American Pearl or other pearl recommendations

[Kay]

Has anyone used American Pearl? I would love to know if their quality is similar to Tiffany’s or Mikimoto as they claim on their website. One of my colleagues is looking to buy a very nice pearl necklace for his FI for Christmas. He would prefer not to pay Tiffany’s $4,700 for 18" of 7 to 7.5 mm cultured pearls, but he is very concerned about not getting as high quality if he goes elsewhere. Any recommendations?

 

[bstraszheim]

Hi Kay,

I have never purchased anything from American Pearl, but, when I am ready to purchase a pearl necklace I will purchase from American Pearl. Their collection quality pearls look just gorgeous! I think that one of the main reasons I am willing to spend a few thousand dollars with them with confidence is this: "We want you to be 100% pleased with the pearls that you purchase from AMERICAN PEARL. It is our intention to supply you with the pearls that you truly want at the value you expect. It is for this reason that we offer you an unconditional 30 day money back guarantee." I think that if the pearls were not great, they would not offer an unconditional money back guarantee. That''s pretty hard to beat. I have also enjoyed their customer service and I''m not even a customer yet! I have had a few questions with regards to the necklace that I am interested in and they were very prompt and courteous in their responses. I like that in a company : )

Their 7 x 7.5mm pearls go anywhere from $690 for the A grade to $1890 for the collection grade. That beats $4700 with a rock!

When I first saw the picture of the collection grade I thought of fake pearls. I was confused and then realized that when someone makes a fake version of something real, they will try and imitate the highest quality item. Like many cubic zirconia will be made to look like an E VVS diamond, so why wouldn''t the people making fake pearls try and make them look like the absolute best pearls would look?

And as an aside, Laura Bush''s pearls are just gorgeous.

I wish you well and hope that helped somehow.

Bridget

 

[youngster]

My sister is in the process of shopping for a pearl necklace and is seriously looking at American Pearl. She plans on taking the necklace to an independent appraiser as soon as she receives it, to verify that it is what they say it is (just like you would do with a diamond.) As long as American Pearl provides a reasonable period of time to return the item, you can have the necklace looked at and then make your decision as to whether its quality is up to your standards.

 

[Kay]

Thanks for the comments. If I were looking for myself, I would definitely give American Pearl a spin with those prices and their 30 day return policy. Unfortunately, it is hard to convince my friend that it is a good idea to order jewelry online. I keep telling him, if they aren''t as good as advertised, you are only out the postage, and if you think they look good but aren''t sure of the quality because they don''t have a brand name, just take it to a good appraiser during the 30 days. The bad thing is, his Christmas shopping has me looking at jewelry sites again. Now I think I might want a pearl necklace. The 51" strand that American Pearl has looks so cool because you can wear it so many different ways.

 

[valeria101]

Tiffany pearls... look here:

Link to SignedPieces Ebay Store

This is the same firm that turns out 100 times on a serach for "Signed Pieces" on Pricescope...