On the hunt for blue baroque akoya pearls

[KatalinPG]

I am looking already for days for blue baroque akoya strands. I was searching high and low, on eBay, etsy, Rakuten etc. Of course, I know, there are still few strands available at a few vendors, but I would like to buy a better deal. Does someone have an idea, where I could buy a nice strand? I would be really-really grateful for any idea!

Thank you all!

 

[pattye]

Katalin,

The natural blue baroque akoyas are somewhat rare, although some of our members here carry them, and for less than you would pay at most jewelry stores if they were even available. Good quality akoya with thick nacre will not be cheap. Approximately how much do you want to pay? Perhaps you might want to consider buying high quality earrings and a pendant, then save for a strand.

 

[lavenderjade]

I want a blue akoya strand too, blues are beautiful and to me they seem quite rare as I can't find any really nice ones either.

 

[Ltlmsmfft]

My understanding is that the super cheap strands of blue akoyas you might find on places like ebay are often very low quality with very thin nacre. I have a fantastic strand of baroque blue Akoyas that I got from Pearl Paradise and they were worth every penny! Being baroque they are a lot more affordable than round blue akoyas and you tend to get deeper hues of color in the baroque strands too. I repeatedly get sales assistants at Tiffany and Co (I'm usually window shopping) go out of their way to comment on this strand when pop in their store! If baroque blue akoyas are what you want, contact Pearl Paradise or another reputable vendor and see how much a stand might cost in the size you want. They might be more affordable than you think, especially in the smaller sizes.

 

[jshepherd]

If you are worried about the cost, I strongly recommend finding something that is vintage.

The cost/value of natural-color akoya is very closely tied to the quality and the amount of nacre. Strands can wholesale for as low $25-$50 apiece while the same size can cost 10x as much. The problem with baroque akoya is that the nacre deposits in clumps and so often pearls have areas of razor-thin nacre. The pearls will peel.

 

[dmj]

when buying them online it s very hard to see the quality we have been selling them for some years now in holland and indeed the cheaper ones are always thin when you take a picture you can't see this but up close you will notice a color change in the every pearl from light to blue the better quality ones don't have this

so buying it from a seller with good reputation instead of cheap is quite recommended i will add some pictures that show little of this thin nacre

when you would see these online the ones on the left look quite nice however the luster is high but the nacre is super thin so you see a lot of color change and white under it at some points when you closely look at them the middle one is lower luster but way more equal in color and thicker nacre so besides left has better color on the picture buying a strand i would deff go for the lower luster better and equal nacre



here is a close up from the left stand and you can easily see the layers believe me in person it looks quite bad while in the pictures not knowing these pearls you would easily think its a nice strand



when i had the higher quality nice strands it took around 3 hours coming back form hk last year for some shops to buy them all so the demand for good quality is out there for sure, just be careful with ebay etsy etc when its to cheap to be good its probable not good, with the baroques you also see brownish gray holes often in the lower strands,

i see jeremy has a 9,5 10 mm strand for 630 the big sizes are always harder to find and especially in good quality so deff worth to check out

 

[Marianne]

Excellent photos and explanation, Daniel!

 

[Katbran]

I've never bought Akoya as I just don't know enough about them to know if they are any good. I'd buy them from Jeremy as that's the only way I'd feel confident in what I was actually getting.. your photo is an excellent example of how easy it would be to get sucked in to buying an inferior strand. Your photos make them look beautiful and if I were choosing I would have passed on the middle strands and gone for the left. .. and been disappointed when they arrived. Thanks for the explanation both to Daniel and Jeremy.

 

[lavenderjade]

Very interesting topic, excellent explanations. Like Katbran, I would have been tempted by the strand on the left as the colours look wonderful. Best stick with trusted vendors and pay the price for peace of mind.
Could I ask about Vietnamese natural akoya? how are these different to Japanese and are they as good?

 

[KatalinPG]

Dear All,
at first, thank you for your advice and suggestions! I was not considering the nacre so much, because I would maybe wear it only 1-2 times a month, so it still would last for a long time for me.
To tell the truth, I was looking at every reputable seller in USA, but my problem is, that I am in Europe, and in our country I have to pay additional 20% tax for every import over 300 euro. Additionally for me the weak euro to USD exchange rate makes the situation even worst, because prices went up for me at about 15 % in the last few weeks.
Therefore I was looking at Rakuten, but it is really hard, to decide only according to the picture.
I have to consider once more this purchase. On the other hand, if someone could maybe suggest me a trustable Rakuten seller, I would be very happy. I already know Isowa, Le Collier, Miki Pearl, but it seems, It seems, I can not contact them nowdays. Does someone maybe know, why they do not reply to an inquiry?

 

[dmj]

yes the tax and weak euro makes it not easy buying outside the eu at the moment there are some members here who also have them if you can't find them online your more then welcome to send a email to my company also member cees has around 40 blue strands in stock not sure what sizes think round 7-8 mm en smaller size baroques you can probable send him a message here

 

[pearlescence]

I did get some in HK last month but they have sold already!. If you don't find any before June I could maybe find some in Hong Kong
(BTW farmers and wholesalers have caught on pretty quickly to natural colour akoya demand as the price has about tripled in a few months. And does anyone know why black akoya have vanished?)

 

[ckrickett]

I bought a few strands on ebay for a project. The seller was very honest about everything with plenty of pictures (and the pearls where very cheap) I bought a few strands and picked out the best with the thickest nacre for a project, the rest I can't use since they are super thin and peeling, but for the price it was pretty good.

 

[KatalinPG]

I bought a few strands on ebay for a project. The seller was very honest about everything with plenty of pictures (and the pearls where very cheap) I bought a few strands and picked out the best with the thickest nacre for a project, the rest I can't use since they are super thin and peeling, but for the price it was pretty good.

Dear Ckrickett,
can you please advise me, who you bought your pearls from on ebay? I also would like to try to contact him.

Thank you!