Vintage Mikimoto

[KatyaM]

Hello all,
I’m a newbie to the Pearl world. I had a vintage strand that belonged to my grandmother that unfortunately was stolen during a home burglary. I’ve been wanting to replace the strand with another vintage piece, but buying second hand pearls is proving difficult.
I’ve been offered these pearls (pics attached), for nearly $4k USD and they look lovely. But my concern is that the seller told me they are AA grade. When I asked “how do you know? Do you have paperwork?” They responded by telling me they’ve “compared the pearls to other Mikimoto AA grade pieces.” This doesn’t feel like a legitimate way to know the grade of the pearls in my opinion. And I’m hoping people here might give me their opinion on whether these pearls are of good quality, and if there’s any way to know the original grading?
Thank you so much!

 

[jshepherd]

They look like nice pearls and they're quite large for akoya. I can't Zoom in to see them in detail, but it looks like some are off-round and there are a few blemishes I can make out.

You're correct. The sellers assigning of the grade is completely arbitrary and subjective. It's meaningless.

 

[KatyaM]

They look like nice pearls and they're quite large for akoya. I can't Zoom in to see them in detail, but it looks like some are off-round and there are a few blemishes I can make out.

You're correct. The sellers assigning of the grade is completely arbitrary and subjective. It's meaningless.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your insight!

 

[2thdktr]

I personally would not buy these for that price. If a seller really wants to charge that kind of money, they can easily send this to Mikimoto to have it authenticated and then have papers to prove to the buyer what exactly they are getting. These are lovely pearls from the picture, but I personally would be leery to spend that amount with out some certificate. I also would be curious to know the provenance of the strand. Follow your gut.

 

[KatyaM]

I personally would not buy these for that price. If a seller really wants to charge that kind of money, they can easily send this to Mikimoto to have it authenticated and then have papers to prove to the buyer what exactly they are getting. These are lovely pearls from the picture, but I personally would be leery to spend that amount with out some certificate. I also would be curious to know the provenance of the strand. Follow your gut.

Thank you! Yes I felt “odd” about the purchase as soon as I got that response about the grade of pearls. I think I’ll wait and keep looking for the right piece. Really appreciate your insight!