Recent Ebay buys

[GemGeek]

Love them both! Those big gold coins would look hot at night with a black top.

 

[CLICLASP]

I am replying a bit late on the topic of age and pearl wearing.
I believe there is different ways of wearing jewelry(and cloth) at different ages.
We can switch beauty against elegance (Think of Coco Chanel).
A necklace can be worn in so many ways, that there is always an elegant way to wear it at any age.
IMHO, very short choker are for the youngest, and a lot of some other ways to wear pearls such as ropes for other...
And... as pearls last a lifetime, nothing is more easy than unstringing and restringing, since as time goes by, we become more clever in pearl stringing

 

[Pearlcat]

I'm pretty sure the gold ones are dyed as the string they were on was mostly the same color and there appears to be more color collected around the drill holes. That being said, most of them have metallic look to them, which I love. I'm think I'm going to restring the gold ones with little gold beads to jazz 'em up! Thanks for all the compliments!

 

[Hanaleimom]

Congratulations to all who are happy with the purchases. I just received mine and I am so disappointed. A SS strand here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...0&_trksid=m38&_nkw=200346609020&_fvi=1&_rdc=1



Guides:

South Sea Pearl Grading
Description



AAA+ to AAAA+


Excellent Luster; Minor Blesmishing to Clean Surface

(95% Inclusion Free Surface or Better);

Extremely High Reflection





AA+/AAA


Excellent Luster; Very Light to Minor Blemishing;

Very High Reflection





AA+


Very Good Luster; Very Light Blemishing;

High Reflection



Item should be almost 95% blemish-free and light silver. But it looks more like a AA+ and is very grayish [/I]

I've contacted seller. It looks like they don't refund but only exchange and credit. I will see what they can do. I called my husband; and he told me I should have bought only from our on-line vendors.

 

[Island Bound]

This is my fear in buying right now. I have only purchased from 2 eBay sellers I've heard about on here and only for little dollar amounts as I continue my "practice" in knotting and design. I don't spend more right now than I would on dinner and a movie (haha - yes, that is kind of my benchmark for gambling on the unknown).

As I get deeper into this, I will definitely need to be cautious and do my research before changing my initial spending habits. This is why I'm so thankful this forum is here so that I can learn as I go.

Thanks all!

 

[Hanaleimom]

Island Bound,
It's lesson learned for me. I should purchase low-priced item only if I use ebay.

 

[pattye]

Wow, that is a bit shocking! I have purchased gold beads occasionally, but not pearls. Hopefully they will value their reputation, and work with you. None of the photos were very close up, so it is difficult to tell alot about the color and overtones. Are you sure it is the same strand? Maybe it needs to "wake up"?? Leave it out on a neutral cloth for a bit------------

Please let us know how your negotiations go. The price is not bad for the size--but if you don't like, and the color is not good on you--any price is too much--------

 

[SpaceNeedle]

Ummm... I always trusted this eBay seller and I purchased several gorgeous loose GSS pearls from them.

I was actually going to bid for this strand (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=200349217787) but now I'm not so sure....

Here're the loose GSS pearls from this eBay seller.

 

[Hanaleimom]

SpaceNeedle,
That one looks much more gray in photo than mine. If you don't want gray, you won't be happy. When I opened the bag the first thing I noticed was gray and blemishes. I'd say on A-D grading it's not a strong B+. The pearls from FW beader special in Dec look much better than this strand.

 

[imanit]

I looked at this strand when it was on auction. I considered bidding. Their pictures are tiny. I copied them on my desktop anyway and then magnified them. They became blurry, but I could see quite few blemishes/pits.. So I did not bid.... Lucky me....and unlucky you.

For Tahitians or SS I go to Pearl Society on ebay. I get very good service from them. They send me additional pictures of the strands, give more information about the quality... and if you buy often enough, they "adjust" the price.......

