Online Color vs. Reality

[jpacella]

Hello,

Let me first say thank you to this forum as I ran across it searching for reviews on "thepearlsource.com" and found a very interesting thread dealing with misrepresentation and credibility. It seemed to me, very quickly, that the parties involved in this forum actually care about this market and work to ensure quality and fair competition, so kudos!

On to my dilemma - I am interested in purchasing Tahitian Pearl earrings for a lady-friend and a question arose that I felt could be answered in this forum. I'm sorry if this has already been discussed, but I couldn't find any thread with intial searches.

My lady-friend wants green colored tahitian pearls. Of course, she cares about quality as well, but right now, her main interest is color. I have looked rather extensively online and seen varied descriptions for products. The picture would show green pearls yet the title would say "black tahitian pearl..etc..". Other sites did describe pearls as green, which may have been inaccurate technically, but helpful to me, the consumer.

Mr. Shepherd, I am going to use one of your products as an example of my dilemma:

http://www.thepearloutlet.com/servlet/ProductView?commodityID=17280&command=cp&supplierID=490

Now, I trust your site (or any reputable site) would deliver what I see in the picture with relative accuracy, but there is never any mention in the description of "green" color that I can find, only the picture and quality descriptions. Now, I understand pearls range in their colors, so I would be hesitant to purchase these pearls without physically seeing how green they really are.

Is there anything I can do to ensure the colors are as vibrant as possible? Should I expect what I see in the picture? Will they at least be green, just varying shades?

Any opinions on this matter would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

J

 

[Pearly-Pearly]

I am new around here, but have you looked at PearlParadise.com? Their Tahitians are sorted by overtone color, so you could specify "green". I am sure if you called Pearl Outlet and asked for a pair that was green, they would help. Maybe an expert around here has a better answer, but I would say call! Good luck!

 

[Valeria101]

Hi

'Green' would be an overtone of the pearls. The websites of some web-shops give an automatic option to select the overtone. Others do not, but this does not mean the sellers would not accommodate a specific request.

I don't think you have much choice between 'color' and 'quality'. You might find a pearl with some blemished (= lower quality) and still with strong green overtone, but I believe that the peal still needs to have high lustre an thick nacre to show the overtone to begin with. Basically, by asking for color (I believe) you are asking for high quality too.

Now, I don't think that putting up with serious blemishing is going to make the purchase less expensive - it may take a while and you might as well never find the pearl with such specific trade-off: high lustre, orient, strong green overtone - a very desirable color, and some chips and scratches here and there. Not sure why the particular combination is not common - perhaps because those desirable qualities are also associated with thicker nacre... and pearls are polished. Who knows. After all, you just need one pearl, and the precise item might as well come by.

What should give you choice of price for the required color is the choice of size and shape of pearl: baroque ones tend to have stronger lustre and orient which show off those colors, and smaller pearls are more likely to be of high quality... and either option costs less then a round. for whatever reason.

Certainly, this is just my idea of how these things work. Not saying I'm right.

Is there anything I can do to ensure the colors are as vibrant as possible? Should I expect what I see in the picture? Will they at least be green, just varying shades?

'Guess you can ask for a specific overtone.

Should you expect to se it in a picture; not really... pearls are notoriously difficult to photograph. That's what return policies are for

You might want to clarify the difference between 'body color' and 'overtone' for pearls. But I would imagine that you are after dark body color with strong green overtone. Everyone is! Yes, there is allot of variation among pearls... that's why matching strands is not to be taken for granted, for example. Wish I knew some way to show this - the sight of a pile of dark pearls with their myriad of distinct natural shades is quite wonderful Try HERE (the website of a pearl grower who is posting here too on occasion).

 

[jpacella]

how trustworthy can the seller be?

how trustworthy can the seller be?

Thank you for the opinions so far. Everyone else feel free to comment!

To clarify, I am looking for tahitian pearl earrings (with dark body and green overtone) as well as a pendant necklace of 1 larger pearl. Can I ask the seller to match all three pearls as close as possible or is that asking too much?

Does anyone know any sellers that would accomodate a request such as this one?

