) . They're going back.

Thank you for chiming in, 4Ranch Girl and mozo! I'm really tempted to buy something from Catherine Cardellini. The only reason I'm hesitating (but will likely cave) is the thought of returning an item to Australia.

Written by Fly Girl » May 25th, 2012, 4:05 pm:Sarah at Kojima Pearl (www.kojimapearl.com) is awesome. I was able to visit her shop in person last November, and spent hours playing with the Kasumi pearls. What a treat! I love the artistry of her designs.

Jose at Tahitian Pearls.biz (http://www.tahitianpearls.biz/) also has a great place. He has some very well matched, yet colorful and less expensive Tahitian strands.

I've bought from both of these vendors. All of my correspondence with them was via email and they shipped my pearls to Australia. Both were a pleasure to work with.

I particularly enjoyed working with Sarah because she found me the world's best clasps (I have...unusual...modern tastes and don't like most of the ones I see) and she strings her pearls on different coloured thread (e.g., hot pink, lavender, royal blue), which just makes me more happy than I can explain

Written by baby nurse » May 26th, 2012, 7:40 pm:Thank you for chiming in, 4Ranch Girl and mozo! I'm really tempted to buy something from Catherine Cardellini. The only reason I'm hesitating (but will likely cave) is the thought of returning an item to Australia.

Baby Nurse, I've never had a problem with anything shipped from the US (USPS or Fedex) if it makes any difference. It always arrives on time and in good condition, so you should have no issue returning anything to Catherine.

The bigger postage pain-in-the-butt is the Australia to the US direction!

Written by baby nurse » May 26th, 2012, 7:34 pm:

Written by Fly Girl » May 25th, 2012, 4:05 pm:Sarah at Kojima Pearl (www.kojimapearl.com) is awesome. I was able to visit her shop in person last November, and spent hours playing with the Kasumi pearls. What a treat! I love the artistry of her designs.

Jose at Tahitian Pearls.biz (http://www.tahitianpearls.biz/) also has a great place. He has some very well matched, yet colorful and less expensive Tahitian strands.

You can buy Sea of Cortez pearls directly from the farm in Mexico at www.perlasshop.com/ Unique and wonderful pearls.

Finally, my very favorite Tahitians are the Kamoka pearls at www.kamokapearls.com..... Click on the boutique button to be transported to some lovely eye candy. Josh grows some gorgeous pearls and the luster of Kamokas is my favorite. You can also find Kamokas on eBay at agustus-collection. Sven has some nice close-up photos, and single Kamoka pearls are available. I've worked Kamokas into some of my latest jewelry pieces.

Each of these vendors has a different point of view and I hope you enjoy looking over their web sites.

Thank you for sharing the names of those vendors, Fly Girl! I really enjoyed looking through them.

Your pendant is beautiful, and those tahitians...

I'm not entirely happy with my recent pearl purchases, which is what prompted me to research other vendors. I love the white freshadama pearl studs I received a week ago from PP. Yesterday I got my 10.74 pink metallic exotic pendant from them as well. I'm not convinced it's metallic but the luster is very nice and so is the color-- I'm happy with the pendant and will keep it but I'm disappointed with the earrings. Luster is underwhelming and they're more brown than pink (I had asked that the earrings match the pendant) . They're going back.

Do you have a photo of the earrings?
I posted my purchase in the pp sale thread looking for feedback but got none. I am starting to wondering if mine aren't good and people are too polite to say so. It's so much easier giving opinions about other people's pearls but when the item is your own it becomes harder to be objective.

Written by baby nurse » May 26th, 2012, 7:40 pm:Thank you for chiming in, 4Ranch Girl and mozo! I'm really tempted to buy something from Catherine Cardellini. The only reason I'm hesitating (but will likely cave) is the thought of returning an item to Australia.

catherine is great to work with.
she will answer questions via e-mail. don't be afraid to ask and be clear about what you're looking for.
and don't be afraid to ask lots of questions!
if you're looking for something "classic" she those, too.
if you're going for something that might have issues with the pearls turning, ask and she'll tell you. i have one strand she was upfront and mentioned it was the reason she didn't like the strand!

Written by baby nurse » May 26th, 2012, 7:40 pm:Thank you for chiming in, 4Ranch Girl and mozo! I'm really tempted to buy something from Catherine Cardellini. The only reason I'm hesitating (but will likely cave) is the thought of returning an item to Australia.

I also went back and forth in my mind on the shipping but Catherine has beautiful strands and provides as many pics as you need to make a decision. I feel her pics were very close to what I received IRL. Check out my the pictures in my thread.

http://www.pricescope.com/forum/pearls-new/my-new-22-multicolor-strand-t172100.html

I have bought several necklaces from Catherine ranging from 180 - 650 and loved them all. The first one that I ordered, I'd not quite come to terms with visualizing the size of the pearls and they seemed too small for me, returned no problem at all. Found another that was perfect. I wouldn't worry about sending something back, they will look exactly like the photo (an with pearls thats difficult as they often look a bit darker than in RL). I would suggest that you be sure of the size first so you know exactly what you are going to get..people are often surprised having looked at all the huge photos that the pearls seem so small lol .

