The Pearl Source - akoya with GIA?

[yssie]

Anyone have any details about this?

The Pearl Source – Premium Pearls at 75% Off Retail Prices

The ultimate source for pearls online. Over 50,000 happy customers. More than 20 years in business and over 12,000 reviews. FREE shipping on all products!

www.thepearlsource.com

GIA recently (like, January 2021) introduced a new pearl report (the Pearl Classification report). Fee MUCH lower than the other two older reports (Pearl Identification and Pearl Identification & Classification). I’m assuming the new Classification report is what’s being provided here?

Here are the report types with samples from GIA.

Sample Pearl Report

Sample reports for the Pearl Identification Report and the Pearl Identification & Classification Report.

www.gia.edu

My experience with getting two GIA reports (both Pearl I&C reports) was… Depending on my mood I’ll call it anywhere from “ungood” to “astonishingly dreadful”. And if you buy from a vendor you trust to be selling Real Pearls and who has calipers and a camera on hand, the GIA reports themselves add no value unless you request the numeric nacre evaluation add-on (which of course comes at non-trivial additional expense). I much prefer PSL. (But PSL doesn’t accept foreign shipments so if you don’t have a contact in Japan who can hand-carry to the lab you’re SOL).

I’m a skeptic… Wondering who the intended audience of this is? What demographic of buyer will be pleased or reassured by this?

One thing I can say for sure: PSers - if you have the option to choose between a PSL and a GIA for your pearls - the PSL Aurora image and numeric nacre evaluation make it infinitely more useful!!

 

[WGTSoC]

Have been looking for affordable reports forever! Excited for 10 seconds, then...

Was looking for south sea/akoya/freshwater on the report but I guess you get what you pay for. Let alone telling whether a GSS was dyed. Weight and size I can measure by myself. Other things my eyes don't need another person to tell them. So thanks, not for me.

 

[yssie]

That’s kind of my take… Per GIA’s own documentation the Classification report doesn’t guarantee that disclosed pearl type is accurate, there’s no useful info on nacre thickness, no details on treatments… They do say that if they need to perform additional testing they’ll contact you so I guess that kind of gives you a roundabout verification of your pearl type declaration?

But seems like the only thing you really get from the Classification report (sans add-ons) that you can’t figure out for yourself at home, or at your local jeweller/pawn shop/watch repair facility/whatever is a guarantee that the pearls are actually pearls.

And for a reputable vendor - which TPS certainly is - that was never in question!

So… Huh?

Unless the report being issued is actually either Identification or Identification & Classification!! In which case - ouch those prices hurt, why on earth not just figure out a way to PSL for an objectively better, more respected report for a fraction of the cost?

 

[lilmosun]

I have no background but my guess is marketing to the average consumer...especially those hesitant to buy on-line.

Because of it's market share in assessing diamonds. GIA has built an instantly recognizable brand in the US when it comes to authenticity/trust. Something people are used to paying a premium for.

Most do not do the kind of research we do here before buying. They trust gemologists simply because they are GIA certified without any lab results. They've never or just vaguely heard of labs such as AGL (CS), AGS (diamonds) and PSL (pearls).

 

[yssie]

I just chatted TPS to ask
- Whether the cost of the report was included in the website price, and
- Which of those three GIA report types they’re referring to.

Apparently my questions will need to go to a supervisor so they’ll get back to me early next week hopefully

 

[Raven White]

I can tell if the pearl is worth the money by my eyes
Don't really think a certificate is necessary... Might be useful for those who don't know pearls at all with some confidence.

 

[Cerulean]

I have to say, I’m just not someone who cares about reports. So regarding demographics, it’s not a buyer like me! Lol

Beyond wanting to know that something is as represented (authentic, treatments, etc), I only care about what I see, and even then..I’d happily skip a report and buy based on trust in my vendor

Granted I start to back away from Rocky Talky threads when the numbers get whipped out because they just make my head spin

 

[yssie]

TPS responded to me very quickly and helpfully.

Some answers:
1. The GIA is included in the price listed on the website (for those GIA certified strands).
2. The GIA report included is the Pearl Classification report, just as I had assumed.
3. Since the strands are pre-certified with this report, it will not be possible to request an alternate report and pay simply the cost differential between Classification and $OtherReport.