I lived and taught at a school during 2004 in Beijing. I am disappointed to read that visitors think the pearls at Hongqiao market are fake. They are genuine. Lariat strands of potato pearls and gemstones I bought there for AUD$10-15 sell in Australia for AUD $250-$300 in jewellery stores. A good quality even strand of cream pearls for $40 was professionally valued here at $550.

Is there a similar pearl market in Thailand - my husband wants to visit but I would really like to go back to China for the shopping next year.

Hope someone can help me.

Best pearl deal are in Manila!

There are probably other places but in Bangkok you can buy freshwater pearls by the string in a number of shops on New Road between the Oriental and the Shangri- la hotels. They are virtually all together. These shops are primarily stone shops and sell strings of all sorts of stones but they also have quite a lot of the pearls - at 200Bt per string. (currently about A$6.50) They will make them up for you very quickly and some don't charge at all if its simple stuff like twists of strings.

Phuket has ocean pearls.

I bought gorgeous pearls at Johnnie's Gems, BKK. He is quite reptuable and it is true, your pearls and gems purchased there will appraise well above anything you will pay for it. I highly recommend Johnnie's Gems.

Any recommendations for places to buy pearls in Phuket? Kathie, Does SJ have pearls? Are they a good buy there?

where us johnie's in bkk??

CFW, I've never purchased any strands of pearls from SJ, though I'm sure they have them. I'm guessing that they would have better quality pearls, no 200 Baht a strand stuff, so if you are looking for more "fun" jewelry, SJ may not be the best place. I did buy a pair of gorgeous large salt water pearls set in earrings that appraise at more than 4x what I paid for them.

I've never purchased jewelry in Phuket, but I did some looking once - you're much better off in Bangkok.

Pearls, many of the pearls in the Beijing pearl market are indeed fake, it just depends on which stall you go to and whether you know fake from real. Many people do not, including myself. I learned this the hard way in 1999 after buying a strand and then my jeweler here in Hong Kong told me they were fake. As I had paid US$50 for them, I did not feel too bad and I still wear them. At those prices even for costume jewelry the stuff in the market is very pretty, a good value and make great gifts so I still go there and have fun. I just always assume the stuff is fake and bargain accordingly. If you got the real thing at a good price, then good on you.

These days freshwater cultured pearls from China are absolutely flooding the market and you can buy good quality freshwater pearls in the US and elsewhere like here in Hong Kong for very little money. They are not the fine Japanese seawater cultured pearls, but still are very pretty and have a nice luster and for something like US$50-70 for a 16 inch 5 mm strand are certainly within the price range of people who otherwise could not afford the Japanese cultured seawater pearls of the old days. If you look around at home, you will probably find similar prices. In the US and elsewhere you can at least have a little comfort that what you are buying is real or you at least have an action against the store for selling you fake pearls (which you can't do in Beijing).

Johnny's Gems
199 Fueng Nakorn Road
Bangkok,
Phone
224-4065
They will pick you up from your hotel. Johnny is a Berkley grad and has inherited the business from his father. Many famous US people have purchased from his shop including presidents. Happy shopping. Don't buy him out before I get there in March!

we were on a boat in halong bay, vietnam when a local boat came to visit our boat.
they brought with them a bag of jewels and pearls.
being from hawaii...i zoned in on the black pearls...a beautiful necklace of cultured black pearls and a pair of earrings.... they looked real to me...i have one i wear every day so i bought both the necklace and earrings. a huge bargain compared to hawaii prices.

a local jeweler appraised them when i returned...about a 200% increase over what i paid...and my partner is estatic with her christmas gifts...

i took a chance...it felt right and i lucked out

The pearls in Manila are probably the best bargain out there. They will size the necklaces, braclets, rings to fit you on the spot, exchange the pearls for the right color, and change out the clasps- all in a few minutes. Plus they have some really different pieces with pearls- my wife gets compliments on this piece all the time.

I'm interested in buying some black pearls when I'm in Bangkok. Could anyone give me an idea of what I could expect to spend for a single , short strand? And where to go to look?

Tnaks!

Kathie,
you have mentioned your ocean pearl earrings a few times.... where did you get them?