New Golden South Sea Earrings on the Way!

[jshepherd]

I'm going to totally embarrass myself here, I should know this - are the deep gold SS so much more costly/valuable because of the rarity (as in infrequent) or because the darker color is more desired?

That's a good question. I don't personally feel deep gold is necessarily more beautiful than medium gold or even lighter GSS. It is definitely more about the rarity. Pearl preferences are always personal when it comes to color. I am strictly referring to value. Just like a dark peacock Tahitian is many times more valuable than a light silver Tahitian, some people still prefer light Tahitians.

We specifically carry medium gold. Dark gold is not easy to source consistently and it can be insanely expensive. Last year or the year before I brought in one dark gold pair for Lilliefuzzysocks here on PG and was able to get just the one pair without buying a lot as a favor.

The reason I've made so many comments about the distinction is because of the very first post by Sea Urchin.

they say they are round and more importantly, "deep" golden, for $250.

I don't see anywhere on the HSN site the earrings are referred to as "deep" golden, which would imply dark gold. But if they are described somewhere as dark gold, it is simply untrue and unfair to the producers, IMO.

 

[lisa c]

Thanks, Jeremy! It's always great to learn.

By "a lot" you meant like a Baggie? That was sweet, to be able to just get a pair.

 

[jshepherd]

Thanks, Jeremy! It's always great to learn.

By "a lot" you meant like a Baggie? That was sweet, to be able to just get a pair.

Yes, like a baggie

Tomorrow we have a new video teaser coming out shot at the Hong Kong show earlier in the month. This is a screen shot of one part of it -- those are lots. The lots are separated by different qualities and sizes and of course by color.

If pearls are selected instead of purchased by the bag, pricing changes dramatically. If one bag is $50 per pearl for the lot, you could easily pay $200 per pearl by selection. When a vendor lets you choose a pair at "lot pricing," they are doing you a favor. That's how I got Lilliefuzzysocks dark gold pair.

Btw, none of the lots in this photo are dark gold and this is only a tiny part of this company's inventory. They specialize in golds almost exclusively. They only have a few lots of dark gold that I have seen, and I don't recall seeing an A grade (AAA clean) dark lot and even the not-perfect-clean dark lots can easily reach $500 per pearl.

 

[GemGeek]

If they don't have many dark gold, then it means they are honestly representing their pearls. You have to wonder if a seller has a huge inventory of dark gold pearls.

 

[Icyjade]

Thank you Cees, Jeremy and Gemgeek!

I have some more noob questions re: colors and overtones on GSSPs.
1. Are overtones rare on GSSPs and if yes how rare e.g. % of harvest? I've read that common overtones are rose and green? Which is more common?
2. How much premium do GSSPs with overtones command? Which overtones would typically cost more and why?
3. I've also seen a green GSSP - I assume that is rare but are there other rare colors in GSSPs?

 

[Cees]

Icyjade, Golden pearls are not easy to match due to the many different overtones and luster differences. The pearls on the photo from Jeremy are all Myanmar pearls, I recognize the bags and the wholesaler.
Green SSP's have seen on the Fair are all enhanced and only a few dealers offer them and I always see a lot of Greenhills market buyers there.

Andy Mueller made a good report and then you can see a lot also about the value of pearls, see : http://www.hinatatrading.com/hongkong.pdf

 

[Icyjade]

Hi Cees, when I asked the Japanese seller at my local gem fair, he said that the color is natural and VERY rare. It had great luster n a price to match. I asked to take a photo as it was so unusual.



Thanks for sharing the report! Such an interesting read.

 

[katbadness]

Last year I was on assignment to write about the Indonesian SSP.
When I talked about pearl rarity (exceptionally fine luster or rare colors) with a local pearl farmer, he took out his not-for-sale collection from the drawer of his desk.

Please excuse the poor lighting and photography. All of these pics are taken in his office with normal office lighting, and all the pearls are unenhanced and untreated.




He said this small sample of pearls can be found only once in a while in his harvests.

 

[Icyjade]

Oh my. The pink is delicious!

