Suggestions and thoughts on my first tahitian strand

[neosimplicity]

Hi All,

I've recently been super interested in purchasing a strand of tahitians for myself. I've searched far and wide and have looked at many strands online. I am currently trying to budget myself for my first purchase so I can't purchase a super AAA strand or any round strand for that matter. However, I found that I've been very attracted to drop tahitian pearls. I love some of the images that I've seen here of drop strands. I would like the drop pearls to not have any circles on them if possible. As for the color of the strand, I found myself looking at silverish strands but I am wondering if my first strand should be more traditional such as the peacock color?

I looked through several sites including FF and PP. I saw a strand that caught my eye on PP but still didn't wow me enough to go for it. This is probably the strand that's closest to my description:
http://www.pearlparadise.com/18inch-AA- ... -3416.aspx

As much as I love the above strand, I'm still unsure if that's what I want to purchase. The only things I am sure of are that I want a drop shape with little to no circles. Please let me know your thoughts on the coloring of the strand and any information on more vendors and personal strand images would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[y2kitty]

E-mail PP and tell them what you want. They have stock that is not on the website.

 

[Kaori Oku]

You better call them coz pp has more than 1000 drops strands you don't see on the website. If you buy something your not really happy so its not perfect for you it's gonna be regret. They can send you the pictures of the one that match your description.

 

[4Ranch Girl]

That looks like a double strand that I bought from PP. The green looks to be a medium green rather than a dark green. And will look so much better in person, more viberant. I happen to love my strands and get many compliments. AA+ is a very good grade. I would email or call and ask about this strand.

 

[bright&shiny]

I agree with contacting PP. They made a strand for my wedding (natural hanadamas, though, not tahitians) and sent pictures that helped us select the pearls. The pics were better than the website photos - easier to tell colors, and allowed us to compare one pearl or strand with another. Good luck!

 

[neosimplicity]

Hi All, I've contacted PP and they've sent me some beautiful strands that they have. After looking through the images, I've been debating about perhaps splurging on a round silver tahitian strand... I don't know if I love will love a baroque or drop strand. Instead of buying something a bit less expensive and not loving it, I want to get something I will love... I want to try to double my budget and see if such a silver strand may exist. I've looked on the PP website and it seems like all of their round tahitian strands start at $2,500. I want to try to purchase one for under $2,000 if possible. Does anyone have any recommendations as to where I should look? I will email PP back and see if they have any strands that might fit my budget but I wanted to know if anyone knows of any other reputable sites that have cheaper tahitian round strands. Please let me know your thoughts!

 

[HHPmom]

Hi All, I've contacted PP and they've sent me some beautiful strands that they have. After looking through the images, I've been debating about perhaps splurging on a round silver tahitian strand... I don't know if I love will love a baroque or drop strand. Instead of buying something a bit less expensive and not loving it, I want to get something I will love... I want to try to double my budget and see if such a silver strand may exist. I've looked on the PP website and it seems like all of their round tahitian strands start at $2,500. I want to try to purchase one for under $2,000 if possible. Does anyone have any recommendations as to where I should look? I will email PP back and see if they have any strands that might fit my budget but I wanted to know if anyone knows of any other reputable sites that have cheaper tahitian round strands. Please let me know your thoughts!

Neosimplicity,

What are you looking for AAA or lower and what size?

Tahitian pearls do not come cheap. Unlike FW mussels that produce at least several pearls per shell at harvest, a Tahitian oyster yields one pearl at harvest, and that doesn't guarantee top-notch pearl either. I've read somewhere that round and semi-round pearls make up 3% of harvest each year. That is a small amount. With rarity and higher quality come higher prices. Because you prefer round shape to baroque or drop shape, that will come at a premium. Unless you want to compromise for lower quality rounds, or wait to have larger budget to get the best you can afford, I doubt if you will find the smallest size (8mm) AAA round Tahitian strand for less than $2K . For that price, you'll have to go with semi-round, near round, slightly circle pearls, button pearl, less intense colors (cloudy gray or dull gray and silver w/o examplary overtones), or average luster and more blemished round pearls (online vendors' AA/AA+ grading if you are lucky, comparable to Tahiti Pearl grading B or lower).

I have not bought from this vendor, but here is a link of their near round strand for less than $2K http://www.tahitianpearls.biz/tahitian- ... e-tnbc.htm

For $2500 you can get this http://www.pearlparadise.com/18inch-AAA ... -3260.aspx, the color you want, high luster and round shape.

 

[neosimplicity]

Thanks for the insight HHPmom! I know that there's no way I can afford a AAA round strand right now, so I am looking for a AA quality (round/near round) strand and size I'm hoping for is 9-11mm. I was also looking for a silver strand but upon browsing I fell in love the the coloring of the below strand:
http://www.tahitianpearljewels.com/tahi ... anina.html

In the beginning I really wanted a silver strand like below:
http://www.pearlparadise.com/18inch-AAA ... -3260.aspx

But now that I've seen the first strand, I think my options have opened up a bit as I love the darker coloring in that strand. Also, I noticed that during the holiday seasons, most of the large pearl sites have sales. Were round tahitian necklaces part of these sales from past years? I'm wondering if it'll be worth it to wait a few more months to find a nicer strand on sale.

