How much color difference is acceptable?

I'm glad we could help.
If it's any comfort, even experienced pearl shoppers sometimes have to return pearls that didn't look the way they thought they would. Even when buying from reputable vendors. It's nobody's fault-- pearls are hard to photograph accurately when the colors are complex.

There is a thread on Pricescope.com where people post the vendor's photo and their own photos of the pearls they bought. Mostly it's Tahitians, but you will get the idea.
That is a great idea which may incorporate another level to online pearl shopping. If a considerable number of pearl pictures comparing customer’s pics vs sellers, a pearl color-metrics database may be generated and that DB can be updated in real-time under control to prevent falsifying pictures aiming to defame seller(s). I will check that site and enjoy Tahitian pearls.
 
The shop is called LucasPearl. The seller called himself Mark and he claims to work in Qiujiaan, Wenling, where he also ships his pearls from. He also claims that he was in the pearl business for 15 years.
Exactly, I shopped from that seller and paid $130 for a pair but not a pair in real - rest is totally a mess!
 
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It is entirely possible to get darker color purple. Fading usually occurs on younger mussels that produce these pearls. If mussels are 3-4 years old, the color seems to be better. Also nacre shows less imperfections such as birthmarks. It's rarer to see this type of quality on Etsy as the site seems to compete for price rather than quality. Source from a pearl professional and you won't be disappointed.

Above pairs were shot w/ Samsung phone + a 5500k light overhead. Pretty much resemblance of daylight.
That pearl is gorgeous and off course I don’t expect 5A if any at Etsy. If I focus only educational part of your response, it is very helpful. I do thank you for that.
Please no offense, however, I fell like being joked by your explanation. I’d like underline again: I did not raise my expectations out of nowhere. Online products are shopped for what is shown and described.
I wonder why we don’t weigh the provided info/pics/videos on the seller’s product page in terms of the customer complaints. I am questioning why colors in real are too different than the seller’s picture; by providing seller’s and my shots I seek advice how much difference can be accepted.
Additionally, I became aware of fake sellers who steals pics from real one on this platform. I am grateful to learn how to be curious on EBay. I listened Patye’s recommendations and recently shoppe two strands from online vendor PEARLESCENT in UK. AMAZING PEARLS. Colors are in the range of what is shown - mixed pastel candy colors from light pink to light purple with good metallic luster. Of course not exactly same, mine has more pink pearls and less purple ranges than the seller’s pic. It is the number of pink & purple pearls, not the color comparison. No big surprises or missing metallic luster.
Thank you
 
The quickest way to find out is to buy a LED light box and look at the pearls there. I played with light box shooting before, and I could tell you that objects never looks the same in light box vs under "normal" light, because white LED is blindingly bright, much closer to the object and the colour rendering index is different from your light source. The white background of the light box also reflects light to every side of the object, including the bottom, which "brightens" it and makes the colour more vivid. Given that your pearls showed the same hue (albeit in a much darker tone) as the sample picture when they were near the window, it is entirely possible for them to look very similar under a much brighter and "colder" light shone from all directions, the typical condition a LED light box offers.

Pearls are notorious for showing vastly different colours in various light conditions even when seen with naked eyes, so it is difficult to say how much of the colour difference is acceptable. The same applies to other gemstones with play-of-light, so I always avoid buying this type of gemstones online unless there is absolutely no other alternatives, or I feel generous about the acceptable level of difference between the photo and the real item.
That is very well explained and see your point. Unfortunately there are no pearl supplier shop for jewelry making in North Carolina, USA. I have not heard of any gem fair and I will search. I saw the up-coming PEARL FAIR in California. I’d vacation at the pearl fair rather than in HAWAII if I could. That much I love pearls. If the PG platform allows, can you please recommend online shops that you and others have trust , so where I can search for rich purple, or any metallic color, or cherry-like color pearls?
Then I will not have the doubt of being deceived in any way - authenticity, color difference. Because I will know that those sellers are approved by experts here and they do the best with pics and descriptions.
I already learnt shops on this platform recommended by Pattye and Cortez:
a) Pearlescent: shopped right after reading the threads - excellent experience, only shipping took about 3 weeks. I am 100% ok with shipping period; not a seller, just pearl-lover.
In fact, I have never stringed pearls. I am encouraged by threads of newbies who did 1st time here with your helps and tutorials.
Unfortunately, I could not find a pearl in rich purple color. I could not trust in my visual evaluation of Tahitians by pictures. First, only one pic is shown for almost all I checked. That one pic does not expand fully, only part of it gets bigger with very low resolution. I shopped 2 strands, two pairs of tiny pearls and lavender pearl studs at PEARLESCENT upon recommendation of the company here and extremely pleased with products in comparison to the brand’s product pics and description. Please advise me on dark colored pearls on PEARLESCENT with no worry.
Besides, I can readily distinguish high quality objects which intrinsically display glow, high luster, brightness, delicacy although just yet I cannot discriminate the high quality fake pearls. You all were more than 100% right to recommend Pearlescent for people like me inexperienced in both online pearl shopping and authenticity & color evaluation.
I attached my own photo shots of one strand from PEARLESCENT - used my iPhone camera. Blueish Purple pearl at the top of the crystal is not from Pearlescent. Pictures are not enhancement such as manipulation of ‘saturation’, ‘contrast’, ‘tint’…etc., except cropping and adjusting alignment. All are taken without a light source directed on.

