P. sterna v Pipi

[MSC]

I was at Barney's yesterday, drooling over the jewelry dept, when I saw this necklace. It immediately stood out because it was the only natural pearl item in the store. I immediately thought Pteria sterna, but when I went to look up more info online about it, the description listed pipi pearls. Now, I know pipis come in all kinds of colors, but the pearls in this necklace look like the small sterna's I've seen. What do you all think? I'm pretty skeptical of the website's description.

 

[pattye]

Andrea, I certainly agree with what you are saying; from the photos they don't seem to be pipi, and you got to see them in person! Yes, more like p.sterna, or even fw keshi?

 

[GemGeek]

Something's fishy here. Not a professional wiring job. Looks like cfwp to me.

 

[MSC]

Lol Blaire! That had me cracking up! For the price tag, over 4k, a better wiring job would be expected imo. Pattye, keishis are a good thought, I wouldn't have thought of that. I've only seen one blue pipi previously but it didn't have the same overtones as these pearls do. Check out a photo of these p. sterna naturals off of the pearl collector site.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Something's fishy here. Not a professional wiring job. Looks like cfwp to me.

Atrocious drill work too.

Not P. sterna nor P. maculata. Those are FW.

 

[MSC]

See now, I wouldn't have thought FW at all. I wonder what you all are seeing that I am not? Could you describe what you're seeing/not seeing here to qualify as FW v SW, Blaire, Dave and Pattye? Do you all think natural or keshi as more likely? I have no interest, other than for my own personal knowledge and growth

 

[BWeaves]

I couldn't resist. I had to go look at the website.

So, the necklace has 10.27 carats of diamonds? Really?
The diamonds next to the S-hook clasp didn't look that big.
I wouldn't have put an S-hook clasp on pearls that rare and diamonds that big, if it's all true.
And I would have put the diamonds more to the front of the necklace, unless the clasp was front-worthy.

And natural white gold? And it's yellow? Am I missing something?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

For the price tag, over 4k, a better wiring job would be expected imo.

They are selling a brass choker for $515. I don't think there is a lot of correlation between price and quality there.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I think that what they are calling "natural white gold" is simply unplated white gold. I also suspect that the 10ct refers to the combined weight of the pearls and diamonds, since they are listed together ("10.27 ct white diamonds, natural pipi pearls ") and there is no way each of those diamonds is 2.5ct.

I am very unimpressed by their offering in general. The pearl photos are driving me crazy (everything looks matte!) and check out the stringing on this necklace.

 

[BWeaves]

Yes, I also thought the pearls looked very matte.

But that stringing job is terrible.

 

[MSC]

Oye that stringing work really is terrible. I saw that about the diamond carat weight and thought they either messed up on the desc or didn't make it clear that it was for both diamonds and pearls. I kind of want to contact the maker and point them to this forum. For the price tag, I would expect a lab cert with the necklace.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

See now, I wouldn't have thought FW at all. I wonder what you all are seeing that I am not? Could you describe what you're seeing/not seeing here to qualify as FW v SW, Blaire, Dave and Pattye? Do you all think natural or keshi as more likely? I have no interest, other than for my own personal knowledge and growth

In all honesty, I didn't even bother to score this one. I could scarcely come up with a single point supporting natural origin.

If they were pipi, you'd know by the deep, orange and gold lusters. If it were sterna, you'd be knocked over by dazzling colors and vivid contrasts.

In general there are no FW keshi, unless they are incidental to recent bead culture operations and those would likely be marketed under those names.

These are mass produced, bead grade pearls.

 

[MSC]

If they were pipi, you'd know by the deep, orange and gold lusters. If it were sterna, you'd be knocked over by dazzling colors and vivid contrasts.

In general there are no FW keshi, unless they are incidental to recent bead culture operations and those would likely be marketed under those names.

These are mass produced, bead grade pearls.

