Freshwater Advice

[naddie]

Goodmoring from Down Under!!

My name is *********, I live in ************. I have always loved pearls, but only recently in the last six months taken a real interest.
My Mum purchased a strand of freshater pearls locally for $250, I was suprised at the marks and blemishes on them. The woman who sold them to her said she had bought them from the Phillipines. So this was my starting point.
I began to research online for facts and information on pearls. I came across this site and have not stopped reading. My family think I am going to have pearl overload!!! I started visiting all the stores which sold freshwater pearls (not jewlers) strung and even by the hank for people to design there own ( this man was from China). I was very suprised at the quality and the findings were in some cases nickle ,this is using examples and prices from sites mentioned on this forum as a comparison. Even with my merger knowlege they were all highly priced. The lady who sold my mother her strand has a thriving business, this made me think.
This is where my journey began.
I have read alot on the forum about the GIA course and from my background, education is key to knowing your product. I want to learn as much as I can.
I was thinking of going to the GIA Lab Course in Hong Kong on the 30th of September on Pearl Grading and then heading off to buy my fisrt selection of stock. I really need some advice on the following:
1. Will this course give me enough knowlege and hands on in 1 day to be able to buy ?
2. Where do you recommend I go from there? Stay in Hong Kong or fly to Shanghai or Beijing?
These seem to be the most talked about places to buy pearls. I realise on previous threads they say you pay more in hong Kong, but is this perhaps a safe starting point? I can go to Shanhai or Beijing and visit one of the common suppliers mentioned on this site (e.g. Ling Ling) but would I know enough to negotiate?
If you have any recommendations I would really appreciate the help.
I am a little nervous doing all this by myself so the safest way to source and buy my stock is very important.
Also any information on a course or person who could teach me how to string my own pearls either Australian based or close would be great.
Are there any Australian based people you can go to for hands on practice at learning different pearl types and grades of freshwater pearls?
I also found out on Saturday that there is a Jewlery Convention on in Hong Kong next week, but none of the suppliers are ones I have seen mentioned on this site. Would this be a good place to start?
I know this is an awful lot of qusetions and information but I just had to ask people with experience and knowlege in this feild.

Kind Reagrds,
************

 

[Caitlin]

Welcome ************! Good questions. We do have some down-unders here. Maybe one of them will see this.

 

[jshepherd]

Welcome to the forum.

1. The course will definitely not give you all the information you need to start from day one. In fact, it will help you very little. Buying pearls is very much a hands-on type of business.

2. If you are able to knot your own necklaces and create your own jewelry, likely your best bet would be to start at a jewelry show like the one that is happening in Hong Kong right now. Nearly all the large companies from Zhuji are represented at the show, as well as a few smaller ones. In a day, you should be able to get the hang of it, understanding basic price ranges and different value factors. But it would be a tough day!

If you need finished goods, Beijing or Shanghai is a good place to start. There is no better place to learn negotiation skills either. An easy rule of thumb in those tourists traps, be willing to pay only a third of what their initial asking price is.

 

[naddie]

Thank-you Jeremy, for your advice.

I thought that a 1 day course would be hard pressed to teach you all that is needed. I have read alot of what you have written in the forums on buying pearls from Shanghai or Beijing in regard to quality and what price to expect but some of those threads date back to 2006. I would love to buy some Multicolor Strands of Pearls (White, pink and lavendar in a 7-8mm range as one example) for a beginner would that be a hard choice to start with? I saw a post from pierrettedE who had purchased pearls online from Hong Kong similar to the ones I would like. How hard is it to convey what you what and then negotiate? My budget was going to start around 5000 so I am guessing this would be mostly low grade??Soo much to learn!!
Thank-you.
************

 

[naddie]

Hi Catlin and All,

Here are the photo's of my Mums pearls they are FW 12mm. They are pink but as you can see have quite alot of crevices on them and some brown marks.
There is a white strand 9mm, she has also purchased from the same person these are slightly less blemished.And also a 9mm pink in color strand.
I would love anyones opinion on the quality of these pearls e.g. indentifying shape, luster and grade.
This is my first time photographing pearls so I dont know if the images are clear enough to do that.
Thanks
************

 

[jerin]

Hi ************,
from what I can see I would say they are rather low grade freshwater pearls, lovely in their own way but if you want to go for real high quality then you should go shopping with one of our vendors here on the forum. Caitlin would probably call these pearls commercial grade, suitable for us beaders to train our stringing or even if you want to use them in a torsade necklace with different types of pearls, i.e. Keshi, offround FW:s, dyed pearls perhaps and so on. For myself I always try to get the best for the money I can afford to spend and that would in my case be Pearl Paradises Exotics (Freshwater pearls with the lovely metallic luster like Akoyas but 100% nacre).

 

[Caitlin]

How long is the necklace? It has 44 pearls. 12mm is quite a nice size; we call that size and above, "klonks" around here. That size runs a little higher in cost and is going up.

Your pearls are banded or circled pearls, which often have very nice luster with iridescence, esp. in the cracks. They were quite inexpensive 5 years ago, but are getter more popular today, and the larger sizes cost more. The banded ones seem to be coming out of the solely commercial circles to compete on their own merits. They are still commercial grade, but jewelry folks are using them more in their designs

Hope this helps.

 

[Pearl Angel]

Naddie
Welcome to the PG.

Good luck on your venture. I think many PGers such as Catlin and Jeremy are the ones to help you with their extensive knowledge and background.

This has nothing to do with your venture but just the memories that your posting, regarding the Phillipino seller, awoken in my memory bank.

I have worked with many nurses that were sourced from the Philippines in the 70's during the nursing shortage. Many owned beautiful sets of SS pearls, nothing like the photo of your Mums pearls.
It seemed to be a tradition in their culture, at least in the 70's, for those of means. They match necklaces, drops, rings and earrings, often designed with diamonds. They are very knowledgeable regarding their purchases.

I am sorry it was a time in my life that I could not even dream to ever own any pearls. I missed many opportunities to have them purchase me a set when they visited home. Many of their pearls were sourced from Hong Kong and set in the Philippines.

I don't know if any PGers are from the Philippines but if there are I am sure they would have some beautiful sets to display.

A Pearl friend gave me the name of a company to buy the basic tools and video needed to begin to learn how to string pearls. I plan in the future to purchase and practice just as a hobby.

Wishing you the best in your Pearl Plan as a buyer and seller. You will make dreams come true.

 

[pearlescence]

We can't really evaluate the necklaces without knowing how much they cost, and when. Chinese freshwater pearl quality has been improving rapidly over the last couple of years while prices have remained very keen
This means that if they were bought a few weeks ago their price should be very much lower than if they were bought a two or more years ago
Cheers