Pearl Education (Warning: Somewhat of a Rant)
- Thread starter callire
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Oh wow Pazt, those are beautiful!
gga, I've drooled over your Japster strands, let me re-drool on them once more!!!!!...Same with Katel's earrings, lol. I think I've got to wipe spit off my keyboard.
I've been eyeing these on www. futurefashionista.com for a loooong time. I think they're absolutely gorgeous.
gga, I've drooled over your Japster strands, let me re-drool on them once more!!!!!...Same with Katel's earrings, lol. I think I've got to wipe spit off my keyboard.
I've been eyeing these on www. futurefashionista.com for a loooong time. I think they're absolutely gorgeous.
oh GGA, so that's where those pistachios went that i so wanted to buy but i waited a little too long. I even got to try them on and then japster told me she sold them to you and you had them made into a longer strand. just gorgeous. and to those looking at futurefashionista.com, those prices are not what you will pay. she gives sometimes up to 40% off those prices for us. I love pearls and bought a bunch of freshwater strands from a local jeweler closing shop. I gave them to my girls and son's girlfriend, but for me, I prefer to buy less and have total lifetime quality, so when I die my girls will get my three strands from Japster, my gorgeous tahitians and my south sea whites and hopefully the new set of pistachios she has posted. Here are my mother's day pearls before they're strung. the pistachios are what i plan to get for my birthday. then I'm set for three daugthers, three gorgeous saltwater strands.
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The Pearl Outlet earrings are AAA quality. They are absolutely wonderful quality!!! I have often drooled at FF's website but can almost always find the same quality pearls with other vendors for less. Her sense of design is top notch, but because she may charge more for same or similar items does not make her items better.
well i did go look at several of the websites listed here and they could not touch the price i paid for my Tahitians or the white south seas i just bought. and mine are made by one person's hand at her bench. the south seas on pearl outlet and the other site were 5-7K and they were not as big as mine and had more blemishes. mine are 11-13 mm AAA and they were $4500. I think for freshwater pearls they are offering some very good prices though and if i weren't into investment pieces i'd pick up a few.
Hi, your pieces are beautiful. However, I don't think you are comparing apples to apples if you are comparing the white south sea strand prices to those of Pearl Paradise. I may be mistaken, not trying to split hares but from your pictures, your white south seas are near-round, not perfectly round and as such would be baroque prices. The price points for perfectly round strand of white south seas for the same size and quality as compared to a baroque strand will be higher.
Not sure about investment but jewelry is never a good investment product as they immediate lose a large percentage of their value the moment you purchase them from a jeweler.
You are comparing apples to oranges - freshadama pearls to gem-quality south seas or tahitians. Even on Pearl Paradise and Pearl Outlet, South Sea and Tahitians are not inexpensive.
I guess my curiousity with this thread is the persistent theme of "more" as opposed to necessarily better. Again, I would rather have one fabulous and top quality strand, than several cheaper, good quality ones. And I still can't help but wonder at the OPs involvement with the sites mentioned. As I said, I have no problem with affiliation. But given the rules of Purse Forum, I do have a problem with people who may be affiliated with a business coming here and posting under the guise of concerned consumers when in fact all they want to do is drive business to a particular site. I am definitely not accusing OP or anyone else of this. I am just really not clear on his/her affiliation with the sites she likes to mention.
I think this is one of those things that will come down to personal taste and design preference. Some of us will pick from one company or another based on our taste and tolerances.
Because of the glowing recs here from posters like callire and FlgirlFM, I bought a strand of AAA-quality 8-9 mm freshwater pearls, a strand of 9mm Freshadama pearls, and a pair of earrings from PP. I sent them back immediately, since the quality was not what I wanted or expected from the rave reviews I read on this thread, and it was my opinion that they compared poorly to the strands I own from other jewelers.
Many of us don't share the same taste or purchasing priorities on this forum, and I have learned a lesson about just how far to trust a stranger's assessment. What someone else adores may not suit me, and I don't expect others to share my tastes, either.
Fortunately there are companies and pearls to suit most tastes and wallets on this forum.
