American Pearl vs blue nile vs pearl paradise

[baylorfan05]

Hi everyone!
Please respond....I'm under a time crunch. I'm looking for a set of pearls for my soon to be wife. I'm looking for 7-7.5 mm 16 in akoya pearl necklace. I've noted a large price difference between american pearl AAA at 1500/necklace and pearl paradise at 700/necklace. blue nile at a similar price. Any guidance? I don't mind spending the extra money but just want to make sure its work it.

Thank you

 

[NacreLover]

Baylorfan05, Welcome to our forum. For $1500.00 , I would buy bigger AAA pearls from Pearl Paradise and still have money for matching earrings for your wife. http://www.pearlparadise.com/p-610-7465458460-mm-white-akoya-pearl-necklace.aspx
They can select them when you call for a perfect match.

Although if it was me I would go a little larger. These 8-8.5mm are the perfect size for most women, not too big, not to small.
http://www.pearlparadise.com/p-36-8460458465-mm-white-akoya-pearl-necklace.aspx
Timeless and beautiful.

Indecently, there was just a thread by another man just yesterday asking this same question. Please read all the way though the thread as it is very interesting with real life stories of women and their perspectives of their purchases from these vendors. Some were thrilled, some were not.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-pearl-necklace-vendor-recommendations.205208/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-pearl-necklace-vendor-recommendations.205208/[/URL]

 

[bsomlo]

baylorfan05 -- this is a wonderful gift for your fiancee!

I agree that you should consider buying slightly larger pearls than you think since we women tend to like larger and larger pearls over the years. Though they may seem "big" to her at first, she may end up not wearing them in future years if she outgrows them (in taste and age). And this necklace, or set, should be "forever" pearls.

I have bought many, many items from PP and just love the customer service and pearls they provide.

Do your research and I think you will find that akoyas bought at PP will make her (and therefore, you -- "happy wife, happy life") very happy indeed.

And with the savings I also agree that getting matching earrings would be the right way to go. There are so many whites you wouldn't believe. It's easier to match the earrings to the necklace from the get-go while they have both in hand to match properly.

Have fun and do keep us posted. My DH would never have thought to buy me pearls back in the day. But boy am I making up for it now!!!

 

[Kay]

Indecently, there was just a thread by another man just yesterday asking this same question. Please read all the way though the thread as it is very interesting with real life stories of women and their perspectives of their purchases from these vendors. Some were thrilled, some were not.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-pearl-necklace-vendor-recommendations.205208/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-pearl-necklace-vendor-recommendations.205208/[/URL]

Baylorfan05, you can read about my experiences with American Pearl and Pearl Paradise on the other thread. In brief, I bought a long 7-7.5 mm, AAA akoya strand from AP several years ago. I was very happy with AP at the time (although I've wished for the past few years that I had gone larger in diameter). Earlier this year, I was in Pearl Paradise in LA for the first time, and got to compare my AP AAA akoyas to the PP AAA akoyas. The PP akoyas had a higher luster (both strands were very clean as far as blemishes go) and cost less. I felt like a real schmuck for having bought my akoya pearls from AP.

Since then, I have bought a few strands (Tahitian, South Sea, blue akoyas) from PP and have been very satisfied with their customer service and the quality of the pearls.

 

[baylorfan05]

Thank you all for your kind words and advice. I've purchased some pearls and earrings. I'll let you know what she thinks after the wedding!

 

[pkinnew]

baylorfran05 - Congratulations on your purchase and I'm sure she'll love them! Have a wonderful wedding and the rest of your lives together!

 

[set2374]

Baylorfan05,

I am not regular on this site any more, so I know this response is untimely. I am now hunting for a pair of diamond studs for my wife, but thought I would chime in with my experience when I happened upon this post. In any case, I have purchased pearls for my wife and mom from AP, BN and PP and over the past 4 or 5 years and I have had good experiences with all three. On the whole, BN is more expensive than PP and AP and the quality isn't quite as good or consistent from BN. I purchased two strands of akoyas from BN in 2010 (one for my wife and one for my mom). Although they cost the same, the quality of one strand was much better than the other. I exchanged the lesser strand, only to get replacement strand from BN that was no better than the strand I returned. I returned the second strand and purchased an akoya strand from American Pearl (AA quality). The AA akoya strand from American Pearls was much higher quality than even the better of the two BN strands for about the same money (might have even been a little less?). I returned the first strand to BN as well (to BN's credit, they have good customer service) and bought a second strand from American Pearl. Both strands were stunning, however, I ended up sending both strands back to AP to upgrade the claps, which they did with no questions asked and no extra charge (other than the cost of the more expensive clasp). AP shipped the both strands back to me by Fed EX in less than a week (and this was during Christmas time). No complaints here!

I had some experience with PP as well. I have bought AAA tahitians cufflinks from PP around 3 years ago when they were on sale as part of a holiday special. They were a very good value for the money and I wear them once or twice a week. Based on that positive experience, I bought a pair of AAA tahitian studs from PP to go with AAA tahitian strand I bought from AP. I mixed and matched from both vendors to try to get the best price on both items, but the quality of the AAA tahitians from AP was much better than the AAA tahitian earrings from PP. Maybe it was just luck of the draw (since my cufflinks are amazing), but I returned the earrings to PP and bought a matched set from AP and was DW was very pleased. Even though they cost a little more from AP at the time, the difference in quality was noticeable.

In short (for anyone shopping online for pearls), PP, AP and BN are all good, reputable dealers and have good return policies and customer service. On the whole, however, I have gotten consistently good quality and good service from American Pearl. Happy hunting!!!

 

[ennui]

I bought a strand of Tahitians from Ross-Simons, which is probably not the first vendor people think of for pearls. The first strand was OK but not great, so I exchanged them, and I'm very pleased with the second strand. It was one of their crazy sales, and I couldn't resist.

 

[set2374]

Nothing like a good bargain. When it comes to pearls, you need to work with a dealer you can trust and has a good return policy and customer service. Every strand is different, so even if you are buying from your favorite dealer, there is going to be some variation in quality even among strands that have the same grade and price. If you're shopping online, you need to be prepared to return a strand if you're not happy with it--even from your favorite dealer of choice. In my experience, patience and perseverance will be rewarded.