Ignorance is not Bliss

[BeadersSecret]

Whilst on a recent holiday I spied this in a shop and was shocked to see the labeling and price on these cream freshwater potato pearls.

 

[ericw]

Maybe the gold clasp is a biggest one!
Sometimes, it's the standing of the shop which prices supplies.
Yesterday, I have seen earrings priced about 9000 dollars, with two 11mm diameter cream SSP, A graded, and mounting with a few little diamonds (synthetised or not synthetised?)...

 

[Katbran]

I see Freshwater Fireballs sold as WSS all the time ... it’s terrible..

 

[Pareltje]

Hmmm I saw in an aquarium in Kuala Lumpur jewelry pieces made of potato-shaped freshwater pearls sold as genuine south sea pearls from Borneo.....

 

[ericw]

FWP looking like SSP are no rare, about lustre, but shapes make sure the difference, except for round pearls. Anyway, I think it's just a matter of subjectivity, to value so more south sea pearls than freshwater, that for exactly similar aspects: they are all cultured pearls. Only specific kind of SSP, as gold, for exemple, would have to be so high valued. Of course, I talk about first graded appearence, which is suffisant for most people which don't look at the thickness of nacre.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

There is also scarcity to consider. Round SSP of high quality are scarcer than round FWP, so priced higher.

Earlier this year when I was at a fine jewelry store in Greenwich, I was shown a pink Edison strand and told it was SSP. I corrected the salesman, at which point he checked the tag and was surprised when he saw I was right. He didn't know about in-body bead nucleated freshwater pearls.

 

[ericw]

If scarcity is so important to price a pearl, I should be fortunate!