How Much Does a Pearl Necklace Cost?

Great question

And the answer is...

You can spend $15.00 for a freshwater pearl necklace of genuine freshwater cultured pearls made from slightly round freshwater pearls, or a record braking price for a South Sea pearl Necklace made of record breaking size pearls from 16mm to 20mm that sold at Sotheby's for $2,310,000.00 But here is the thing, you can buy a perfect, round, matched, Freshwater Cultured Lavender Pearl Necklace and spend $10,000.00. or more And if one were to buy a Cultured South Sea Pearl necklace of milky, pitted, non-round pearls, $100.00 might be paying too much.

The experts agree that "luster" is the most important trait to consider when buying pearls. Buy the pearl with the best luster, before insisting on perfect roundness.

You should know the answer to this before buying. And it is not a difficult question to answer.

Experts say Luster is the single characteristic unique to a pearl. It is the quality of the Luster that gives the pearl its radiant glow. Pearls are not merely shiny. Pearls have glow that comes from light reflecting off of the many layers of nacre. A beautiful pearl will have a great luster that glows.

Good luster also means the pearl will last longer because the quality is directly related to the thickness of the nacre. The thicker the nacre, the better the luster and the longer the pearl will last because thin nacre equals short life. Thin nacre can quickly peel or chip.

The experts will base 70% of their appraised value on luster.

As much as 30% more can go towards shape. Since pearls can be shaped like a rice crispy to near perfect roundness. And a perfectly round pearl is a rare pearl. And rarity equals high price. Since many of the not-round freshwater pearls have such fantastic luster, at times roundness is not given as much value.

Color is relatively important, because color is subjective. Color is not as easy to objectively measure as luster or shape. Color is unique to the type of pearl, and colors are somewhat trend oriented. What may be in style now may be out of style next year. Color is a complete study in itself.

How Much Does a Pearl Necklace Cost?By Patrick Cavanaugh