buying advice sought - hanadama graduated

[keepclam]

Greetings, experts,

I'm planning to purchase a graduated pearl necklace to give to my dear wife shortly after the upcoming mid-January birth of our second child. After a bit of research in the forums, I've set my sights on Hanadama.

Here's my dilemma: I want graduated, preferably 20-22" length. Closest I can find is at pearlsonly.com (yeah, I know). They've got a 23" strand of "AAAA" (yeah, I know) Hanadama pearls, graduated from 6mm to 9mm, for $2700. Here's a link if anyone would like to check 'em out: http://www.pearlsonly.com/pearls/customer/product.php?productid=17850&cat=484&page=1

I'm thinking the Hanadama quality may be a bit of assurance when purchasing from this vendor with a questionable reputation on these forums. However, I would prefer to buy this elsewhere, but can't find anything, even at the major sites represented in this forum.

So, this leads me to several questions:
1. Is the pricing reasonable? It's a bit more than I initially planned, but I think the Hanadamas will be worth it.
2. Will pearlsonly.com Hanadamas be equal to others? (I assume so, but that seems to be a big assumption with these guys.)
3. Anyone know of anywhere else I can shop for this?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[jerin]

Hi Keepclam and welcome to the forum.
I do not know anything about Pearlsonly but I am allergic to the AAAA anyway.
However, as you seem to be set on Akoyas, I would highly recommend to get into contact with Pearl Paradise, Pure Pearls ore some other of our vendors, as they are experts on these things and I think it would be possible to get a graduated strand as a custom order. For the price - if I had that kind of money in thought for a necklace (up to 2 700 $), I would think very seriously getting me a Freshadama necklace, that will outlast the Akoyas for many, many years.... the better buy in my opinion.

 

[Sueki]

Hi Keepclam,
Welcome to the forum. Congrats. and best wishes to you both for January....


I agree with Jerin.
I've not had any dealings with Pearlsonly, so can't comment on them.
But Jerin's suggestion that you contact some of the vendors on here is a good idea.
PearlParadise, I have dealt with and I'm sure they'd try to meet your requirements.

 

[Raisondetre]

I think the active vendors on this site are a better bet. I also highly recommend the freshwater gem lines as better value for money. It'd be easier to get graduated in these, as hanadamas do not typically come graduated. The vendor would have to break apart separate strands and make it up for you, which will cause some problem as the hanadama certification will not be valid for the resulting strand. It would have to be recertified as far as I am concerned.

Hmm, so my avatar is missing ... oh well, time to find a new one/

 

[Mervione]

I agree with Jerin?s suggestion about getting gem grade freshwaters instead. They, too, have insane luster, just like akoyas, they are really round for being freshwaters and since they are all nacre they last a lot longer than akoyas.

A lot of people look down on freshwaters but I think that?s just stupid in my opinion. Cheaper things can be better...

 

[Pearl Dreams]

keepclam,

Granted the luster of Hanadama pearls is a harder and shinier luster rather than the glow of freshwaters, but I think the top end freshwaters hold their own very nicely--and there is no bead inside to wear through. And of course, they are much more affordable.

Take a look at my Freshadamas (top grade freshwaters from PearlParadise.com; other vendors here have similar lines) to get an idea of their luster:

https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=68&pictureid=651

 

[knotty panda]

1. Is the pricing reasonable? It's a bit more than I initially planned, but I think the Hanadamas will be worth it.
2. Will pearlsonly.com Hanadamas be equal to others? (I assume so, but that seems to be a big assumption with these guys.)
3. Anyone know of anywhere else I can shop for this?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

1. Yes, the pricing for graduated Hanadamas is very reasonable.
2. Yes, the Hanadama certification comes from the Pearl Science Lab, not the vendor so it is the same across the board vendor-wise.
3. They seem to be offering a custom Hanadama strand, so it would appear the sponsor vendors can do the same.

If your only reason to purchase Hanadama grade is to assure you are not being taken by the vendor, you should rethink your purchase. You can spend far less money and still get great quality from lots of other sources. P.S.: the Japanese Export Tag is a joke, so don't take it as a serious sales tool.

What size are those, Pearl Dreams? They are beautiful!

 

[knotty panda]

By the way, Pearl Outlet has Gem Quality Freshwaters in that beautiful graduation for $320.00 and Pearl Oasis has AAA quality Freshwaters for about $72.00! The savings from the Hanadama price would make a great start for the college education fund.

 

[waimeamomi]

If you have your heart set on a strand like in the link, you might give a call to Pearl Paradise, they will work with you to get what you want. Comparing strands of Hanadamas on the 2 websites, Pearl Paradise's price on an 8.5-9mm strand is 1000 less, so it might be worth finding out what they would charge for a strand like you are looking at. If you do buy from Pearls Only - let us know how it all works out, since they seem to be new to this site. Good luck - you are a very special guy to do this! And o

 

[Caitlin]

Hi
I looked at the website. Anyone who can call akoyas Japanese is just plain lying. The Japanese stock is itsy-bitsy in quantity these days, so the majority of the Japanese akoyas and hanadamas are bought from China.

