Long strand of pearls advice!

Thank you for your kind words. Like all popular designer items, Mikimoto pearls are faked just like VCA Alhambra & Cartier Love jewelry are faked. Mikimoto has their own website to purchase from as well as his own boutiques & some very high end jewelry store are authorized to sell the brand. With vintage Mikimoto, they should have paperwork to come with them & Mikimoto have their own way of determining if a strand of pearls are in fact one of theirs. They will not do repairs on strands if it is not one of theirs. With Ebay, you have to do your research, ask questions & make educated purchases when it comes to any jewelry.

Pearl Paradise is a reputable seller of fine pearls. I buy my pearls from local reputable jewelers or from Gem Shopping Network located here in Ga. GSN sells online from their website & on cable/satellite & stands behind what they sell & have an excellent return policy. They sell some remarkable pearls. In fact, they just got finished with doing some shows with David who one of the people who buys the pearls, South Sea, Tahitian, & Akoya, directly from the pearl farmers. He's Australian & will be back for more shows in June, the Pearl Month. I bought a pair of Tahitian drop earrings from him & they are glorious. I can see my reflection in these pearls.

Pearls can be dressed up & dressed down. I wear pearls all the time & have worn pearls with jeans long before Princess Di made it popular to do so.

When buying pearls online, you have to make sure the seller has a good return policy in case you decide you don't like them when you receive them. You would also like to check out the site's reputation & reviews.

I think your MOP pieces would make a lovely unique piece of jewelry with sentimental value! Maybe you could have them strung interspersed with pearls into a necklace, perhaps.

Thank you for all the great info! I'll check out Gem Network. I took a look at the Mikimoto web site--holy cow! Gorgeous pieces! I want that $38K pearl and diamond tiara.


I saw that Nordstrom.com carries Mikimoto pearls, but in the online reviews buyers complain that Nordstrom doesn't send them a Mikimoto box or papers with their purchase.


I loooove pearls and also wear them whenever I can. The only strand of cultured pearls I have is a $50 strand I got from Kohl's years ago. It seems like over the years the color has gone a bit off. It's now nearly indistinguishable from my $10 strands of fake pearls from Kohl's. In fact I'm going to have to label it so my heirs don't toss it in with the bad-looking fake pearls in my jewelry box. :biggrin: And needless to say none of these pearl strands look nearly as nice as the strands of heavy glass fake pearls I bought years ago.
 
Thank you for all the great info! I'll check out Gem Network. I took a look at the Mikimoto web site--holy cow! Gorgeous pieces! I want that $38K pearl and diamond tiara.


I saw that Nordstrom.com carries Mikimoto pearls, but in the online reviews buyers complain that Nordstrom doesn't send them a Mikimoto box or papers with their purchase.


I loooove pearls and also wear them whenever I can. The only strand of cultured pearls I have is a $50 strand I got from Kohl's years ago. It seems like over the years the color has gone a bit off. It's now nearly indistinguishable from my $10 strands of fake pearls from Kohl's. In fact I'm going to have to label it so my heirs don't toss it in with the bad-looking fake pearls in my jewelry box. :biggrin: And needless to say none of these pearl strands look nearly as nice as the strands of heavy glass fake pearls I bought years ago.

Yes, Mikimoto pearls are top of the line! They are glorious to look at & feel so luxurious to wear. As the eldest, my sister will inherit our mother's Mikimotos. But I will be able to borrow them whenever I want because she's not a big jewelry person. :biggrin:

Mikimoto has different levels of pearls. His really top notch are sold on his website but there are also less expensive, such as Sea Magic. Mikimoto was the gentleman who perfected the culturing of pearls in the early 1900's & his name has become synonymous with fine cultured pearls. Like Cartier, VCA, Tiffany, ect, the price is expensive for the name brand as well as the quality. Mikimoto quality pearls can be purchased from other reputable companies but you have to do your research & make sure the pearl grading is high. While these pearls are still expensive, you can save a lot of money purchasing them. I always go by the rule to buy the highest quality pearl you can afford.

Genuine pearls require specific care. They can be damaged over time from perfumes, body lotions & oils, soaps, hair spray & hair products, ect which can cause their luster for fade & color to change. There is an old saying that is very true.....Pearls should be the last thing you put on & the first thing you take off.

I always gently wipe off my pearls after I have worn them before I put them away. I have special boxes that I keep all my pearls in & I don't mix them with diamond & gemstone jewelry because they can get damaged. I keep my earrings in separate pouches with my most important pearl necklaces in special pearl boxes. If you wear your pearl strands a lot, you should consider having them restrung every year or two. I always put them away very carefully, but I tend to do that with all my jewelry whether it's diamonds, gemstones, Jade, or my NA jewelry. These are items that will be passed on to family members when I'm gone.

Here's an interesting fact. There is currently a huge demand in the Asian market for Tahitian & SS pearls in the 8-9 mm size. Apparently, this is the favored size for jewelry, especially rings. Because of this demand, pearl farmers are harvesting sooner & not letting the pearl remain in the oyster for the number of years that it takes to make the larger pearls of 12+ mm. I think the largest pearl I have is a Tahitian in a ring my husband gave me & it's just under 13 mm. I posted pictures of some of my pearls in the Pearl Lover's Thread this past summer. Some of the pictures are not great but, then again, I'm not a very good photographer. I am blessed with a husband who loves to give me jewelry....perfect for a jewelry whore like me. :biggrin:
 
I saw the strand of circle` pearls you bought from TJMaxx. I have never been a fan of those, they look cheap to me & cheap pearls look cheap.(IMO) As far as the ones from Nordstrom, I don't know what they look like & I have no experience with Splendid Pearl. The papers that come with them, are they from a Gemological Institute?

