Pearl Neckaces Sold On Ebay .
Q: I'm in the market for a pearl Necklace for my wife. Just out of
curiosity I checked ebay. I'm suprised to find exactly what I want:
AAA,8mm-8.5mm Akoya 18" single strand, white - cream color for prices
I have a hard time believeing. They are being sold from China. So I
assume they are Chinese Akoya. My undertanding is that Chinese Akoya
are basicly the same as Japanese Akoya. I hear the prices are cheaper
because the labor to harvest and make the necklaces is cheaper than
Japan, although the Chinese may not do as good of a job when it comes
to matching and grading the pearls.
Does anyone have any input on this? A jewelry store wants thousands
for a necklace like this, but it seems I can get one for hundreds on
ebay from China.
A:Buyer Beware is very correct, Chris. Pearls are something you just
simply have to hold in order to see their quality. Many sellers of
pearls on eBay also use "stock" photos... meaning, a great pic of the
necklace/bracelet/strand of pearls... but what you end up holding in
hand is a much lesser quality.
I purchased a 10 inch strand of "cultured" pearls (i.e. no clasp, just
pearls on a string) for my hobby jewelry making. The seller had 100%
feedback and people were going nuts over her auctions. She stated that
the "cultured" pearls had a Retail Value of $80.00. The picture was
great, the nacre was lustrous and even in the pic. I bid, I won. When
the pearls came and I took them off the string to look at/work with
them, the hole on side side of the pearl was nicely drilled, but the
hole on the other side of the pearl had a _huge_