Bought 3 strands and now sleepless in Los Angeles. Help!

[1serendipity]

My husband and I just came back from a trip to Hong Kong and Manila. While in Manila, we went with a friend to Greenhills and was a bit put off by the stall after stall of folks selling pearls like they were candy, but as a girl lusting for pearls and for lack of self control and better judgement, I foolishly gave in when my husband said he'd love to get me some pearls. I'm not an expert but I know I was buying the lower grade pearls, sacrificing some of the luster, lots of blemishes, etc. but I figured it was still a good deal. And now that I'm back in LA, I am kicking myself for caving in because I am not too happy with how they look now absent all the millions of pearls that surrounded them there. I don't have the best photos but would like to ask the experts in this forum if you can tell if I even have grade A South Sea pearls or D Tahitian pearls? Heck, please tell me if there is a chance that these are not even real south sea and tahitians! They have good weight to them and feel cold. I did the tooth test on all the pearls and some are gritty and some are not. I will try and return them if I can prove that they are not what they have represented them to be.

All three strands have pearls measuring about 9 mm for the smallest and 10.2 mm for the largest pearl. Each strand is about 31-33 pearls. There's lots of blemishes but there are no visible cracks. The Tahitian is not black like the two photos but more like the smaller photo with copper undertones. Also, below the clasp is a pearl which has two textures to it, one area is gritty and the other not. I did not get the golden SSP because I was told that those were coated to get that beautiful golden color and that the one I was sold was more of a natural SSP. I would guess natural means it was still processed in some way, like tumbled but not coated. Please disregard the clasp. I have a hard time with the small ball clasps and decided instead on the plated, magnetic clasp while I look for a better one here. I appreciate any input, good news or otherwise.

 

[Daddys Little Pearl]

Hi there sleepless,
I am not one of the experts on this forum, but having just acquired some good quality Tahitian pearls recently, I can tell you when rubbed together mine do not have that gritty feel, in other words the tooth or scratch test just is not appllicable to Tahitian pearls evidently. Interestingly, my Tahitians feel colder than other real pearls to me at least. See the thread under the Tahitian category, and look for a thread about tahitians feeling gritty, I have photos there.
Can you take some photos with your pearls on a white paper towel or sheet, with good lighting and without using the camera flash? That will be helpful for others to assess the quality of what you have. You might want to tell what you paid for these which will also be a clue, Tahitian pearls are not and should not be cheap.

 

[KarinK]

No expert here either but the white ones look just like my large fresh water pearls and not much like the single SSP's I've got... As I recall reading in old posts about the Greenhills market that is what is usually being sold - freshwater pearls posing as Tahitians and SSP's. You might want to search for other posts about this topic. And people will chime in who know more about pearls.

- Karin

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

They are FWPs.

I normally just comment on natural pearls, but even in the light of misinformation, false advertising or outright scams, I'll always defend even the lowest quality pearls, especially if they were gifts.

There is no need to kick yourself for having a thoughtful husband and a passion for pretty things... especially pearls.

Accept them in the spirit for which they were given, wear them for fun, wear them for work, give them to a young person on a first date.... anything like that. Likewise, enjoy your newly found wisdom and knowledge, afterall I think you'll be fond of (and more discerning) of pearls for a very long time.

 

[perlinda]

I can't confirm for sure, since they kinda look like freshwater pearls to me as well, but I have seen (and owned) SSP that looks like the white pearls even though not as necklace. Here in Indonesia, that chalky white and cream color SS pearls are usually exported in bulk to other countries for color treatment (coating/dyed), before being sold in the market (mostly in Asia).

I just took this pic to show what I was talking about.


They might look like night and day, but yes, both are SSP.

Many people here have expressed disappointment from buying in Greenhills as Chinese freshwater pearls have been passed around as South Sea and Tahitian pearls there, even though there are some vendors selling the real thing. So, even though I can't tell for sure whether your pearls are real SSP or actually FWP, but I agree with Dave's advice. You still can enjoy the pearls for many things

 

[Caitlin]

I am unfamiliar with pitted freshwater pearls, though pits are common on Tahitians. Though no one thinks Greenhills has much besides freshwater. These pearls are heavily pitted which cuts into their value. How did they get those pits in there?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I was wondering about the pits, too! Could they be bead nucleated FWs?

