Buying pearls, part one

Several friends and bloggoddess Karen at A Certain Age have contacted me about pearl buying. Thanks for unleashing my passion, as if I need encouragement.

Today and tomorrow, two posts, organized by
1. Buying tips
2. Pearl value factors
so that, if you know about pearls, you can just read the tips, and if you'd like to know more about what makes a pearl wonderful, the value factors.

I won't include info about types of pearls here. For that, go to Pearl Guide and read the "Cultured Pearl" section; this site dives deeply into mollusk matters. Finally, fakes are fun, fine for what they are– but this post is about genuine pearls.

90% of jewelers are pearl-blind

Many jewelers know zip about pearls, and get away with it because the customer knows even less. When I took my pearl-grading courses, I found most jewelers there were indifferent to pearls; they fixated on diamonds, with their high margins and desirability. They sold pearls for wedding gowns or graduation, and only because they 'had to carry them'.

Many are contemptuous of Chinese freshwater pearls (CFW). The reason: CFWs are at least 3-4 times cheaper than saltwater pearls of comparable quality, and therefore less profitable.

Those jewelers are unaware of what the Chinese are producing. When an instructor passed around a strand of Chinese 12mm perfect round pearls with intense inner glow and mesmerizing orient, one said "Seeing these, why would anyone buy saltwaters?" "You have to wonder about that", replied the instructor as fifty jewelers gnashed their teeth.

I'm going to focus on CFWs in today's post. South Seas and Tahitians are exquisite, but deserve their own post, and Akoyas (the classic Japanese white pearl) are too conventional to raise my pulse.


Buying Tips (Part One)

1. If you are over 40, don't buy pearls under 9.5mm unless they are multistrand or mixed with other sizes or gems. They will look bitsy regardless of your size.

2. Chinese freshwater pearls (CFWs) will be the best buy. They have very thick nacre so wear and age well. But be picky as the market is flooded with poor to average material.

3. A high quality pendant, ring or pair of earrings is a better purchase than an average strand. Looking at lots of pearls is wise, but a beautiful pearl will sing to you clearly, surely, charmingly.

4. If buying pearls temporarily strung (no knots and clasp), count on the finished strand to be about 2" longer. Therefore, minimum length for an unfinished strand is 16" unless you want a tight choker or have a really slim neck.

5. Think about comfort. That 5-foot rope is fun to play with but worn all day, may be too heavy.

6. Necklaces that can be extended by hooking two strands together sound like a good idea but look ungainly, like those pants that unzip to shorts.

7. Brightly-coloured dye jobs (teal, orange, red) are like putting a tutu on a terrier. The essence of the pearl is perverted.


Pearl Value Factors: Size, Shape and Colour

The quality (and therefore price) will depend on the "7 Value Factors": size, shape, colour, lustre, surface quality, nacre quality, and matching. Today's post covers the first three factors.

1. Size

There are now more large sized CFWs due to improved farming methods, so if you received a 6mm-7mm strand for your graduation or wedding, it will look small now.
(Ideas: remodel it as a two-row bracelet; give it to a niece.)

Here's a 9.5-10.5mm white CFW necklace from Pearl Paradise; an 18" strand is $686. (Note: I have no relationship with Pearl Paradise or any other vendors whom I mention.)

They also sell a premium CFWP called "freshadama"; an 18" strand of 9-9.5mm is $1,130. But notice that the pearls are not as big. If I were shopping, I'd call the nice people in Paradise and ask to see a strand of each.

If a 9.5-10mm strand is beyond your budget, consider a Tin Cup style (pearls interspersed by chain). Shown Tahitian 10mm-11mm Tin Cup 18-inch strand, $765 from Pearl Paradise.


If size really counts

Round or near-round freshwaters are presently quite rare in sizes above 12-13mm but getting bigger by the year as the Chinese refine their methods. So if you want big 14mm-20mm honkin' mamas like Ms Clinton or Ms Pelosi, you are buying South Seas (pearls from Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines) or Tahitians. A strand bought in North America will cost around $6,000 to a quarter million depending on size and quality.

Shown: 12.1mm-14.1mm white South Seas 18" strand from Pearl Paradise, $10,200.

Whether you're spending big money or not, consider the other pearl value factors.

2. Shape

The most expensive are perfect spheres. I prefer slightly off-round (or near-round) over these, which can look fake. I'd rather have superb colour and generous size.

Symmetrical (but not spherical) shapes: You will also see ovals, buttons or drops (pears). I like their character and they will be cheaper than perfect rounds.