b) Pearl Paradise: their loose pearl inventory is very limited, that I can count number of products at once. However, they are distinct in presentation:
- 1st is a picture of the pearl, and
- 2nd is a video: the way video is shot allows shoppers to have a better judgement of overall pearl quality (where I am NO expert for assessment). I love that videos show color reflection with movement on different backgrounds. One product - one video, but after watching videos of similar products, I believe I will gain a comparative knowledge of color properties of a particular pearl sold by PP.

c) Augustus Collection: if I remember correctly, Pattye finally gave in with warning of phony seller and recommended that seller to someone who was insisting to shop South Sea pearls on eBay. Although I was not planning to own a Golden South Sea pearl, I ordered 2 of them and plus one white pearl for two reasons;
* I only saw golden pearls twice at retailer stores (Macy’s and Belk). Then, I was ignorant of pearl types: my nomenclature consisted of ‘PEARLS’ & ‘Tahitian Pearls’. So, I don’t know if those were real SOUTH SEA PEARLS. I want to see their beauty in reality especially for the GOLD COLOR.
With white pearl, I wish to experience how SOUTH SEA pearls in general differ from other pearls not sourced in south sea areas.

PS: now, I see myself ironically stupid as I loved shiny objects and pearls as the queens of them possibly since birth 🤣🤣🤣. In fact, I wore my moms gold jewelry and always my gold bracelets gifted by my grandma even I lost them very consistently.

** simply they are beautiful … Just wanted to have one big Golden Pearl
I have not received them yet. I will let you know and share pics for reference.
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That is very well explained and see your point. Unfortunately there are no pearl supplier shop for jewelry making in North Carolina, USA. I have not heard of any gem fair and I will search. I saw the up-coming PEARL FAIR in California. I’d vacation at the pearl fair rather than in HAWAII if I could. That much I love pearls. If the PG platform allows, can you please recommend online shops that you and others have trust , so where I can search for rich purple, or any metallic color, or cherry-like color pearls?
Then I will not have the doubt of being deceived in any way - authenticity, color difference. Because I will know that those sellers are approved by experts here and they do the best with pics and descriptions.
I already learnt shops on this platform recommended by Pattye and Cortez:
a) Pearlescent: shopped right after reading the threads - excellent experience, only shipping took about 3 weeks. I am 100% ok with shipping period; not a seller, just pearl-lover.
In fact, I have never stringed pearls. I am encouraged by threads of newbies who did 1st time here with your helps and tutorials.
Unfortunately, I could not find a pearl in rich purple color. I could not trust in my visual evaluation of Tahitians by pictures. First, only one pic is shown for almost all I checked. That one pic does not expand fully, only part of it gets bigger with very low resolution. I shopped 2 strands, two pairs of tiny pearls and lavender pearl studs at PEARLESCENT upon recommendation of the company here and extremely pleased with products in comparison to the brand’s product pics and description. Please advise me on dark colored pearls on PEARLESCENT with no worry.
Besides, I can readily distinguish high quality objects which intrinsically display glow, high luster, brightness, delicacy although just yet I cannot discriminate the high quality fake pearls. You all were more than 100% right to recommend Pearlescent for people like me inexperienced in both online pearl shopping and authenticity & color evaluation.
I attached my own photo shots of one strand from PEARLESCENT - used my iPhone camera. Blueish Purple pearl at the top of the crystal is not from Pearlescent. Pictures are not enhancement such as manipulation of ‘saturation’, ‘contrast’, ‘tint’…etc., except cropping and adjusting alignment. All are taken without a light source directed on.

b) Pearl Paradise: their loose pearl inventory is very limited, that I can count number of products at once. However, they are distinct in presentation:
- 1st is a picture of the pearl, and
- 2nd is a video: the way video is shot allows shoppers to have a better judgement of overall pearl quality (where I am NO expert for assessment). I love that videos show color reflection with movement on different backgrounds. One product - one video, but after watching videos of similar products, I believe I will gain a comparative knowledge of color properties of a particular pearl sold by PP.

c) Augustus Collection: if I remember correctly, Pattye finally gave in with warning of phony seller and recommended that seller to someone who was insisting to shop South Sea pearls on eBay. Although I was not planning to own a Golden South Sea pearl, I ordered 2 of them and plus one white pearl for two reasons;
* I only saw golden pearls twice at retailer stores (Macy’s and Belk). Then, I was ignorant of pearl types: my nomenclature consisted of ‘PEARLS’ & ‘Tahitian Pearls’. So, I don’t know if those were real SOUTH SEA PEARLS. I want to see their beauty in reality especially for the GOLD COLOR.
With white pearl, I wish to experience how SOUTH SEA pearls in general differ from other pearls not sourced in south sea areas.

PS: now, I see myself ironically stupid as I loved shiny objects and pearls as the queens of them possibly since birth 🤣🤣🤣. In fact, I wore my moms gold jewelry and always my gold bracelets gifted by my grandma even I lost them very consistently.

** simply they are beautiful … Just wanted to have one big Golden Pearl
I have not received them yet. I will let you know and share pics for reference. View attachment 473180
I love the reflection of pearls within the crystal. I may look at them as in pics rather than wearing. HUNDREDS OF CRYSTAL PEARL BUBBLES …
 
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