Help with buying pearls?

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surfergirljen

surfergirljen

Ooooh, pretty!
O.G.
Feb 24, 2009
3,184
59
#1
Hi there!

I don't know my way around pearls at all but looove this set Ashley Judd wears - any advice about what size they likely are and where I can get a set that are not crazy expensive? (under $600 say?) I have no idea what kind of pearls you can get for that price in this size - but I know some of you ladies know all about pearls!! They look huge and so pretty...

Maybe she is wearing costume jewelry? Probably not, she wears them a lot I've noticed...

And any guesses what size these are?


TIA!
 

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#2
Unfortunately I cannot see your pix but I highly doubt you could get a set of huge pearls, which would be Tahitian or Suoth Sea for under 600. PearlParadise and ThePearlOutlet have great prices check what you can find there, they have really good deals.
 
#4
For some reason I can't get on PP website but the largest freshwaters that PO sell are 11.5-12.5mm and they are $1200+, South Seas will be easily x10+ more than that. In fact, you'll probably struggle to find a good quality pair of studs for $600 that are that big.

If you want huge and affordable then costume is probably the way to go.
 
#6
I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't see the pictures. I couldn't see them on your latest post either about your pendant, and was disappointed as I really wanted to see the pics you posted. I didn't say anything though because I thought it was just my computer because everyone else seemed not to have a problem. I was able to see the pics on the first post about the pendant though.
 
#7
I can see them (I'm using Firefox on Mac) I wonder if it's because they are png files.

Can people see these?
 

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#8
Assuming her pearls are South Seas, I'd say the value is anywhere from 20k up. They look to be between 13 and 15mm. 20k would be for somewhat spotty pearls, but relatively well matched for color. If they're well matched for color and minimally blemished, they would be about 50k up, depending on who's selling them. About 8 years ago, I tried on a strand about this size at Mikimoto, and they were $317,000.00. Beautiful, but ridiculous.

If it were me, I'd look for very well made costume pearls, if you're set on the size.
 
#11
So sorry about the pics! They show up fine for me! So strange...

Anyway, yeah, you all confirmed what I pretty much guessed... way out of my league! I'll search freshwater and all of the other suggestions here, thanks a ton... OR I'll start out with a nice set of Kate Spade costume ones and go from there! :) I don't usually like pearls that much but gasped when I saw these! :) Somehow they MAKE the outfit!!
 
#13
Looks like Ashley is wearing a nice strand of white round South Sea pearls. For under $600 you should be able to find a nice strand of large 10-12mm freshwater pearls. White South Sea can be quite costly, but if you compromise with semi-round/baroque shapes you can find them at affordable prices. I would say check out ebay. Never spend $1200 for freshwater, they are not worth it, even $600 is a tad too much...Of course when you purchase a strand from Mikimoto, you pay the additional zeros for the trademark name. Prices of fine pearls such as cultured Japanese pearls and South Sea pearls (white ones) and Tahitian pearls (natural black) along gold are going to steadily go up, freshwater pearls are not going anywhere. My opinion is either save up for the real thing or get a fun costume strand for around $100 :)
 
#14
Thanks thewave! I put the Pearl Paradise ones digby suggested (thanks digby!! Made it so much easier to find them!) into my shopping cart and then saw the Freshadama ones... so do you really not think they are worth it? I really don't think I'll ever save up for the south sea ones (I prefer diamonds) but I'd love to buy a really good quality set of freshwater ones that I can even hand down one day... are Freshadama totally not worth the money then? The AA+ ones were about $800 when I added 18 inch length I think and the Freshadama's around $1100. They sound so much prettier in the description though! Thoughts?

TIA!
 
#15
Their freshadamas certainly looked gorgeous in all the pictures that I've seen. You could always email PP and ask for side-by-side photos of the strands that you are considering. I found them very accommodating and nice to deal with (I got a pair of South Sea studs from them).
 
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