South Seas Pearls?

[Mypka]

We are going on a cruise in December, from Singapore to Hong Kong, with ports in Bangkok, Saigon, Hanoi. I really would like to buy some real south seas pearls, but would like to be sure, I am getting the real ones, not the one made out of shells. Does anyone have any advise?

Thank you.

[We're The Groupnors]

We did a Singapore to HK cruise earlier this year with Celebrity, and one of our stops was Halong Bay. Near the beginning of one of our tours we made a stop at Pearl Retailer that was recommended by the cruiseline, which was a facilities stop for people not interested in shopping, and a shopping stop for those who were. Probably not the best deals ever, given the relationship with the cruise line, but a very good chance they were the real thing.

 

I suggest you ask at the excursions desk on your cruise if there are any recommendations for places to buy pearls during one of the Vietnam stops. The cruiseline recommendations are reliabile, and they will typically make good on purchases from one of their recommended shops if something goes wrong.

[Keith1010]

Yes, you can look in Vietnam.

 

I would do a lot of research ahead of time so you know about the range in quality. The internet is a great source.

 

Keith

[Mypka]

Thank you!

[Gunner22aa]

Shop at a big name place and yes you will pay more but you will get what you pay for. We did Asia as well. Wife wanted a Jade bracelet. Neither of us knew anything about Jade at the time but we know a lot more now. Lots of stuff on the street for sale but most of it wasn't actually jade although at the time we could have been easily fooled. Took a tour to a real jade store. Massive would be the way to describe it. Most expensive piece I saw was a junk that took 3 years to produce and had a 7 million dollar US price attached to it. What an eye opener. A solid 1/2 inch jade bracelet was what she was after and ultimatly got. At one end of the cabinet there were green jade ones for about $100. At the other end of the 20 foot long display cabinet there were green ones that I would still swear were identical except for the $10,000 price tag!

[Haynecourt]

Since you will be in hongkong, best to shop for the south sea pearls from the legitimate jewellers in hongkong like chow tai fook. Its the largest jewellry chain in hkg and now china, and carries a whole variety, prices are reasonable for top quality items, and payments are receipted. Safest bet.

 

If you were to come to Manila, Philippines, there is a shopping mall in greenhills where the Muslim traders sell their south seas, for a fraction of hkg store prices, but you will need to know your pearl abc's.

[greatam]

 

If you were to come to Manila, Philippines, there is a shopping mall in greenhills where the Muslim traders sell their south seas, for a fraction of hkg store prices, but you will need to know your pearl abc's.

 

I was going to say the best places to get pearls are in the Middle East. So you just verified what I was going to post. Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, etc. etc. were the pearl diving capitals of the world until oil was discovered. In fact, it was really their only source of income. The pearls out of Kuwait are simply spectacular. They had some black ones at a store in the Gold Souq in Kuwait City that sparkled like they had glitter or little silver bits in them. Pricey, pricey, pricey for those black pearls (about $7,000 for a small pearl necklace) but the mid range white pearls were very reasonably priced. I don't like jewelry but did buy a very nice mid range price pearl necklace for $680 for a friend who really wanted "nice" pearls for her daughter's wedding.

 

ANY place you can find Middle Eastern pearls would be my recommendation. Won't be as cheap in Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok as in the Middle East but you will get a quality product. An awful lot of pearls in Vietnam are cultured pearls. Just an addition to their fish farming enterprises.

[Trend]

Let's be honest the real thing is harvested and sold in the South Pacific. The trick to know if it is even a real pearl and not ground shell and glue is to grit your teeth on the pearl. If it slides across it is manufactured if is is gritty then it is a true pearl. Then you have to look at lustre , colour, size, and shape, the prices go up accordingly.

[celyvabeach]

Let's be honest the real thing is harvested and sold in the South Pacific. The trick to know if it is even a real pearl and not ground shell and glue is to grit your teeth on the pearl. If it slides across it is manufactured if is is gritty then it is a true pearl. Then you have to look at lustre , colour, size, and shape, the prices go up accordingly.

 

 

I have several south sea pearls & that's how I check them out.

[Trend]

Sad story many years ago my X sister in law gave me pearl earrings for a big birthday of mine. I needed the posts cut as I am very small and they hurt my ear, the jeweller told me he could not do it as they were plastic and showed me how you tell. In the South Pacific the give you lessons on all the things to look for on your pearl. This year my husband and I bought bracelets and he loves his, it's on an elastic so easy on and off.