 

[jshepherd]

The Tahitian pearls don't look too bad, but with such a limited glance it is difficult to say. The other strands don't appear to be freshwater. I think they are both South Sea, but your suspicions of the quality are right. The quality is extremely low.

 

[pattye]

1serendipity,

Yes, you now have some fun cultured pearls to wear! I "suspect" these are all cultured freshwater pearls. Even the strand sold as Tahitians are likely dyed freshwater pearls. Copper tones on Tahitians would be rather unusual. More photos on a plain white background like a paper towel would help.
Like the other recommend, wear and enjoy your necklaces for what they are and you possibly still got a good deal.

 

[1serendipity]

Thank you all, as I type this with a bit of a heavy heart. I will enjoy my gifts but still saddens me that I let myself get carried away in the moment. For what we paid for these, I could have gotten myself one quality, knockout strand from one of you reputable sellers here. Wish I found this site sooner. Sigh. I probably sound naive here but are there really freshwater pearls this size that are passed off as SSP? If so, I will definitely try and contact the seller because we paid lots of hard earned money for these three strands including the matching earrings. Here are photos I took using a paper towel as background.

 

[jshepherd]

Yes, freshwater pearls do grow that large, but those are South Sea, not freshwater. It doesn't look like you did too bad on the Tahitian strand, however. From what I've seen so far, the quality doesn't seem to be too bad.

 

[Caitlin]

The only thing that kept me from agreeing that they are freshwater is those pits. How could they be faked? I simply have not seen fw with pits like that. It is a very south sea/tahitian thing.

 

[Daddys Little Pearl]

Agree Caitlin,a few of my Tahitian pearls have those same funny little pits, and I have not seen that type in freshwater pearls at all.

 

[perlinda]

The Tahitian necklace and SSP earrings look nice, you didn't get bad deal for those. The other necklaces (now confirmed to be SSP) have low luster, but the blemishes are not too bad/heavy.

 

[pearlescence]

The flaws are an indicator of south sea pearls - that sort of volcano on the moon, somehting dropped into thick cream circle effect you only see on ss including tahitians. -at least I've never seen it on freshwaters

 

[pearlescence]

Hi, there is nothing wrong with those pearls, and, compared to many who shop at Greenhills you are fortunate in that you got the real thing. Grading is an inexact art rather than a science. Don't let opinions based on a few photos concern you unduely. Having looked at your new photos, they aren't the most fabulous ss pearls I've ever seen but I've seen plenty much much worse too.
Instead of thinking that they are terrible grade and you don't like them because of it, consider that you can have lots of fun working out which of the three (or none) really floats your boat and which you really want to spend top dollar on.

 

[Dizzie]

Those pits were stealing my rest, as I remember seeing very similar also in FW pearls, thought as experts mentioned those are SSP typical. I could not find white ones right now for a better comparison, but at least in colour. Te pic shiws 11 mm + FW

http://www.chq-gmbh.de/onlineshop/images/product_images/popup_images/382_1.jpg

 

[KarinK]

Those pits were stealing my rest, as I remember seeing very similar also in FW pearls, thought as experts mentioned those are SSP typical. I could not find white ones right now for a better comparison, but at least in colour. Te pic shiws 11 mm + FW

http://www.chq-gmbh.de/onlineshop/images/product_images/popup_images/382_1.jpg

That's the place I got my 10-11 mm FW from that I was reminded of when I saw the first pictures. But Jeremy should know so I trust his judgement.

- Karin

 

[Katbran]

Well I am not going to comment on the type of pearl as I'm not an expert. I will say that I think the Tahitians look very pretty, I have an inexpensive strand that I bought at the HK show as I was walking out the door and I love them. Someday I'll get some of a far better quality but the ones I have will do quite nicely till then. The gold SS earrings are very pretty as well. I don't know what you paid but I think the forum members are right, enjoy them!

 

[Sea Urchin]

Well, I'm spring cleaning so my opinion may be influenced. Every year a pile of stuff goes out the door and I cringe when I think of what I paid for it originally. But if I don't like something any more, then I just don't, whether I bought it a decade ago or yesterday. I think plenty of ladies would be happy with those and I don't know what kind of deal you got. But if it was me and a purchase I regretted, I think I'd rather sell them on ebay or gift them with love and move on towards some that I did really love.