 

[jshepherd]

I think any seller here would be willing and able to accomodate. If you have a picture of the exact coloration you are looking for just call or email the site with a link to the picture. It would simply be a matter of selecting pearls that look exactly like the pearls you are looking for or are describing. It would take a good selection of loose pearls to make an exact match, but it would not be too difficult to do.

 

[KAC]

picture would show green pearls yet the title would say "black tahitian pearl..etc..".

Tahitian pearls are known as a "black pearl", but this can be misleading. Tahitian pearls are not really black, they are shades of grey,silver,green etc. and can run from almost white to very near a true black color.

As Jeremy mentioned, the best way is it call a retailer and make a special request, Tahitians with a green overtone shouldn't be hard to find at all.

 

[GemGeek]

Like this?

 

[jpacella]

that is gorgeous. What would you say is the body and overtone of that pearl. from talks to different people it seems for the most vibrant green, I should be looking for medium body with prominent overtones. Any thoughts?

 

[GemGeek]

It's a black tahitian pearl with an extreme green metallic overtone. And I love it!

 

[jerin]

Hi, Jpacella
and welcome to the forum. You should perhaps know as well that usually pearls for earrings are chosen from the finest ones, i.e. surface is clean, shape round, body colour dark with either peacock overtones (green, rose, blue) or as in your case with a strong greenish overtone!

If You should choose baroque Tahitians (almost every other shape than round), the earrings would not be quite as expensive as if You go for a perfectly round shaped pearl. But the most expensive part with Tahitians seems to be their colours. There are lovely silver coloured Tahitians as well, just look on the sites of above mentioned sellers. They all can get you pearls that are matched for colour and shape and You can return them without getting problems if You are not satisfied. I have Tahitian pendants in drop form in that specific overtone, they are very lovely!

Let us know what you buy and please, post pics and tell us, what Your lady friend thinks about her first Tahitians.
I am attaching a picture of super beautiful Tahitians from Pearl Paradise, Jeremy Shepherd.

 

[jshepherd]

Those were some beautiful pearls!

I still think it is best to just send the picture to the seller to make a perfect match. Anyone can sell "green". Very, very few sellers, however, will be able to perfectly match a pair for earrings and a pendant that match the earlier picture. This would take a large amount of inventory.

 

[jpacella]

Well, thanks to this forum, I think I found the right people with enough inventory to solve my problem. They are just so helpful too, I can see why people on this forum were stressing how they based a person's business off the person and not the business. I'll let you all know how it comes out, maybe even with pictures!

Thanks again for all the input!

J

 

[CLICLASP]

Hello
The color grading chart of Tahitian pearls could help you
Here is a small extract

 

[Valeria101]

Yeah! There seem to be dozens of such charts online, more or less 'adjusted' by resizing, editing etc. and with little consistency between color names.

There's even THIS mother-of-all-pearl-color-naming-projects.

BTW. since light green was mentioned... does anyone care about 'pistachio' color pearls - that once-fabled greenish yellow color - anymore?

And since the name seems to mean various things in various places (including the impossible vivid yellowish green in the picture above) here's one sample of the color I'm talking about.

 

[The Pearl Outlet]

Hi J,

Our solution has been to ask customers to state their preference in our "Comments" box during checkout. We have a huge variety of body and overtone colors available and can accommodate most requests.

If trying to perfectly match an existing pearl, you'll want to send a picture, or even the pearl to us to match.

 

[jpacella]

So, I received my pearls that i purchased, and like I predicted, despite my efforts in stressing very strong green overtones, the pearls I received were not as vibrant as the ones in the picture. Now, I'm not saying they are not beautiful, they are, but they are not as green as I would expect from looking at the picture.

I don't know the proper protocols for this site, but can I reveal who I bought them from and show pictures of what I got vs. the online picture?

If no one has a problem with it and it doesn't upset anyone, I would like to show the difference to emphasize my point that online is different from reality.

 

[jshepherd]

Did you send a photo of the exact color you were looking for to the seller? Did the seller match the pearls to the photo?