Because of the glowing recs here from posters like callire and FlgirlFM, I bought a strand of AAA-quality 8-9 mm freshwater pearls, a strand of 9mm Freshadama pearls, and a pair of earrings from PP. I sent them back immediately, since the quality was not what I wanted or expected from the rave reviews I read on this thread, and it was my opinion that they compared poorly to the strands I own from other jewelers.
Many of us don't share the same taste or purchasing priorities on this forum, and I have learned a lesson about just how far to trust a stranger's assessment. What someone else adores may not suit me, and I don't expect others to share my tastes, either.
Fortunately there are companies and pearls to suit most tastes and wallets on this forum.
I know that Callire post on other forums and as she has clarified, she is just a consumer/customer. What is wrong with customers posting their experiences on a forum? What makes you think that the sites posted here do not sell top quality pearls? Perhaps you should read from the start of this thread where Callire has basically shared that pearls are essentially generic and as long as you buy quality pearls (regardless of freshwater, south seas, tahitians etc) that are graded or certified based on the same standards, it should be the same regardless of where it is purchased from. The vendors posted here has an office and a vault and there are hundreds more, if not thousands more strands of south seas or tahitians in their vault. I am sure you can get a AAA strand of top quality south seas from them if you want to.
Buy pearls is similar to buying a generic round diamond. Regardless of which vendor it is purchased from , as long as it has the same specifications based on the same standards, one diamond isn't better than the other just because it is from a brand name or popular vendor. This reminds of people's mindset about Tiffany diamonds - a Tiffany diamond does not equate to a top notch cut, just a brand name on the setting. I'd rather take a top notch cut certified by AGS as ideal anytime over a Tiffany in house certification. For the same budget, one might be able to get a bigger non-branded AGS ideal cut diamond than a non-ideal cut Tiffany diamond.
I like jewelry and I like to have lots of them for variety. I have fine jewelry, designer jewelry as well as fun freshwater pearls in my jewelry box and to me, jewelry is for fun and enjoyment, not for investment. If you want to invest, go buy bonds or equities. It is entirely up to the individual to either spend their budget on one top quality piece, or many fun pieces or many top quality and fun pieces.
I have read all of this thread, and have also seen callire's posts on other forums, particularly The Pearl Guide, where people also asked the same questions of her as I (and others) have asked here. I've also noticed she doesn't generally reply to these directly herself. Not sure why.
You've made some excellent points above and for the most part, I agree with you. I have no quibble with the pearls being sold on Pearl Outlet or Pearl Paradise. Mr. Canning and Mr. Shepard are very reputable sellers and their prices are fair, their goods excellent quality. But I still think that on a public forum like this one, where there are rules as to what can and cannot be promoted, some of OPs posts seem to veer somewhat close to or cross the line of promotion, and it seems to be more to me than just sharing her experience as a consumer. Obviously, many others here find this useful - it alerts them to sales they may not have been aware of and they have gotten great deals.
Good for them. I'm all for good deals. But I disagree with the constant promotion by one poster and yes, because this is a forum with wonderful discussion and options, I will leave this thread to those who appreciate it more than I do.
simplysplendid, for the record, are you affiliated with any sites that sell pearls?
and I think, given the PF's rules, it is very appropriate to ask again that the op answer the question (that has been asked and not answered):
Callire, are you affiliated with any sites that sell pearls?
and I think, given the PF's rules, it is very appropriate to ask again that the op answer the question (that has been asked and not answered):
Callire, are you affiliated with any sites that sell pearls?
Was wondering if anyone knows about the overall sizing of SSP? Are they all generally larger than 10mm? Or are there SSP below 10mm? I'm drawn to getting a pair of SSP studs, but somehow I feel that 10mm are too big for my ears as studs... 
I wish I was then I would have access to great deals all the time! No, I have no affiliation to any pearl vendors nor diamond vendors nor jeweler anywhere. I believe Callire answered the question previously.
I find it strange the people would object to someone posting about certain vendors regularly and immediately suspect affiliation. I have been on other more established jewelry forums where consumers post about certain vendors all the time and I like these types of threads as it keeps me posted on where the sales and what is available. The vendors that get mentioned frequently are generally the vendors that have the best service, product, value for money. If a vendor slips, that gets mentioned too, so that's fair.