And the dark one looks like the pearl I passed up! Too late for regrets I guess...

 

[Katbran]

Wow, katbadness , what lovely colours ! That one green/blue is amazing. I see a few of the white/pink ones in there as well .. I was just looking at a fabulous big (avg 16mm) white/pink SS strand the other day and the colour was just stunning....as was the price lol It was the first time I'd ever seen pink SS in person. I've certainly never seen the blue/green ones !

IcyJade - that pearl is amazing...just amazing and such a nice size as well! What size were the salmon coloured ones?

 

[Sea Urchin]

The reason I've made so many comments about the distinction is because of the very first post by Sea Urchin.

I don't see anywhere on the HSN site the earrings are referred to as "deep" golden, which would imply dark gold. But if they are described somewhere as dark gold, it is simply untrue and unfair to the producers, IMO.

It's in the video.

 

[Icyjade]

The salmon ones are 11-12 mm - I didn't get the exact measurements.

I didn't get them btw, as they are unfortunately not great for my complexion but a fellow pearl sister on PG is considering to.

----
Sea Urchin: So sorry about the thread jack! Hope you don't mind the change in discussion... I'm learning so much more about GSSPs and their colors from this thread.

 

[Sea Urchin]

No problem at all, Icyjade.

 

[MelT]

Dear MelT, have a look at https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/content.php?r=14-Burmese-Triple-Threat this tells you a bit more about them. First I thought they look a lot like an Edison pearl from Grace but when you really compare them, you can see the difference.

Thanks Cees and Jeremy for sharing your knowledge to us.
This thread is really educational...learning heaps ...

 

[Katbran]

I cant wear that salmon colour either it's one of those difficult colours for people .. like peach...or any of the gold pearl shades .. but it doesn't stop me from wishing I could ! lol Thanks for posting your lovely photos !

And thanks very much Cees and Jeremy - it's great information and there is always an interesting thread with something new to learn about.

 

[lisa c]

this link is Excellent and Informative reading!!!

Icyjade, Golden pearls are not easy to match due to the many different overtones and luster differences. The pearls on the photo from Jeremy are all Myanmar pearls, I recognize the bags and the wholesaler.
Green SSP's have seen on the Fair are all enhanced and only a few dealers offer them and I always see a lot of Greenhills market buyers there.

Andy Mueller made a good report and then you can see a lot also about the value of pearls, see : http://www.hinatatrading.com/hongkong.pdf

!!!this is the link down here!!!

 

[Purranha]

Hi Everyone!

@Sea Urchin & @Icyjade, apologize for hijacking this thread yet again.

I've only discovered P-G this year (and have been addicted since!), which sadly means I (along with my mom) have been uneducated pearl consumer for decades. :'(

My mom has a strand of GSSP and now of course I'm worried thinking that she may have ended up with a YSSP strand instead. Would love for the experts & sharp-eyes in this thread/forum to provide some assessment on if this is a YSSP or GSSP strand, and if possible, if this is a 10-14K gold color, or perhaps 18-22+K gold?

And I am also realizing that we may have a Tahitian strand that has no overtones & luster. Gosh this is a little depressing.

Apologies for such crappy photo, but I took it a few years back for record keeping purposes, and the strands are with my mom in Asia at the moment so I won't be able to get better pics until I visit in the winter.

Thank you all in advance!

 

[lisa c]

On my screen they look golden with one yellowish one next to the clasp.

For the Tahitians, a few years back the goal was to get as close to uniformly black-color as possible for buyers. I think it's only recently that people wanted anything else. Just my impression, I'm not a merchant with sales information.

Oh gee, I'm sorry, you did ask for the experts' opinion. Oops, ;-(. Sadly, I'm no expert.

 

[Purranha]

@lisa c - Thank you so much for the input! And my goodness I think all the regulars on this site can be considered experts based on your knowledge and passions for pearls, and even more so just the sheer amount of pictures and real life pearls you all have seen!

 

[lisa c]

Hi, giving a little bump here, to see if people with real GSS experience and different screens would weigh in?