He doesn't sell direct. He hosts small auctions. The only retailer I know of in the US is ProVockative Gems Inc. There are likely several others, but my interest in his operation has not been from a commercial side, so I'm not sure.
Pearl Education (Warning: Somewhat of a Rant)
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He doesn't sell direct. He hosts small auctions. The only retailer I know of in the US is ProVockative Gems Inc. There are likely several others, but my interest in his operation has not been from a commercial side, so I'm not sure.
I just heard today that there is a difference between gem quality south sea pearls and the usual high quality (AAA/AA+) south sea pearls that we see. Gem quality is rare and more expensive, much more so than the high quality AAA/AA+ south seas. Anyone owns a strand and has a picture?
I see, gauging from the pictures, I believe that would be a reasonable price to pay for that strand, not over priced nor cheap, but reasonable for its lustre (noted the difference in lustre between the tahitian strand and the south sea strand).
Paspaley produces the finest. They are classified as Round 1, Nacre and Orient 1. Unfortunately for buyers in the US, Paspaley only really wholesales through Stuller as they represent the brand in the US, and Stuller does not carry this line, nor do they sell direct to the public. They carry round 1, but only Nacre 2 and below.
Paspaley does sell direct to a few larger retail buyers, one has been mentioned here, but you rarely see it advertised.
A wee bit of a rant, I know. The point I am trying to make is this. What is gem quality? Without producer standard in place in the retail realm, every system is subjective and buyers must rely upon the retailer's scale, which may only be based upon a reasonable breakdown of available product. A true gem would be a Paspaley Round 1, and as they refer, T and N1 (with 'T' referring to the tightness of nacre). But I've only seen these pearls loose and never in a strand.
Paspaley does sell direct to a few larger retail buyers, one has been mentioned here, but you rarely see it advertised.
A wee bit of a rant, I know. The point I am trying to make is this. What is gem quality? Without producer standard in place in the retail realm, every system is subjective and buyers must rely upon the retailer's scale, which may only be based upon a reasonable breakdown of available product. A true gem would be a Paspaley Round 1, and as they refer, T and N1 (with 'T' referring to the tightness of nacre). But I've only seen these pearls loose and never in a strand.
japster did some design work for paspaley so she was able to get me this gorgeous strand. I don't know about it's orient or nacre but she does. i just know it's exactly what i was looking for and at a price i could afford. Being a paspaley is a plus for me i guess but i don't know much about the differences.
I've missed a lot in the past few days!
loren, so are you friends with Justin Hunter, or Justin Hunter's rep in the US?
gga, sorry if I've missed this but did you compare the freshwaters from Pearl Paradise to other freshwater strands you own? Why weren't you happy with them? I'm really curious as I have AAA freshwaters and love themm to death so I'd love to get your views.
loren, so are you friends with Justin Hunter, or Justin Hunter's rep in the US?
gga, sorry if I've missed this but did you compare the freshwaters from Pearl Paradise to other freshwater strands you own? Why weren't you happy with them? I'm really curious as I have AAA freshwaters and love themm to death so I'd love to get your views.
I bought a south sea pendent from Paspaleys Martin Place Sydney retail store 9 years ago and that was descibed as gem quality then so maybe they have changed their policy. It glows. While Paspaley are the largest their are a number of other pearl fleet operators out of Broome and Darwin in the north of Australia. Most of them only sell wholesale but another company that has a retail arm and advertises like Paspaley is Kailis, check out their website www.kailisjewellery.com if you want to see some amazing (and very expensive) pearls. Last time I went into their shop in Broome I picked out a comparitively modest strand to try on and was horrified to see the pricetag of 30 000 dollars. I didnt buy them but instead got a strand (anniversary present) from Linneys www.linneys.com which is the oldest retail supplier of south sea pearls in Broome, headed up by a guy called Bill Reed who is a marine biologist who went off to Japan decades ago to bring back pearl culturing techniques to Broome. Linneys is also the distibutor of Pink Argyle diamonds , Argyle is in the same kimberley region of Australia as Broome
( In case you hadnt guessed I live in Western Australia.)
( In case you hadnt guessed I live in Western Australia.)
Kailis and Paspaley began working together in the fall on 2006. This was announced in Jewellery News Asia as a "sort of" merge in September '06. The Paspaley/Kailis cooperation sounded like a merger of capabilities and specialties designed to capitalize on each other's expertise. Paspaley winds up with big chunks of Kailis' wild and hatchery quotas.
Kailis does produce some magnificent pearls. Bill Reed carries magnificent pearls and is extremely well known throughout the industry.
If you purchased a pendant from a Paspaley store tagged as gem, you purchased one of the pearls I earlier described. Those pearls do appear to glow but are so rare strands are very rarely composed.
Kailis does produce some magnificent pearls. Bill Reed carries magnificent pearls and is extremely well known throughout the industry.
If you purchased a pendant from a Paspaley store tagged as gem, you purchased one of the pearls I earlier described. Those pearls do appear to glow but are so rare strands are very rarely composed.
Thankyou, the pendent is lovely, it isnt very big, 11 mm but it looks like it glows from within. For some reason little kids and babies are mesmerised by it! They did tell me at the time it was rare but I thoght that was just salestalk!
pazt, thanks dear!
I believe you were referring to my baroque SSP ring. I love it to bits too!!!
And I must say this thread is growing well with loads of information too!!!
I believe you were referring to my baroque SSP ring. I love it to bits too!!!And I must say this thread is growing well with loads of information too!!!
wow I love the pieces on both sites! Thanks for sharing!
Would love to see your pendant too
Elana gets Paspaleys for her designs....I think that's why many of us think it's so obvious to go to her for her unique and personal creations.
p.s. I have been meaning to say:
pazt - GORGEOUS!
gga - OMG spectacular!
loren - you LUCKY woman!
and everyone I missed - lovely!
I agree. It is impossible to tell Paspaley from the pearls' pictures alone, but I do see a large number of Stuller pieces on the FF site, so that is undoubtedly Paspaley as they only wholesale Paspaley pearls in their pieces. I also see Imperial Deltah pearls there with one of my favorites, the Eyris blue.
This thread is so informative- I love it!
As I wrote before I have mainly been interested in white pearls but the pearls from J. Hunter seem to be beyond stunning. On the webpage they for sure seemed to glow from within. Also the Eyris blue pearls were amazing (I just googled them).
Does anyone know if there is a list somewhere with the different pearl types and also the various colours available for every pearl type?
As I wrote before I have mainly been interested in white pearls but the pearls from J. Hunter seem to be beyond stunning. On the webpage they for sure seemed to glow from within. Also the Eyris blue pearls were amazing (I just googled them).
Does anyone know if there is a list somewhere with the different pearl types and also the various colours available for every pearl type?