 

[HHPmom]

Thanks for the insight HHPmom! I know that there's no way I can afford a AAA round strand right now, so I am looking for a AA quality (round/near round) strand and size I'm hoping for is 9-11mm. I was also looking for a silver strand but upon browsing I fell in love the the coloring of the below strand:
http://www.tahitianpearljewels.com/tahi ... anina.html

Did you click on the Pearl Quality "what does this mean" link? It's comparable to C grade. Do you really want to spend $1550 for C grade pearls? Close-up pix show very noticeable blemishes, especially the center pearl area. If you are not sure, email them.

I think PP runs the 15% off code around the holiday season, but if memory serves, they didn't do that last year, but offer certain items at discounted price. You can be sure that there is a discount code for Valentine's day, more than Mother's Day, I think. There is Pearl Points that you can use http://pearlparadise.com/Pearl-Paradise ... Points.htm.

About 2 years ago, I wanted something from PP's site, but waited for a 15% discount code. I never got it because someone bought it before the code was available. It depends on how bad you want it, or think there will always be another strand that can tug at your heart the same way, or even more.

 

[neosimplicity]

So... I looked at the site that you posted and googled the site. It seems like someone on Pearl Guide made a purchase and was pleased with both the pearls and the customer service. They also have A+ grade on BBB. Some of the prices are AMAZING, so I'm skeptical. Many of the strands blew me away. Also, is it normal to provide certificates from G.I.A when buying expensive pearls? And one other thing that I'm pondering is what is the difference between semi-round and near round? Is near round closer to a round pearl? So many questions, so little time...

 

[HHPmom]

I suggest you do some more reading. If you found the other forum, based on your post, then it has a wealth of resources on the left side of the page with everything you want to know about different types of pearls (shapes, sizes, colors, treatment, etc.). According to Elisabeth Strack's Pearls, page 371, the shapes are as follow:

Perfectly round - 100%
Nearly round (round to the naked eye or symmetrical shape w/ good symmetry) 85-95%
Slightly off-round (nearly round to the naked eye or symmetrical shape with a slight deviation of symmetry) 65-85%
Off-round (not round to the naked eye or symmetrical shape with a deviation of symmetry ) 50-60%
Distinctly off-round 40-50%
Semi-baroque (distinctly off-round to irregualar to the nake eye) 30-40%
Baroque (distinctly irregular to the naked eyes) 10-25%

IMHO, most of the time I don't really make that much distinction among nearly round, slightly off-round and off-round. I probably just call them off-round for anything that is not baroque, drop, and round, but that's just me.

If you are not sure about a vendor's shape description, just ask them how they categorize.

 

[HHPmom]

So... I looked at the site that you posted and googled the site. It seems like someone on Pearl Guide made a purchase and was pleased with both the pearls and the customer service. They also have A+ grade on BBB. Some of the prices are AMAZING, so I'm skeptical. Many of the strands blew me away. Also, is it normal to provide certificates from G.I.A when buying expensive pearls? And one other thing that I'm pondering is what is the difference between semi-round and near round? Is near round closer to a round pearl? So many questions, so little time...

This is my 2 cents. It's nice to hear positive and negative experiences with various vendors. Do keep your options open and remember that not everyone is like you. Just because someone likes a product does not necessarily mean you will. Expectations and judgement are different among us. When I look at reviews of online products, specifically clothing, I checked to see how many people submitted review. Some vendors even show the reviewer's age group and body types (busty, hourglass, straight, etc., submitted by the reviewers, of course). This help me determine if the dress will fit me better based on my body type. Their age also help me determine if my age group likes the product or think it's appropriate for them. Their location also helps me a bit to determine the weather and the whether they are from a more conservative or trendy area. The more reviews, the better it is for me to make my decisions. Sometimes there are extreme reviews for the same product, which lead me to use the avg. opinions, if there is one. Unfortunately for pearls, we don't have that type of reviews available. Make sure whomever you purchase from has an adequate length of time for refund and exchange in case things don't work out.

Pearls are hard to photograph and colors show up differently on monitors. When in doubt, ask for more photos. Some vendors will go the extra miles for you, some maybe more reluctant. If you can, make the call. It's much better that way if you have so many questions regarding the product. Besides, it's a big ticket item, you want to make it right. As for me, I'd rather wait to get a nice strand rather than have 2 lower quality strands... But that's me.

 

[4Ranch Girl]

I have seven (7) Tahitian strands from PP. Very happy with all of them. I have been fortunitate enough to choose all but one of them in person from the showroom. I did however choose a silver strand from emailed pictures I was sent. Last September I was chooseing a dark green strand and saw a silver drop strand that I could not forget when I got home. It did take me several weeks actually until November until I made the call to PP and asked see what was still availiable of the silvers. Mine is a silver body with aqua and pink overtones, just beautiful. I prefer plump drops with out and rings or circles. So just because you do not see what you want posted make the call for them to look through their stock of hundred of strands for you. They are accomaditing that way.

 

[HHPmom]

Regarding the *.biz website, you have 14 days to return and 45 days to exchange. Honestly, I think there is something with their Tahitian pearl pictures. Most of them look to be either cloudy, grayish, bronzish or having unattractive overtone (including the link I showed you). Click on the images to show larger pictures. I don't see much luster. That is your trade-off.

Have you seen Tahitian pearls in person? Did you see them in local brick and mortar stores? A trip to a local store can help you make a decision whether to go with light or dark overtone. Once you've decide which overtone, then call PP . When I was there in July, I am pretty sure I saw a dark, round Tahitian strand that is not listed on the website.