With Tahitian pearls there is such a range of color (think the Poema system) that it is impossible for colors to be exactly the same every time. Tahitian pearls are notoriously difficult to perfectly match into pairs for earrings for the same reason.

Next we have to think of your comment, "online vs. reality". What you are missing is that your reality may not be the seller's reality. If the seller is shooting the pearls with a full-spectrum diffused light to clearly show the range of colors, this is the seller's reality. The seller is trying to show the pearls in as close to natural light as possible, the best light for pearls, and the only way to show the true colors. If you then open your box of pearls at home in the evening, the pearls are going to look different - you will not see their true colors. Every type of light changes the color and look of the pearls. Their is no universal reality.

Yes, please feel free to post the pictures as well.

 

[knotty panda]

While Mr. Shepherd kindly provided the explanation of why pearls may not appear in person precisely as pictured, a consumer's dismay at the actual product is not limited to online pearl purchasing. I believe you will have that same problem with any product you purchase online whether it be color, or size or some other point. However, it appears in the pearl industry, customer service goes far beyond the normal online product customer service. They permit lengthy return policies and actually have real people who not only answer phones but also return phone calls and are extremely knowledgeable about the product. Try to work with your vendor. I'm sure you will find them more than accommodating. Am I correct in assuming the reason you did not go to a retailer is they were not able to accommodate you either; be it color, size, or price?

 

[jshepherd]

I just shot a pic in response to Valeria101's post. I just grabbed a handful of pearls that had a lot of green. This little pile does not come close to covering the full spectrum of the color, but you can see how different each is.

 

[jpacella]

Next we have to think of your comment, "online vs. reality". What you are missing is that your reality may not be the seller's reality. If the seller is shooting the pearls with a full-spectrum diffused light to clearly show the range of colors, this is the seller's reality. The seller is trying to show the pearls in as close to natural light as possible, the best light for pearls, and the only way to show the true colors. If you then open your box of pearls at home in the evening, the pearls are going to look different - you will not see their true colors. Every type of light changes the color and look of the pearls. Their is no universal reality.

A very good point and I completely agree with you. In my case I have looked at them in as bright sunlight as possible. Also, I agree that a seller's photographic nuances can bring out subtle colors or more vibrant overtones, but at the end of the day to me, the consumer, I would have expected the colors to be closer.

I know that as a seller one would want to get the best picture possible to sell their product, and if I was getting the exact same pearls as in the picture, I would understand if they didn't appear as vibrant because I would know their potential in certain light. My problem is that when browsing online, I landed on those earrings because in the picture the pearls very very "green". The pearls in the earrings I received are not the same pearls as in the picture. Now I know its impractical and selfish as a consumer to expect an exact pair out of a pool of thousands of tahitians with varying color. However, it sometimes bothers me that a seller could potentially have a lot of 1000 9mm earring tahitian pearls with green overtone, pick out the best two with most vibrant color, take THEIR picture under the best light, and then sell two other earrings from the same lot that may not be as vibrant as the consumer was expecting, because they ARE tahitians and they DO have green overtones. What if they took that picture 2 years ago and those pearls are long and gone? You have to understand how hard it is as an online consumer to put your faith in a stranger to produce something based solely on a picture. Now usually, the compensation comes in the price and selection, but it is still hard when you cant see exactly what you are buying.

I'm not going to lie, I didn't buy the most expensive earrings on the sight, in fact, I bought the second cheapest, but, on the phone I stressed over and over again that after quality I cared very strongly that these pearls have a strong green overtone. When people look at them I wanted them to see green, regardless of light. I explained all of this at the time of purchase and I was told they would do everything they could to help me. Now, I actually believe they DID do everything they could, it just comes down to a case of online vs. reality.

I know there is a full spectrum of color and I expect that the vendor looked for some green ones, but just you pulling out a handful produced multiple pearls with more green than the ones I received. I believe the vendor has tried to help but there could be a million reasons why the pearls they sent me don't live up to the picture, when in all reality I was hoping for them to be BETTER. At the end of the day can I trust any vendor to deliver what I see in these pictures? this is my dilemma.

I am going to try and work with the vendor, I will also try to take a picture tonight. It seems a white background works best, is that correct?