Where to buy pearls
Top 5 Best Places To Buy Pearls
1. Online Pearl Boutique: Uncommon Pearls
Buy luxury grade pearls at 80% off retail pricesThe best way to buy high-end pearls at a great value is to shop online at a specialty boutique like Uncommon Pearls.
Because we sell online, we’re able to save money that other stores spend on expensive storefronts like rent, high-end furnishings and utilities. Instead, we take that same money and:
Investing to become a pearl experts.
Create educational resources for our customers (like the articles on the website)
Offer gorgeous pearls at extremely competitive prices
Focusing on these three factors helps us source luxury-grade pearls efficiently and sell them at a deep discount — usually less than 1/5th the price of retail. That means you save 80% on standard pearl prices when you buy from Uncommon Pearls!
Plus, we offer a wide variety of products, including:
High-end Tahitian Pearls from French Polynesia
Affordable yet elegant Chinese Freshwater pearls
And the Queen of Gems: Delicate white and golden South Sea Pearls from Australia and the Philippines…
And if you have any questions about your pearls, you can always contact us and ask a qualified pearl expert for help.
We guarantee our pearls are equal to anything you can find at a luxury store for a fraction of the price.
2. Luxury Pearl Retailers (Mikimoto, Tasaki etc.)
Mikimoto is a specialty retailer that sells high end pearls exclusively. The top 1% of Mikimoto pearls (typically costing $20,000+ per piece) are untouched in the industry. But not all their pearls reach these lofty quality standards.
In fact, Mikimoto will often take one or two extremely high end pieces and ship them from store to store to show off. The rest of their pearls are high quality, but are closely matched by more affordable brands.
This brand offers jewelry that pearl-lovers would be proud to wear. However, their pearl jewelry also comes with luxury grade price points.
When you buy from Mikimoto you’re basically paying for the brand and a level of consistency. If you have the money to spend, the high end Mikimoto pearls are often worth it. (For example, A gorgeous 3millions dollar white south sea necklace is truly unique and worth every penny… If you have money to spend and know what you’re looking at)
But if you want luxury-grade pearls for less than 20,000 euros, you’re better off shopping for pearl jewelry at a smaller specialist boutique like Uncommon Pearls.
3. Traditional offline jewelry stores
Traditional jewelry stores will offer reliable service and reputable products, but they are usually not pearl experts. Stores typically sell other gemstones other than pearls, such as diamonds.
Since they are not specifically targeted, investing in high-end pearls is not cost-effective for store operations.
4. Massive Online Stores (Amazon etc.)
Online retailers may offer more selection than most brick and mortar jewelry stores, but their products aren’t consistent in price or quality. They may offer mediocre pearls with heavy markups, or feature cheap pearls that look great online, but have obvious imperfections when you see them in person.They are made using “commercial quality” pearls.
The biggest problem with commercial-quality jewelry is that the quality is very inconsistent. One piece could have all mid-high grade pearls while another has mid-low. The quality control just isn’t there.
Customer Service Sales Staff that Has Limited Pearl Knowledge. They’ll be able to tell you exactly what’s written on the “tech specs” on their site and not much else.
5. Auction & Marketplace Sites (eBay, Etsy, Auction sites, etc)
Buying pearls online from eBay, Etsy, or another auction or marketplace site is EASILY one of the riskiest propositions on the internet. There’s virtually no quality control on these platforms, and they regularly feature thousands of counterfeit pearl listings.
Sometimes you can filter through thousands of pearl listings to find a great deal only if you know what you’re looking for and are willing to take a risk. It's not recommended.
Other cons of buying from a marketplace or auction site:
eBay Is Well-Known for Hosting Anonymous Vendors Hawking Fake Pearls (usually dyed Freshwater) masquerading as Tahitians pearls, South Seas pearls or Akoya pearls.
Getting a Refund Is a Pain. The process of getting your money back from an overseas vendor that sold you a cheap imitation strand is going to cost lots of time and probably money.
There Are ZERO Guarantees that the pearls in the listing picture are the ones you are going to receive. There’s no assurance you’ll even buy real pearls.
Reviews Are Often Fake, it’s hard to know what’s real or not.
At the end of the day, the two safest places to purchase pearls are at a dedicated online boutique, or a luxury pearl retailer. Other stores may offer solid quality pearls, but they are usually unstable in terms of quality.
Read more about which size to buy.