We have given other sites a thumbs down for fudging this by saying their akoya pearls are Japanese.

As for the AAAA, what does that mean? Nothing, because there is no such thing from reputable dealers. It demeans people who use the AAA grading. Also your hanadama will not come with a certificate? The claim is

All of our Akoya pearls are certified by the Japan Pearl Exporters Association to

. That is worthless, it isn't a certificate at all, but a joke, according to pearl scholar Jeremy Shepherd.


It does not look like you will get a genuine hanadama certificate with your pearls from the actual one and only hanadama lab: The Japanese Pearl Science Laboratory in Kobe, Japan. At least I could not find it except the "Hanadama, Your Way" will let you design your own, then send it to Japan to get your very own certificate. Each hanadama is supposed to have its own certificate or they aren't Hanadama.

That whole paragraph about the pearls grown in Japanese cold water is deceiving as I said before. The vast majority are from China and they get totally mixed with the very low percentage of Japanese.

This guy wants us to buy the Brooklyn Bridge!

Now for the graduated strands you want, I will look around a bit and see what is available.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Knotty, they are 7-8mm!

 

[Caitlin]

Here is the official Pearl Guide article on the Japanese vs. Chinese in Akoyas

https://www.pearl-guide.com/japanese-akoya-pearls.shtml

 

[robinmce]

pearlsonly.com claim :
"All of our Akoya pearls are certified by the Japan Pearl Exporters Association to ensure the strictest of standards."

However it is the the Pearl Science Laboratory of Japan that certifies Handama pearls.

Be careful This is not reputable and you are not getting handama pearls from pearlsonly.com

Try one of uor reputable vendors and research before you lay out the money!!

Robin

 

[dkan 168]

Welcome to PG.

From what I can remember after reading various posts and information regarding Hanadama pearls, I believe they are only available as 18in and not graduated.

Like the others before me, I believe gem quality Cultured Freshwater Pearls are much better value for money than Hanadamas. Only trained eyes can tell the difference between gem quality CFWP and Hanadamas.

If you are after the effect of good quality pearls, then please consider gem quality CFWP.

However, if money is no object, then by all means go for Hanadamas.

Good luck with whatever you decide, and your wife is a lucky lady

DK

 

[Hanaleimom]

Fd

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Hi Keepclam,

Welcome to PG. Ditto to what others said. Here is a picture of the Freshadama strands at Pearl Paradise office, July this year. Reducing the picture size has taken away some of the luster. They are amazing. Jeremy even put a Hanadama next to these and you can't tell the difference. I wish I had taken a picture of that comparison.

 

[keepclam]

Thanks to all for your thoughtful replies. (Feel free to continue your responses, too!) I think I'm willing to take a risk and go the atypical route, giving the freshwaters a shot - thanks for the pics Pearl_dreams and Hanaleimom. They do look good... can't wait to see some in person. I never realized FW pearls were all nacre or that Akoyas were frequently so thin in nacre, and never thought about the connection between FW pearls and the heirloom/old fashioned non-cultured saltwater pearls. Since they're all nacre, FW pearls really are more traditional than "traditional" Akoyas w/nacre over beads, and I appreciate that.

I'll also avoid pearlsonly, particularly because the hanadamas aren't certified when you buy them. Just too many fishy things about them. I'm grateful for help avoiding that potential scam. The freshwaters seem to open up a few more possibilities for me over the Hanadamas, and I really liked the suggestion of putting the cost savings into the college fund (kudos to knotty panda).

Now, to find graduated gem-quality or freshadamas. Caitlin (or others), let me know what you come up with. A saw a pic of a white graduated strand in another thread that I believe was yours, BTW... lovely.

 

[jshepherd]

Hi Keepclam,

I like the name "Keepclam". It reminds me of a mollusk holding on to a pearl

While I do not agree with PearlsOnly's 4-A grading scale or the claimed assurances of the blue tag, I don't think you have to worry about a scam if you do decide to buy from them. If their hanadama akoya pearls are certified by the Pearl Science Laboratory of Japan as hanadama, they will be very good pearls and a better deal than retail. From looking over the page, it appears as though they have the pearls matched to order and then sent for hanadama certs. This is definitely doable, it just takes a couple of weeks.

You are looking for an interesting piece. If I may ask, why a graduated strand?

 

[dkan 168]

I believe The Pearl Outlet lists graduated gem-quality CFWP on their site.

DK

 

[jerin]

Keepclam,

it is of course a very personal choice to go for a graduated strand but then only very few of the pearls will have a good size while the rest are only small pearls. Think of a uniform strand, size 8-9 mm in GEM-quality and you perhaps will choose them instead. I always feel that graduated strands are outdated, but that is just my opinion...

 

[Raisondetre]

I think it's interesting to match pearls then send for certification. What are the chances of a given pearl with good nacre missing the thickness by just a little? Would they have to send extra pearls to be certified?