Let me precede this review first by stating that I am a 24 year old male who has never purchased Pearls before in my life. My knowledge of pearls are, at best, extremely limited. Thus, I decided to do a little bit of research on Akoya pearls and the difference between saltwater and freshwater pearls before purchasing this necklace. As this is a gift to my girlfriend of two years for Christmas/New Years, I wanted to make sure she was pleased with this item thoroughly. After purchasing through Amazon at the extremely fair price of $350.00 (supposedly 50% off the marked price, my necklace came in roughly three days later via USPS mail. Very quick indeed.
Opening the package up, the first item that dropped out was an appraisal of the necklace by some third party company, and at the price of $2,500. There are multiple things that I find a bit surprising about this appraisal. The first thing is that the value is $2,500; like I said before, I do not know a great deal about pearls. However, To value these at anything near this amount is, to be honest, kind of crazy. I don't know where they came up with this value. As another reviewer said, they might have the currency incorrect. If the Pearls are retailing now at $350.00 dollars, I don't see who would appraise them for $2,500. The second thing that jumped out at me regarding the appraisal is that its no more than a copy of an appraisal. It looks like the millionth copy of the same proposal, stuffed into every box of pearls. In other words, it looks silly and outdated. The third thing that jumped out of me, which confirms my last statement, is that there's a date on the appraisal of 2003. I'm not sure how the value of pearls has declined or inclined throughout the years, but seven years ago was a VERY long time ago when it comes to comparing the value of anything. I think Augustina should seriously take a second to rethink how they want to go about with the appraisal, as it does seem a little tacky and outdated. If the appraisal value was anything near the retail price of the pearls currently, and if the date wasn't seven years ago, I think I would be a little more comfortable receiving this paper with my purchase.
The pearls themselves are quite beautiful. They are threaded by silk, per Augustina, and are a shimmering mix of light pink hue. Another reviewer on Amazon mentioned that Augustina should consider removing the "white" wording on the item title, as these aren't exactly white. I can confirm this (although I understand the response was given that white pearls of this quality could cost significantly more). But yes, the pearls are a very light pink and seem to take on a glow of their own. Truly beautiful. My only complaints are that 1)the size of the pearls are actually quite small - take note that the are no bigger than 7mm, and judge that on your own. For me, I was taken aback when actually getting them, although when they were on my girlfriend, they seemed to fit quite nicely. But they are certainly not bulky by any means. 2)The necklace box itself is too small for the necklace. This results in double loops in the middle of the box as the ends of the box need to be banded off in order to prevent the pearls from falling out. This detracts from the original presentation of the pearls as a gift in my eyes 3)The gold clasp is kind of cheap looking. It certainly does not look like 14K gold. It looks kind of frail to be honest. Its a very thin metal structure. 4)Not all pearls are in perfect quality. Some of them have defects as you can see scratches on a number of pearls. But anything created by a creature of the sea is bound to not be physically perfect.
But despite these negatives, the pearls are of excellent quality. They truly do pick up a glow from the room itself. The light radiates and bounces off of each individual pearl, and the shadow of each pearl bouncing off of one another is a sight to behold. Needless to say, my girlfriend loved the gift, and has received a dozen compliments by those close to her since wearing them. This is the first pair of real pearls she has ever received, and I'm glad I went through Augustina to get them. I believe she is quite satisfied with the gift, and in turn, I am as well.