Baroque means non-symmetrical, and can have little 'tails', or be squashy irregular buttons like a slightly askew bean bag chair. The multicolored strand that GF Vicky is rocking here are mammoth 22mm dyed baroques; price was $1,000 in Manila. (These are not fine pearls, just huge, fun ones; Vicky and her GF Michelle bought many strands and bargained.)

Baroque pearls look more casual and are much cheaper than rounds. The orient is often more pronounced than on rounds. Jewelers can be contemptuous of baroques, which suits them, not you.

Here's a strand of Pearl Paradise's 8.5-12.5mm CFW baroques for $250. Web site says "out of stock" but call them, as they come in and out of supply. (Yes, 8.5 is a mite small but these will be near the back and at this price, I don't mind a few smaller ones.)

3. Colour

There is a world of colour in pearls, the main thing to know is that pearl colour has three characteristics:

1. Body colour: The dominant, overall colour of the pearl; in CFWs, silver or cream

2. Overtone: One or more translucent colours that float over the body colour like a colour glaze on hair. The most typical overtones are rosé, green or blue. More than one overtone may be present, especially on Tahitians.

So the colour of a pearl equals body colour plus overtone, if overtone is present.

3. Orient: The iridescent, shimmering rainbow of colours (pink, green, yellow, orange, blue) on or just below the surface. Orient looks like oil on water, shifting with the light, and may be more intense in one area than another or present only on part of a pearl. Pearls with irregular shape are more likely to display orient. A pearl can have overtone but no orient; this is fairly common.

Many salespersons confuse overtone and orient. A pearl can also have neither overtone nor orient– that's a boring pearl, about as interesting as styrofoam, but it's what many people are used to seeing.

A fine pearl whispers, breathes and has an essence that emanates from within. And just like us, it does not have to be perfect to be beautiful.


What colour do you want?

That depends on your colouring and taste. Avoid stark white pearls with no overtone or orient. If this kind of pearl has high lustre (covered in the next Buying Pearls post) a jeweler might say, "Look, you can see your reflection!" Big deal, this will be a cold, soulless pearl.

Most CFWs undergo some type of post-harvest processing: cleaning, buffing, and bleaching to create whiter and more even colour. These standard processes need not be disclosed.


Colour: natural or dyed?

Dyeing, irradiating and coating a pearl is considered a treatment. The dye (or radiation) is usually stable. Jeremy Shepherd, owner of Paradise Pearls, has commented that he has seen some dye fading in CFWs over years; other pearl mavens have not, nor have I. But he's seen a zillion more pearls than I have or ever will. However, for a few hundred bucks' investment, I wouldn't worry.

If you are buying CFWs and the colour is gray, black or golden, they are dyed– nothing wrong with that, but the jeweler should disclose the fact. If the pearl is pink, peach, or lavender or taupe it could be natural or dyed. Sometimes dyed and natural coexist in the same strand.

Some dyed pearls are lovely; don't disqualify pearls for this reason if they speak to you.

The pearls at the top of this post are undyed baroque CFWs, called "pondslime" for the distinctive green-gold-taupe-pink uneven coloration. $150 for a 9.2mm-11mm strand from Kojima Pearl.


Misinformation jewelers (or salespeople) have told me

1. These pearls are very rare!
Do your research. Pearls are not rare because they are chocolate-coloured, or gray and white mixed strands, or "spice pearls from Thailand" or shaped like sticks, crosses or Buddhas. What they might mean is "the only ones like this we have". Or it's BS. When a jeweler specializing in pearls says "rare", listen, but do your research.

2. These pearls are natural!
Very few pearls are natural, among the rarest gems. You can buy them; see the Exotic section of Pearl Paradise's site. Their ring, set with one natural pearl, is $1,050. A matched strand would be priceless. What the young, inexperienced salesperson may mean is that the colour is natural.

3. "We can sell it to you cheaper because...!"
Maybe so. But I have been prices that are insanely inflated. Craft shows are the worst. I've seen a $325 tag on a crappy strand of 7mm dyed potato (shaped) pearls that are worth maybe $25. I don't care if the clasp is handmade, this is robbery. I've also had artisans tell me the pearls are more expensive because they are baroque.

Many artisans are informed and honest, but others put a sale before accuracy. Some women believe anything said by the person who made the piece.

Do your research first on reputable sites like Pearls of Joy, Pearl Paradise or Carolyn Ehret's eBay store, Ehret Design Gallery.
Shown, Ehret Design Japanese Kasumi pearl and spinel bead earrings, $499.

Tomorrow, more on the value factors, and on pearl buying tips.

Don't be afraid of buying pearls! Learn a little and you will glow in them.