I thought the same thing in regard to the pipi's, but I've seen and/or have blue and grey pipis and thought while the possibility that they actually are pipis are very low, there could be a chance that they could be a different species. I would not have guessed bead grade by how they looked in person (not nearly as matte as in the photos). I'm pretty shocked that Barney's buyers would be so lax as to not verify a claim, such as natural pearls, especially at the price point.

Maybe I need to look at some photos of similar bead grade pearls to get a visual understanding.

 

[Katbran]

I've run into this before at Barneys.....I'm not sure what's happening with their buyer but they had two things wrong when I was there last year. And the store in Beverly Hills...was in there as well and they had a strand of rather ordinary WSS listed as Tahitians (now I know you can get a white Tahitian but it's unlikely they had a whole strand that looked just like WSS) a long strand of dyed grass green freshwater 10mm barrel shapes that were 1800.00 ... ( the last one was listed as freshwater but not as dyed...though only an idiot would believe they were a natural colour as the colour was so hideous) . I'd just love to know what THEY paid for those green pearls lol

Definitely agree with Blaires comments on the wiring ... it's pretty inconsistent for that price !

And that STRINGING!! Looks like MY first attempt with Power Pro lol

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Chances are... if you see peach and lavender in a set, its CFWP.

There is not one premium pearl in the strand. Appearing made from 3 or 4 utility grade, sacks of previously drilled pearls and a roll of wire.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Barney's ain't what it used to be, for sure.

 

[pattye]

You all have covered the topic pretty well! Clearly Barney's needs a new pearl buyer~anyone want to apply?

The colors, pink, lavender, peach and shapes seemed fw to me. Dave, keshi is used rather loosely, definitely a product of culturing. I only have a few P. sterna keshi from Douglas, and 2 longer strands of bead nucleated baroque Sea of Cortez pearls, which mostly have shades of gray body color, with overtones. They are not the highest grade, but treasured.

 

[amti]

This really is an eye opener! You'd think a reputable store would know and label their products properly. I wonder if their buyer is getting duped or just ripping people off. Sadly, this is just another example of why we as buyers, need to educate ourselves before making a large purchase!

 

[Caitlin]

I am convinced that most of them don't know the difference. They don't buy pearls from pearl people, they buy them from their own wholesalers- manufacturers.

MSC. If anyone knows a pipi, you do.

I don't see how a pteria sterna could be for sale at Barney's unless it is on a one of a kind basis. They (SoC folks) simply don't have the quantities for repeatable sales. Barneys has 27 flagship stores. I doubt they could furnish even one SoC to each store. It just doesn't make sense.

Barneys manufacturer's probably shop at the same places as everyone else. Where else is there to shop when you are that big, selling online to the masses? I think they are misusing the term pipi to mean "small" pearls, in this case very interesting freshwaters, complete with their inborn ability to make consumers think they are "natural". They sure are cute pearls. They just look so natural!!!!

They do look like pearls from Ed's site. There are banks of Pterias growing around La Paz and there are individuals fishing for them. (I think only native born people can dive, so nations like the Yaquis do have divers down there on their own. Same argument as for the cultured SoC, there just aren't enough of them to make that many necklaces or maybe we should ask Ed? And if they had special buyers collect those pearls directly from someone like Ed, you would bet they knew what kind of pearls they are.

 

[MSC]

Good points, Caitlin! If the pearls were indeed natural p. sterna wouldn't barney's and the manufacturer both use that specific information to increase the sense of rarity as a marketing ploy and price point justification? I could easily see a less than educated manufacturer buying pearls at a trade show from an unscrupulous seller using the term pipi in the generic small pearl sense. That scenario I would think would be much more likely than the one you described, Caitlin, where they sought out the few individuals in the world that would have the actual pearls available. I was so annoyed by barneys that I sent an email with the link. I've also attached a photo that shows what the grey pipis I've seen look like; that's to say not at all like the pearls in this necklace. Also, who is Ed?