The Pearl Source 14K Gold AAAA Quality White Freshwater Cultured Pearl Necklace for Women - Pearl Gifts for Christmas, Holidays and Anniversary

This past Christmas, I wanted to buy my wife a pearl necklace. After doing a lot of online reading about pearls, I decided not on this necklace, but on the similar 18" necklace from The Pearl Source with AAA pearls ( 14K Gold 8-9mm White Freshwater Cultured Pearl Necklace, 18 Inch Princess Length ). The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was that it was shorter than I wanted. It was the advertised length, but I'd spent a lot more time thinking about what kind of pearl I was buying than I had about what length necklace I should buy, and when I saw what an 18" pearl necklace looked like, I knew I'd want to give my wife one a little bit longer. The second thing I noticed about that necklace was that nearly all of the pearls were very noticeably oblate, or "squashed." If you think of the the holes where the silk strand goes through the pearls as their "poles" (like the Earth's north and south poles), then I'd guess the diameter across the "equatorial" axis was probably 25% greater than the diameter across the "polar" axis of many of the pearls. I wound up sending that necklace back, mainly due to the length (thanks, Amazon, for the easy returns!), and purchasing this 8-9mm White Freshwater Cultured Pearl Necklace - AAAA Quality, 20 Inch Matinee Length necklace. When I received this necklace and opened the box, I felt immediately justified about spending over twice as much as I had on the other necklace. There's no industry standard for pearl ratings, and many merchants only go up to AAA rating. With that said, it seems to me that the biggest separator between AAA pearls and AAAA pearls from The Pearl Source is the shape. These are much more spherical than the AAA pearls I returned; if you examine them carefully, you can see that they're not perfect spheres, but looking at them casually, that's imperceptible, unlike the pearls I returned which were noticeably oblate at a glance. Like I said, I returned the other necklace mainly because I wanted one a little longer, but when I saw how much better the shape was on these, I was glad I'd stepped up in quality as well as length. These pearls have a good luster with amber-rosy overtones. They are very-well matched in size and color. The clasp is very pretty and seems well-made. The box looks very nice and feels quite sturdy, befitting the purchase price and fine quality of the jewelry they hold. Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase, and my wife is very pleased with her gift. The accompanying pictures were taken in direct sunlight with a Nikon D7000 and a 50mm 1.8 lens at f5.6, and they were color-balanced to a gray card. My main objective was to try to show the luster and color of the pearls as accurately as possible. I included a picture with a few coins for size comparison.

This strand of pearls is as beautiful as I could have hoped for, and I believe that the quality of the pearls truly is AAAA! The pearls were larger than I had anticipated, weighty, very closely matched in size, round shape and soft white color, with a lovely luster. They are on a silk cord with double knots between each pearl,, and a solid 14 kt gold fish hook clasp. I had a little difficulty undoing it to take the pearls off, not when I practiced with it in my hands, but once I actually was wearing the pearls. However, I feel secure that the clasp wouldn't open up by itself! I had a much more expensive strand of akoya saltwater pearls years ago that was stolen, and I never tried to replace it until now. This pearl necklace is just as pretty, and much more affordable than that one was. I decided to purchase these pearls after reading all the positive reviews, so I wanted to share my experience in the hope that it may help other customers looking for a beautiful strand of pearls who don't have an unlimited budget to work with. Lovely presentation as described makes these perfect as a gift just as they arrive. I am extremely satisfied with my purchase!

This was a gift for my mother. She wore pearls for her wedding in 1950, but they were lost. This summer my daughter is her first grandchild to get married, and I thought it would be special for my mom to be able to wear pearls. The came quickly in a lovely box and were nicely displayed. The sizing was uniform, quality is in this product, and they are beautiful. I had her try them on and the 18" length hung nicely around her neck. The clasp is a bit tricky to figure out (maybe it's standard for pearls, I don't know), but an older person would need help with it. A plus for the clasp is that it won't come undone and you won't loose the necklace easily. Go to a website to check the size of the pearls you are ordering, these are not large, but not tiny either. So if you have a certain size, length, or look in mind check it out before you buy. Both of us are very happy with this necklace, it will look great on her, and it will become a special piece of jewelry for my mom with happy memories attached.

Bought the necklace for my granddaughter in college and she absolutely loved it! She has been wanting pearls for a while, and she was so excited to receive these. They look very expensive and the quality is lovely. I might buy some for me!

Good purchase, great delivery, high quality. They came in a lovely package, with care instruction.

My mom asked for a pearl necklace for Mother's Day. Beautiful pearls and beautiful packaging. Highly recommend.

First of all, the packaging/case is cheap. I bought a similar necklace that is $50 cheaper that has a higher quality case. It just was too long so I opt for this one. Secondly the clasp is absolutely the cheapest and most cumbersome piece of arts and craft you can put on a necklace. Good luck. I wouldn't say this necklace is worth the price. The pearls themselves are pretty but the execution is poor.

This is so beautiful, I love this necklace. I plan to get the matching bracelet in the future. And it was packaged perfectly, it comes in a lovely box with a velvety pouch that contains the necklace which is great to store it in

Este collar es de una calidad excelente. Viene muy bien presentado en estuche joyero y llegó antes de lo esperado. Las perlas son perfectas, justo lo que buscaba. El precio es alto por lo que es, pero la calidad lo vale. Sin duda cuando necesite comprar perlas de ensueño buscaré esta marca.

Pearls came in plastic envelope no box and no certificate. So not at all happy.

This Pearl Necklace is a Christmas gift for my Sister-in- law and is a very high quality of pearls. She'll love them .

Not big enough

Loved them