Earrings from Greenhills

[starsinthesea]

Hi everyone,
I?ve recently been in Manila and bought pearl earrings. Back home I wanted to know more about pearls and found this forum. You guys were really nice and gave me some good advice on the other thread yesterday (about differences in SS and FW), thank you so much for that!

Now, I really think I?ve made a mistake in buying those earrings! Please, let me know what you think:
I bought the earrings at Greenhills (now I know I should never have bought anything there at all!). They?re supposed to be golden SS pearls and are about 11mm each (they?re not entirely round). The seller didn?t seem to know a lot about pearls (he had to call his boss for answering my questions about price and so on) but he and his daughters told me that the golden and white ones weren?t dyed. He also had a chocolate SS and some other dark colours and readily told me that they were dyed. After some long bartering I bought the pearls for 5?000 Pesos (about 100 Dollars). I looked at the pearls closely and picked some I thought to be of the same colour and without too many blemishes. So there were differences in the gold tones of the pearls he had in stock. The stall also didn?t seem as ?cheap? as the others. They had only few pearls and no strands of FW pearls (they only sold already strung and knotted necklaces). The SS earrings I bought were in the glass case and he had only two other pair of golden SS stud earrings.

But now I?m not sure if my earrings/pearls really are SS and not dyed. They could be dyed FW, right?
At least one of the pearls seems to be more ?natural?. The gold tone is not as deep, it has a big dent (close to where the earrings stud is) which is whitish, another smaller dent on the side is white/cream, too and the pearl has a ring that is of lighter colour. The pearl is not so uniform in its gold tone. It also seems to glow from the inside. I think this one might be real?

However, the other pearl of the pair has a slightly darker gold tone which is very uniform. Even the dents are golden. I think this one might be dyed.
Or do you think both pearls are dyed? I posted the photos with a gold necklace and a third loose SS pearl I have (one which is of low quality and is more yellow than golden, but is a bit bigger). The photos aren't so good (it's hard to photograph small things with my mobile phone), that's why I tried to describe the pearls...

Please, let me know what you think! Thank you

 

[jshepherd]

It looks like you do have gold South Sea. I can't tell from the photo whether or not they are dyed, but they don't appear to be freshwater. Dyed golds are typically very, very gold. Those don't appear to be.

There are genuine South Sea pearls at Greenhills. Most of what you find there is freshwater, but at least most of the sellers identify the pearls as freshwater. What they don't admit to, however, is that they are Chinese freshwater. Every seller I spoke with at Greenhills said all their pearls (even Tahitians) were from Mindanao - the home of the Badjao - the Filipino divers.

 

[starsinthesea]

Thank you for your fast answer!
Yes, I heard those stories too. I recognised the chinese pearls from another fair and told them so. After that, they didn't even try to argue.

Well, the pearls do seem deep golden sometimes, depending on the lighting. But as far as I remember, Jewelmers golden pearls seemed to be of an even deeper gold. And I didn't compare my earrings with Jewelmers one to one. But my gold necklace does always look darker than the pearls... That's how you'd measure the gold tone of pearls, right?

Would dye collect in crevices of the SS pearl as it does in dyed chinese freshwater pearls? Or is the japanese dying method used on SS pearls more sophisticated?

 

[GemGeek]

You did well and they are beautiful.

 

[Katbran]

Well they are lovely .. and for the price...such a deal !

 

[starsinthesea]

Thank you I bargained hard for them...

 

[Jacques]

Yes, that earring pair looks of much nicer quality than the loose south sea pearl. Well done!

 

[pkinnew]

Great find! I usually don't participate in these types of posts because I'm a novice at identifying pearls but this one I got right!

 

[cyndayco]

I understand that a few members bought pearls from Greenhills several years ago and got burned. But since I started collecting pearls, I found them to be forthright about whether they are SSP or FW, so I hope you'll cut Greenhills some slack.

Most of the shopgirls don't know much more than what kind of pearl they're peddling. However the shop owners, when they are at the counter, will tell you if they bought them in China or in Mindanao.

The cities of Puerto Princesa and Zamboanga in Mindanao, it seems, have become supply hubs for jewelers in the Southern Philippines. But all that means is that they buy their pearls there. For all they know, the pearls could come from China and Australia instead of Palawan, where Jewelmer has several farms.

Sometimes, the vendors say their pearls come from Davao or even as far up North as Ilocos. I've been to Davao, and the locals tell me that pearl farming in that region became collateral damage as a result of industrialisation and died. As for Ilocos, I've heard no other news that corroborates the claim that they farm pearls there.

L's Pearls, who sells out of Facebook, claims to get her pearls from Davao and Palawan. She even says that some of Jewelmer's farms sell their sub-AAA stock to her and other local jewelers. At first, I was skeptical, but the quality of her golden SSPs are consistently superior to the rest of her inventory, so there may be truth to her story.

 

[starsinthesea]

Good to know! Thanks for the information

 

[GemGeek]

It's great to ha email a local expert to help us understand the market!

 

[pattye]

Your earrings look lovely, and a rich, golden color. Jewelmer's pearls come in a range of golden shades, but of course, they often advertise and promote the deepest color, most easily identified as a Jewelmer GSS.

Cyndayco's detailed shopping experiences at Greenhills as told here on the forum has enlightened us all about the bargains that can be found there and how to negotiate for them. You did very well with your earrings, too, and thanks for sharing your story.