Pearls are a personal choice & what one person likes, someone else may not. It's hard to tell with pearls from pictures, too. Personally, since the event you're going to is your son's communion, I think a single strand of classic round pearls would be a sophisticated & elegant choice to wear with your dress. There's nothing wrong with wearing a strand of quality faux pearls, either, especially if you don't know if you'll wear them again. You've been given some good names of quality faux pearl brands to check out. It really depends on what you like & what you think looks good with your dress. Have you thought about earrings? You may want to get a really nice pair of drop statement earrings & forego the necklace. You have a lot of choices & it's easy to get confused. :confused1:


This is what the papers say that come with them. Not sure what it means if they have been looked at by a gemological institute. ImageUploadedByPurseForum1460076350.013539.jpg
 
This is what the papers say that come with them. Not sure what it means if they have been looked at by a gemological institute. View attachment 3323241

I don't think these have been appraised by a gemological institute. This just guarantees that the pearls are genuine cultured pearls & does not state whether they are freshwater, saltwater, the grade of the pearls, or the country of origin. I would assume from the price they are freshwater & the price is good for a nice strand of freshwater. It really depends on what the pearls look like...how clean the surface is & the luster. If the pearl has a good luster, the pearls will look wet. 6-6.5 mm is a classic size. How long is the strand? It says endless stand so there will be no clasp.
 
I think I found the necklace you're looking at on Nordstrom Rack website. While the picture is a stock picture & not a picture of the exact necklace you would get, these look to be round to off round in shape. There isn't enough difference that someone would notice when you're wearing them unless they got real close & inspected them. I, honestly, don't know of anyone who would do that. LOL

This would be a good place to start on your pearl journey because they're not overly priced. It really depends on how much you like them when you receive them. These will probably have some surface blemishes but if they are AA, blemishes should not be on more than 20-25% of the pearls. I have a AA strand of salt water & the surface blemishes are minuscule. They were rated AA because the nacre wasn't quite thick enough to rate AAA.
 
I don't think these have been appraised by a gemological institute. This just guarantees that the pearls are genuine cultured pearls & does not state whether they are freshwater, saltwater, the grade of the pearls, or the country of origin. I would assume from the price they are freshwater & the price is good for a nice strand of freshwater. It really depends on what the pearls look like...how clean the surface is & the luster. If the pearl has a good luster, the pearls will look wet. 6-6.5 mm is a classic size. How long is the strand? It says endless stand so there will be no clasp.


Yes I believe they are fresh water it says cultured fresh water in the details. These seem to be better Quality than the Tj maxx ones I bought. They have 3 different strand a 64in a 80in and a 104in which is the AA one. I'm looking for a endless necklace so I can wrap it a few times and do other styles with it.
 
Yes I believe they are fresh water it says cultured fresh water in the details. These seem to be better Quality than the Tj maxx ones I bought. They have 3 different strand a 64in a 80in and a 104in which is the AA one. I'm looking for a endless necklace so I can wrap it a few times and do other styles with it.

These look to be better pearls than the ones from TJXmaxx. The are not the off shaped, ringed pearls & have more of the classic elegant look. The ringed free form pearls are popular & trendy right now but that trend will eventually fade. These pearls have the time honored classic look that is always in style.

I have an endless strand of 7-7.5 freshwater pearls in a 64 in length & 2 100 in strands of 4mm freshwater pearls. I double & triple them up & twist them into a torsade, clip it together with a brooch & wear as a choker. I also have twisted in 4 mm gemstone bead necklaces in with them for color & texture. It's a fun look & very 80's retro.

I also will wear them doubled for a longer look with other pearl necklaces, a la Coco Chanel. These are very versatile strands.
 
Hopefully someone else will chime in here because I'm no expert on this sort of thing, but to me the TJMaxx pearls don't look like very good cultured pearls. They're heavily ridged and it looks like the nacre is thin and chipping. When you buy pearls, whether fake or cultured, what you want to look at is the lustre and color. And you want to look at the shape and whether they're evenly sized. Great pearls have a memorable glow and shimmer. I think one is better off having one exquisite pearl on a chain than a long string of bad-looking pearls.

I love the dress and I think it looks fabulous on you. I think you should be careful with the pearls because you don't want multiple strings detracting from your beauty in the dress. If it were me I would do a single strand of very good glass fakes, not too long. Or one very beautiful pearl on a long chain but only if you think you would wear it regularly in the future.

This is excellent advice.
Good fakes are better ( and often more valuable) than bad genuine pearls.
Beautiful dress. I wouldn't cover it up with a jacket.
 
This is excellent advice.

Good fakes are better ( and often more valuable) than bad genuine pearls.

Beautiful dress. I wouldn't cover it up with a jacket.


Thanks!! I really don't want to wear a jacket but I just thought for church because the dress is so see thru. Don't want to look like a **** [emoji23][emoji23] but honestly I don't need one cause the dress has sleeves and it's just so beautiful.
 
Thanks!! I really don't want to wear a jacket but I just thought for church because the dress is so see thru. Don't want to look like a **** [emoji23][emoji23] but honestly I don't need one cause the dress has sleeves and it's just so beautiful.


Okay, I'm a Catholic school teacher and I'd wear it without the jacket.

I think you will look great!
 
This is what the papers say that come with them. Not sure what it means if they have been looked at by a gemological institute. View attachment 3323241
Honestly, you can buy real pearls very inexpensively! Real doesn't mean anything - there are different grades, and are rated on how 'perfect' they are. I find 'faux' pearls, good quality glass ones, much more attractive and I don't have to worry about discolouring them with make up or ruining them with perfume.