I've bought from Josh and hes a great guy and highly highly recommend him for Tahitians.

I know that Tahitian Biz has a good rep and a really good selection of less expensive Tahitians.(love looking at their sale stuff )

Kojima has a great reputation, nice selection of strands and really interesting designs.

In the UK Wendy Graham at pearlescence (watch the spelling there are two different companies!) also has nice stuff and I've gotten a nice, but expensive, Sterling silver clasp for my tahitians from her.

Also on ebay theres Drusydesigns and RainbowIsland pearls , I have happily bought from each.

I only buy from people who post photos of the actual strands you will be receiving and not a stock photo.

You can't go wrong with any of these people.

on eBay i've purchased from Pearl Society and been pleased with my purchases. admittedly, i have only purchased single pearls and a set that were already prepared to be worn on huggies.....this set is my go-to set of pearl earrings. do learn how to read their descriptions re luster.

Written by Echidna » May 27th, 2012, 2:17 am:

Written by baby nurse » May 26th, 2012, 7:40 pm:Thank you for chiming in, 4Ranch Girl and mozo! I'm really tempted to buy something from Catherine Cardellini. The only reason I'm hesitating (but will likely cave) is the thought of returning an item to Australia.

Baby Nurse, I've never had a problem with anything shipped from the US (USPS or Fedex) if it makes any difference. It always arrives on time and in good condition, so you should have no issue returning anything to Catherine.

The bigger postage pain-in-the-butt is the Australia to the US direction!

Thank you, Echidna for the vendor recommendations and reassurance re shipping to/from Australia-- I will definitely buy from Catherine!

Written by Lovinggems » May 27th, 2012, 2:52 am:

Written by baby nurse » May 26th, 2012, 7:34 pm:

Written by Fly Girl » May 25th, 2012, 4:05 pm:Sarah at Kojima Pearl (www.kojimapearl.com) is awesome. I was able to visit her shop in person last November, and spent hours playing with the Kasumi pearls. What a treat! I love the artistry of her designs.

Jose at Tahitian Pearls.biz (http://www.tahitianpearls.biz/) also has a great place. He has some very well matched, yet colorful and less expensive Tahitian strands.

You can buy Sea of Cortez pearls directly from the farm in Mexico at www.perlasshop.com/ Unique and wonderful pearls.

Finally, my very favorite Tahitians are the Kamoka pearls at www.kamokapearls.com...... Click on the boutique button to be transported to some lovely eye candy. Josh grows some gorgeous pearls and the luster of Kamokas is my favorite. You can also find Kamokas on eBay at agustus-collection. Sven has some nice close-up photos, and single Kamoka pearls are available. I've worked Kamokas into some of my latest jewelry pieces.

Each of these vendors has a different point of view and I hope you enjoy looking over their web sites.

Thank you for sharing the names of those vendors, Fly Girl! I really enjoyed looking through them.

Your pendant is beautiful, and those tahitians...

I'm not entirely happy with my recent pearl purchases, which is what prompted me to research other vendors. I love the white freshadama pearl studs I received a week ago from PP. Yesterday I got my 10.74 pink metallic exotic pendant from them as well. I'm not convinced it's metallic but the luster is very nice and so is the color-- I'm happy with the pendant and will keep it but I'm disappointed with the earrings. Luster is underwhelming and they're more brown than pink (I had asked that the earrings match the pendant) . They're going back.

Do you have a photo of the earrings?
I posted my purchase in the pp sale thread looking for feedback but got none. I am starting to wondering if mine aren't good and people are too polite to say so. It's so much easier giving opinions about other people's pearls but when the item is your own it becomes harder to be objective.

Lovinggems, I'm sorry I didn't respond to this! I don't have pictures of the earrings because we're having issues w our computer and I haven't been able to post my own pictures for some time. I hope you start a thread on these pearls-- I'm sure you'd get responses that way. By now, you may have already sent them back to PP.

The funny thing with my earrings is that I tried them on recently when I was wearing a purple tank top and they looked... amazing. In their box or if I'm wearing another color, they look awful, but I may very well keep them : )

Written by movie zombie » May 27th, 2012, 10:43 am:

Written by baby nurse » May 26th, 2012, 7:40 pm:Thank you for chiming in, 4Ranch Girl and mozo! I'm really tempted to buy something from Catherine Cardellini. The only reason I'm hesitating (but will likely cave) is the thought of returning an item to Australia.

catherine is great to work with.
she will answer questions via e-mail. don't be afraid to ask and be clear about what you're looking for.
and don't be afraid to ask lots of questions!
if you're looking for something "classic" she those, too.
if you're going for something that might have issues with the pearls turning, ask and she'll tell you. i have one strand she was upfront and mentioned it was the reason she didn't like the strand!

