Eureka, Elizabeth Strack's Pearls

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pearlgirl12

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I found my Holy Grail, Elizabeth Strack's Pearls. The good news is that there are more books in stock in both English and German. The price is CHF 150.00 (roughly $168 USD) plus shipping to NY, CHF 69.00 ($77 USD 😲). The total so far, $245 USD. I don't know if I'll have to pay customs- Switzerland is not in the EU- and I'm a little nervous. But it still has to be less than the infamous nearly $1600 copy on Amazon. It is currently en route, and I will let anyone who is interested know what the customs situation is when it gets here.

The company is SSEF Instruments, a subsidiary of the Swiss Gemmological Institute (https://www.ssef-instruments.ch/about/). Click on Books at the top.
 
Gee pearlgirl12, congratulations on obtaining it but I think that they are charging a premium and eating into your pearl dollars. I am not even going to comment on the Amazon price.

If anybody else is after this book, I had a good experience in obtaining it in 2020 from Karl Fischer GMBH, Germany. I have checked today and their price for the English version is EURO 27.16 (US$ approx 29.54) + postage. When I bought it, with postage to Australia, it totalled US$90.16 and they took Paypal. You cant toggle the site results in English.
 

BOOK: PEARLS [9169ENG] - Karl Fischer GmbH

PEARLS(Elisabeth Strack) 696 pages, more than 650 graphics, tables and photographs The standard reference book „Pearls“ – currently the most comprehensive of all publications on the jewels of the ocean around the world. This book offers a fantastic insight into five millennia of the history of...
goldschmiedebedarf.de goldschmiedebedarf.de

Shipping costs:

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goldschmiedebedarf.de goldschmiedebedarf.de
 
Pella said:
Gee pearlgirl12, congratulations on obtaining it but I think that they are charging a premium and eating into your pearl dollars. I am not even going to comment on the Amazon price.

If anybody else is after this book, I had a good experience in obtaining it in 2020 from Karl Fischer GMBH, Germany. I have checked today and their price for the English version is EURO 27.16 (US$ approx 29.54) + postage. When I bought it, with postage to Australia, it totalled US$90.16 and they took Paypal. You cant toggle the site results in English.
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They are definitely charging a premium, but I've been hunting this book for several years. I ordered once from someone who didn't have it (got a refund) and was ordering from Europe when Covid shut international shipping down. Karl Fischer never turned up in any search results, unless it was that one time I found copies in German. I was tired of waiting and decided to buy it. Don't worry about my pearl dollars 😂 I consider this an investment in my pearl education. Hopefully others will benefit from the information you left here.
 
jshepherd said:
It's the best pearl book out there, IMO. It has become a bit outdated though. A lot has happened in the past 25 years since it was published. I did hear that Elisabeth Strack was considering an updated version, but I don't know for sure if that's going to happen.
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I would love to see this happen!

The other pearl book I consider a "Holy Grail" for pearl education is "The Pearl Oyster" by Drs. Paul Southgate and John Lucas...but this one going into the life & times of the animals that produce saltwater pearls. Mainly to be used by marine biologists, but amazing lecture even if you are not one.
Amazon US Link
 
Yes, I haven't seen any new ones.
 
jshepherd said:
They sliced one and found that the nucleus had been irradiated, so they were treated blues.
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Darnit! Some people are really tricky!
At least it makes it fun for the lab scientists! I guess they must feel like in a CIS episode of sorts!
 
Strack has passed through Frankfurt (a short layover), and has paused in Herne-Boernig. Watching the journey is as exciting as getting the book! Google maps, hurray! If I see warehouses I’ll think a big truck. The road is more likely unless I see airports. Old is not so bad, with time to indulge in pursuits like tracking books, or pearls.
 
jshepherd said:
It's the best pearl book out there, IMO. It has become a bit outdated though. A lot has happened in the past 25 years since it was published. I did hear that Elisabeth Strack was considering an updated version, but I don't know for sure if that's going to happen.
Click to expand...
I would love to know if and when Elizabeth publishes an update. However, the update on Pearls As One might be just as good! Also, I haven't seen her around in the last couple of years. I hope all is well with her.
 
That was at the Tucson Gem Show, AGTA theme that year was pearls and all the luminaries and top researchers were there. One of my greatest pearl memories was sitting at dinner with Elizabeth, our own Douglas (Cortez Pearls) and Blaire (GemGeek). Wish I had a group photo, but here I was with Elizabeth. On my tie is the Poe Pipi ring in my avatar.
 

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SteveM said:
That was at the Tucson Gem Show, AGTA theme that year was pearls and all the luminaries and top researchers were there. One of my greatest pearl memories was sitting at dinner with Elizabeth, our own Douglas (Cortez Pearls) and Blaire (GemGeek). Wish I had a group photo, but here I was with Elizabeth. On my tie is the Poe Pipi ring in my avatar.
Click to expand...
I remember that dinner! And I also wish I had taken photos.
 
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