Greetings:
(I tried to upload some pictures so you could compare the three strands - but I am having lots of trouble - maybe later
)
My first experience in buying pearls at LingLing?s occurred this past August in her Shanghai store. My mission was to obtain a strand of 8mm, AAA, lavender pearls with a 14K gold clasp and in the end I did succeed in doing just that. This is the story.
Shanghai in August is very hot and very humid, a walk from the Bund down Nanjing Road to Pearl City takes a half an hour or so and you arrive soaking wet with sweat. I had understood that the shop I was looking for was on the 4th floor, so I took the escalator up and searched through a rabbit warren of offices, but alas, it wasn?t there. It turns out that it is on the second floor and there is a big sign above the front of the store announcing Ling Ling?s pearls. If you are looking for it, you can?t miss it; you just have to look in the right place.
When you go into any store in China, especially a jewelry store, there is no shortage of shop assistants to help you. Labour is cheap over there and all stores have lots of staff, in certain stores, there are girls whose only job appears to be to hold open the door for any customer wanting to enter. If you show any sign of being interested in the merchandise, they immediately give you a cold bottle of water and your shopping experience has begun.
A person need not worry about getting ?real? freshwater pearls in China. They are all over the place, in every market, and the seller will happily get out a pocket knife to scrape the pearls, thereby showing you the ?pearl dust.? They will show you how plastic pearls peel off and genuine pearls make white dust. Genuine pearls are everywhere and are really cheap, so I am not sure why they would bother with plastic ones, maybe for an expensive set, but surely if a person was spending big money they would check for authenticity.
I dealt with Nancy, who was very helpful and very pleasant. I told her what I was looking for and she hauled out hanks of pearls in the size range I was looking for. We settled on a set of pearls that would make a necklace and bracelet. We bargained over the price of the pearls and then we looked at clasps. What I found was that the clasps were way more expensive than I had thought. Gold clasps, especially ones with diamonds can up the price considerably. The other thing I found was that they don?t come down in price all that much. I am not sure if they could see that gleam of desire in my eye or what, but I am sure that Nancy knew I would buy those pearls. When you are hot, sweaty and have invested an hour in choosing and then bargaining for a product ? it takes a cold heart to walk away! I certainly couldn?t!
So this is what I ended up with, a necklace and bracelet of 8mm, lavender, ?best quality? (their term) pearls with a 14K gold clasp and I paid 800 Yuan for them. (About 7 Yuan to the dollar)
Just to compare, I bought the second set on a Yangtze River cruise ship. They are 8.2mm and I paid 300 Yuan for them.
The third set, I bought from a street vendor for 125 Yuan. Pearl enhancer, I bought from Ling Lings as well. I paid 750 Yuan for it.
I would have gone back and bought some more strands but our guide kept telling us that prices in Beijing would be better. When we arrived in Beijing, we went to the Pearl Market and found Ling Ling?s store, but they were not as helpful and they seemed to be very reluctant to bargain at all. I think this is a result of the Olympics coming to China ? they are upping the prices in preparation of that event. In my opinion the store in Shanghai had much more to choose from in the area of ?cheap gift items? and I wish I had spent more time there. In Beijing, I unfortunately ran out of time and couldn?t really do the whole choosing, bargaining thing. Probably a good thing for my credit card.
Anyways, it was quite the experience and I do think that I would be better at it the second time around, but it was fun and I am happy with what I did get.
And that, is my pearl buying report!
Carol
(I tried to upload some pictures so you could compare the three strands - but I am having lots of trouble - maybe later
)My first experience in buying pearls at LingLing?s occurred this past August in her Shanghai store. My mission was to obtain a strand of 8mm, AAA, lavender pearls with a 14K gold clasp and in the end I did succeed in doing just that. This is the story.
Shanghai in August is very hot and very humid, a walk from the Bund down Nanjing Road to Pearl City takes a half an hour or so and you arrive soaking wet with sweat. I had understood that the shop I was looking for was on the 4th floor, so I took the escalator up and searched through a rabbit warren of offices, but alas, it wasn?t there. It turns out that it is on the second floor and there is a big sign above the front of the store announcing Ling Ling?s pearls. If you are looking for it, you can?t miss it; you just have to look in the right place.
When you go into any store in China, especially a jewelry store, there is no shortage of shop assistants to help you. Labour is cheap over there and all stores have lots of staff, in certain stores, there are girls whose only job appears to be to hold open the door for any customer wanting to enter. If you show any sign of being interested in the merchandise, they immediately give you a cold bottle of water and your shopping experience has begun.
A person need not worry about getting ?real? freshwater pearls in China. They are all over the place, in every market, and the seller will happily get out a pocket knife to scrape the pearls, thereby showing you the ?pearl dust.? They will show you how plastic pearls peel off and genuine pearls make white dust. Genuine pearls are everywhere and are really cheap, so I am not sure why they would bother with plastic ones, maybe for an expensive set, but surely if a person was spending big money they would check for authenticity.
I dealt with Nancy, who was very helpful and very pleasant. I told her what I was looking for and she hauled out hanks of pearls in the size range I was looking for. We settled on a set of pearls that would make a necklace and bracelet. We bargained over the price of the pearls and then we looked at clasps. What I found was that the clasps were way more expensive than I had thought. Gold clasps, especially ones with diamonds can up the price considerably. The other thing I found was that they don?t come down in price all that much. I am not sure if they could see that gleam of desire in my eye or what, but I am sure that Nancy knew I would buy those pearls. When you are hot, sweaty and have invested an hour in choosing and then bargaining for a product ? it takes a cold heart to walk away! I certainly couldn?t!
So this is what I ended up with, a necklace and bracelet of 8mm, lavender, ?best quality? (their term) pearls with a 14K gold clasp and I paid 800 Yuan for them. (About 7 Yuan to the dollar)
Just to compare, I bought the second set on a Yangtze River cruise ship. They are 8.2mm and I paid 300 Yuan for them.
The third set, I bought from a street vendor for 125 Yuan. Pearl enhancer, I bought from Ling Lings as well. I paid 750 Yuan for it.
I would have gone back and bought some more strands but our guide kept telling us that prices in Beijing would be better. When we arrived in Beijing, we went to the Pearl Market and found Ling Ling?s store, but they were not as helpful and they seemed to be very reluctant to bargain at all. I think this is a result of the Olympics coming to China ? they are upping the prices in preparation of that event. In my opinion the store in Shanghai had much more to choose from in the area of ?cheap gift items? and I wish I had spent more time there. In Beijing, I unfortunately ran out of time and couldn?t really do the whole choosing, bargaining thing. Probably a good thing for my credit card.
Anyways, it was quite the experience and I do think that I would be better at it the second time around, but it was fun and I am happy with what I did get.
And that, is my pearl buying report!
Carol