Thank you Mozo! I've spent hours on her site and will buy something from her. Do you happen to know how often she adds new items to her inventory?

all depends on what is going on in her life and access to the pearls themselves.
send her an e-mail. ask if she's working on anything new. tell her what you're looking for and/or price range.
what helped was for me to tell her what item numbers she has for sale that appealed to me and why. gave us a basic "language" to agree upon. she will also combine strands which does add to the price. sometimes she can take a bracelet and add it to a necklace as well.
tell her that you found her through pricescope.

Written by baby nurse » June 4th, 2012, 7:59 pm:

Written by Lovinggems » May 27th, 2012, 2:52 am:

Written by baby nurse » May 26th, 2012, 7:34 pm:

Written by Fly Girl » May 25th, 2012, 4:05 pm:Sarah at Kojima Pearl (www.kojimapearl.com) is awesome. I was able to visit her shop in person last November, and spent hours playing with the Kasumi pearls. What a treat! I love the artistry of her designs.

Jose at Tahitian Pearls.biz (http://www.tahitianpearls.biz/) also has a great place. He has some very well matched, yet colorful and less expensive Tahitian strands.

You can buy Sea of Cortez pearls directly from the farm in Mexico at www.perlasshop.com/ Unique and wonderful pearls.

Finally, my very favorite Tahitians are the Kamoka pearls at www.kamokapearls.com....... Click on the boutique button to be transported to some lovely eye candy. Josh grows some gorgeous pearls and the luster of Kamokas is my favorite. You can also find Kamokas on eBay at agustus-collection. Sven has some nice close-up photos, and single Kamoka pearls are available. I've worked Kamokas into some of my latest jewelry pieces.

Each of these vendors has a different point of view and I hope you enjoy looking over their web sites.

Thank you for sharing the names of those vendors, Fly Girl! I really enjoyed looking through them.

Your pendant is beautiful, and those tahitians...

I'm not entirely happy with my recent pearl purchases, which is what prompted me to research other vendors. I love the white freshadama pearl studs I received a week ago from PP. Yesterday I got my 10.74 pink metallic exotic pendant from them as well. I'm not convinced it's metallic but the luster is very nice and so is the color-- I'm happy with the pendant and will keep it but I'm disappointed with the earrings. Luster is underwhelming and they're more brown than pink (I had asked that the earrings match the pendant) . They're going back.

Do you have a photo of the earrings?
I posted my purchase in the pp sale thread looking for feedback but got none. I am starting to wondering if mine aren't good and people are too polite to say so. It's so much easier giving opinions about other people's pearls but when the item is your own it becomes harder to be objective.

Lovinggems, I'm sorry I didn't respond to this! I don't have pictures of the earrings because we're having issues w our computer and I haven't been able to post my own pictures for some time. I hope you start a thread on these pearls-- I'm sure you'd get responses that way. By now, you may have already sent them back to PP.

The funny thing with my earrings is that I tried them on recently when I was wearing a purple tank top and they looked... amazing. In their box or if I'm wearing another color, they look awful, but I may very well keep them : )

Hi

Glad you like your pearls in the end, I was curious about what they look like.
I haven't sent them back yet as I want to visit Paspaley first and see what gorgeous South Sea should look like before I make my decision. Need time to make the trip soon.

I didn't read any of the other posts, I just popped in to say I've purchased three times from Jose at Tahitian Pearls dot BIZ and have been very happy with my golden pearls and the service.

I'm not a fan of freshwaters, since I see soooooooo many of them at bead shows for $10-$40 a strand, so they don't do a lot for me. I prefer goldens and I'm still searching for Tahitians that I like. I have akoyas, by Mikkimoto, so I'm covered there.

Here's a link: http://www.tahitianpearls.biz/new_items.htm

I've also been happy with Sarah at Kojima, I've purchased a bracelet from her;

http://shop.kojimapearl.com/collections/strands

Happy pearl hunting!

PP!

PP is my fav... but that's because of their products AND customer service.

Love you PP

Pearl Paradise.

Written by bean » June 13th, 2012, 3:02 pm:PP is my fav... but that's because of their products AND customer service.

Love you PP

Ditto Bean !

I've purchased for myself, gifts, and referred friends and family. Always a great experience with PP!

I've ordered from Pearl Paradise several times, and all were extremely good experiences. I was such a newby with online shopping when I did my first order and I was walked through it patiently. I'm in Canada and so was nervous! The merchandise was simply beautiful too. I only had one return out of (I think it is) five, and that was a color issue. I didn't realize what colors of pearls complement/don't complement me at that point. Now I know They will customize to your needs as well. You just gotta ask.

Sarah at Kojima offers different kinds of things and can make stuff from scratch. She has much more inventory than her website too don't forget. She is top-notch as well, a really lovely person. I got a tahitian keshi necklace from her that is TDF. Photos...

Catherine Cardellini has some funky stuff, and is so willing to anwer any and all questions. From Australia to Canada was easy peasy.

You really can't go wrong with these people, and they are all have different areas of specialty.

I have seen some nice things from Pearllunar on eBay, but have not personally ordered. I believe the stuff comes from China, so educate yourself ahead of time.