I received yesterday from them beautiful 10.7-12.5mm GSS drops. I'm very happy with what I got ( will post picture once I get back home)

 

[waimeamomi]

Cathy, I'm sorry that you were disappointed by your buy and I'm surprised. I have to say that I have been buying from this seller and have been very happy with what I received, including this strand of silver baroque SS and Golden SS . They were definitely not clean strands, and had blemishes in some of the pearls, but I thought that they were honestly represented, especially in the pictures and I was not surprised by what I got. The SS were a grey/silver, but they have great rose and bluish overtones and were very close in color to the natural color Akoyas I got. They are gorgeous on. I don't remember what the description said. I guess I never look at the ratings. I thought that for the prices I paid and the size and unavailability of these types of pearls, that they were very excellent buys. I looked on PP and the silver/white baroques start at $2500.
Did you get the correct strand? Do the pearls look to be the same shape and size as the pictures? Maybe they made a mistake. Everything I've gotten is what they have in the pic, nothing from stock photos.
I guess this is a long winded way of saying, I've been happy with this seller. I'd take the strand from you, but I just made too many big buys and can't right now. I hope it all works out for you.

 

[Pearlcat]

Cathy I'm so sorry you didn't get what you paid for!

I've never made a big purchase on ebay because I'm not sure which sellers are trustworthy. I've gotten a few things I haven't been happy with but I just add them to my lowly beading pile -- but when you spend a large amount of money you should definitely be happy with the purchase. They should refund your money. Have you considered making a complaint to ebay?

 

[dkan 168]

Congratulations to all who are happy with the purchases. I just received mine and I am so disappointed. A SS strand here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...0&_trksid=m38&_nkw=200346609020&_fvi=1&_rdc=1

Item should be almost 95% blemish-free and light silver. But it looks more like a AA+ and is very grayish

I've contacted seller. It looks like they don't refund but only exchange and credit. I will see what they can do. I called my husband; and he told me I should have bought only from our on-line vendors.

Such a shame, Cathy, as I too was eyeing this and other similar strands from the same seller

DK

 

[Hanaleimom]

Hello my pearly friends,
I want to show you the photos I took because a picture is worth a thousand words. I could not get the camera to focus much closer than what show up here. Anyway, lots of blemishes. I know I am very picky (it's the accountant in me), but this is not AAA or AAA++. Looking at it closer, it's definitely C on A-D grading scale. It's not silvery at all, but dingy gray, like your dingy white t-shirt (I am not kidding). A few pearls had light yellow overtone. A few have yellow spots at the tip and remind me of decayed matter.

In the last photo, I put it next to my white beader special strand for comparison. If memory serves, the beader special was AA to gem. This small, white strand is leftover material after I picked out all the nice ones for pendants, earrings, potpourri strand, etc.

 

[Hanaleimom]

Full size photos definitely show the blemishes. These resized ones didn't prove my point too well. Sigh. The FW is light ivory tone.

 

[Hanaleimom]

BTW, Waimeamomi, PP's baroque are not $2500. They start at about $450 and up. http://pearlparadise.com/Baroque-White-South-Sea-Pearl-Strands238.aspx?PageNumber=0.

The white SS that make up the rope I posted here come from PP: https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/l...on-about-making-rope-various-size-pearls.html. Higher luster, less blemishes, silver overtone with slight rose. Was $810. Yes, I decided to go cheaper but I didn't do well at all. $456 is a lot of money. I don't want a credit knowing what I just got is not what was represented.

 

[Hanaleimom]

For Tahitians or SS I go to Pearl Society on ebay. I get very good service from them. They send me additional pictures of the strands, give more information about the quality... and if you buy often enough, they "adjust" the price.......

I received yesterday from them beautiful 10.7-12.5mm GSS drops. I'm very happy with what I got ( will post picture once I get back home)

Hi there,
I remember your pride and glory drop strand is from Pearl-society. That is a gorgeous strand.

Edi of Augustus collection replied to me. He instructed me to send the pearls back and will refund as soon as the pearls are received. Oh well, I'll be out the postage money.

 

[pattye]

Really, that is the only honest thing for Edi to do. I'm glad they are willing to do that.

 

[waimeamomi]

BTW, Waimeamomi, PP's baroque are not $2500. They start at about $450 and up. http://pearlparadise.com/Baroque-White-South-Sea-Pearl-Strands238.aspx?PageNumber=0.

I don't read well first thing in the morning. I didn't even get the retail price right.

I'm glad it's going to work out. As I said, I've had very good luck with this seller, but I have also had bad luck with even those we consider to be the best sellers.

Hope you find your strand, Cathy!

 

[Hanaleimom]

I have to admit Edi ships quickly and communication has been very timely.