Gift for wife but new to pearls; is this a good choice?

[soontomarry2]

I'm looking to get my wife a nice everyday Pearl necklace. I am new to pearls and have yet to find a good guide discussing the differences between South Sea, freshwater, cultured, and Japanesse pearls. I found the following on eBay. It appears that seller is reputable and the pearls are of decent quality. I want to get somethingy wife will love. Is this a good choice?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/18-13-16mm-Natural-south-sea-white-pearl-necklace-14K-/320752600869?pt=US_Fine_Necklaces_Pendants&hash=item4aae584725

 

[The Old Pearler]

The seller is offering a string of freshwater pearls masquerading as South Sea. Whilst difficult to distinguish from one image, the totality of offers reveals the deceit. No, it is not a good deal. It is a very bad, dishonest deal.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/xiangmingtan/m.html?hash=item4aae584725&item=320752600869&pt=US_Fine_Necklaces_Pendants&rt=nc&_trksid=p4340.l2562

 

[movie zombie]

i do not like the strand at all and agree with the above.

if you're looking to shop on ebay, this is a vendor i've used with good results:

Pearl Society: http://www.ebay.com/sch/pearl_socie..._trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&_trksid=p4340.l2562

if you're looking for freshwater pearls catherine has some very lovely strands:

http://catherinecardellinipearls.com/

there are other very good and respected pearl vendors that you can read about in this forum.

before you spend $2K+ on a pearl strand, please read more and see the differences. you can get a lovely strand of freshwaters from catherine for a lot less than the strand you posted.

 

[NacreLover]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AAA-17-15mm-Natural-real-south-sea-purple-pearl-necklace-14K-100-natural-/320911385129?pt=US_Fine_Necklaces_Pendants&hash=item4ab7cf2229 This strand of his is not accurate either, these are not south sea pearls.
Avoid at all costs, if they can't tell you the truth on these why trust them at all?

 

[PearlsOfJoy]

yikes - please steer clear of that seller. Definitely not natural and not south sea, they are big though I'll give them that.

 

[soontomarry2]

How do the pearls of some of the recommended online sellers compare to those similarly priced in a department store?:

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/belle-de-mer-pearl-necklace-14k-gold-cultured-freshwater-pearl-strand-12-13-mm?ID=536557&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results&stop_mobi=yes

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/pearl-necklace-100-cultured-freshwater-pearl-endless-strand-necklace?ID=221829&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results&stop_mobi=yes

Also, is there any good online resource that discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of pearls available?

 

[movie zombie]

may i ask your wife's age....even approximately?
reason: small pearls on an older woman look rather strange. on a young woman, fine. a woman of 40 will age into 10mm easily.
want to see some nice pearls on women or whats trending?

http://passagedesperles.blogspot.com/search/label/pearls

go about 1/2 way down the page to see the difference of a smaller strand v. a larger strand of pearls on the same woman. the smaller strand looks out of place on her. the 2nd picture with the 9.5-10mm pearls is better. actually, she could wear even larger and especially as she ages.

http://www.bernardine.com/gemstones/pearl.htm

http://www.imperialpearl.com/EDUCATION/PEARL_TYPES/PEARL_TYPES.asp

are good places to start.

i am unimpressed with the first macy's strand, especially for the price.
not much wrong with the 2nd freshwater strand but you might do better.
buying at macy's does get you an easy return policy but until you research and learn a bit more you won't know if you're getting a good deal or over spent.

i'm a novice with a beer budget and even though i could afford more expensive pearls, i'm not into putting my $ in that direction. several grand for pearls doesn't fit for me. i'm ok with freshwater pearls but do want quality for what i'm buying.

good luck!

 

[NacreLover]

soontomary, The pearls at Macy's are not graded. The photo is stock so you don't know what you're getting. A younger woman might rarely wear pearls as large as the first one you listed. It would be a waste to buy something that just sits in a jewelry box.

Go to some of the sites online and read grading scales they use to sell their pearls. If they don't have one, you know what your getting, somthing they are ashamed to tell you. http://www.pearlparadise.com/education/pearl-education.aspx
http://www.pearlsofjoy.com/Pearl-Grading_ep_46-1.html