Akoya Cultured Pearl
Akoya Cultured Pearl
Pearl necklace question?
Sorry this is long!
I wanted to buy my fiancee a pearl necklace for Christmas to wear for our wedding. I really don't know much about pearls but tried to research a little online. I decided I would buy a 16 inch FRESHWATER cultured pearl necklace (7.5-8mm) for $339 on USAA.com. I never saw a size comparison in person, as it was online, but after going to Reeds, I realized the 7.5-8mm pearls would be too big.
Anyway, in Reeds, we looked at a different necklace - a 16 inch AKOYA cultured pearl necklace (6-6.5mm) for $449. We were in there looking for wedding bands as well, and after the manager offered us a deal if we'd buy both bands and the necklace, we got the AKOYA cultured pearl necklace for $360.
Just for comparison purposes, a FRESHWATER cultured pearl necklace (6-6.5mm) on USAA is $149 and an AKOYA cultured pearl necklace (6-6.5mm) on USAA is $1,095.
The reason I'm asking is because USAA is usually very good on price, so how is it the AKOYA is $700 less at Reeds?
The price of an akoya pearl necklace is dependent on many factors. Pearls are much like diamonds in that the higher the quality, the higher the price. There are several quality factors.
Luster
The reflection from the pearl surface is the most important factor. The sharper the reflection the higher the luster.
Surface
The cleaner the surface, the more valuable the pearl.
Nacre
When buying akoya pearls it is IMPERATIVE to determine whether the nacre is thin or thick. The nacre is the “pearl” part of the pearl. It is the coating on the bead that was inserted into the oyster to create the pearl. Thin nacre will show as chalkiness in the pearl, or as cracks around the drill hole. These pearls will not last longer than a year or two before the nacre will rub off and the pearls will be destroyed.
Color
Akoya pearls are most preferred white with silver or rose overtones.
Matching
The pearls should match across as the strand drapes from the neck.
The finest grade of akoya pearl would be hanadama. Hanadama is Japanese for “spherical flower” and is a grade established by the Pearl Science Laboratory of Tokyo, Japan. These pearls have the highest luster and cleanest surface.
http://www.pearlparadise.com/Hanadama-Akoya.htm
Jewelry store pricing of pearls can vary as widely as the pearls themselves to. One of the major reasons is sourcing. There is no single dominating source for pearls as there is for diamonds (DeBeers). This means there is no rapaport price list that jewelers or wholesalers can use to determine what a fair price is. This means that one seller of pearls may have a better supplier than another. Some may sell on memo and be locked into high prices. Others may buy material in Asia and pay as little as 10% of another seller.
If you really want to learn about what you purchased and why prices vary as they do, take some time to visit Pearl-Guide.com’s forum.
http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum
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Japanese Akoya Cultured Pearls 1
