I made a quick trip to Target the other day and walked by their jewelry counter. A beautiful 32″ shell pearl necklace (Dean Harris) caught my eye. I didn’t know anything about shell pearls, so I decided to learn more about them before making up my mind. After doing my research and deciding that it would go wonderfully with several outfits (I wear suits every day to work), I stopped by the next day and bought the necklace. I’m glad I did. I’ve gotten plenty of compliments on it. You would never know that it isn’t “real!”

Sounds like a dream, Angie. I’m a fool for pearls: Fake, freshwater, cultured, or shell, I love ‘em all. The strand you bought looks magnificent on, and it sounds like a fun, fabulous experience having them custom made in HK!

What a great experience Angie! I would love to be able to go to such a place, I’m sure I’d come out of it with a couple of necklaces. I am currently looking for a short chunky pearl necklace ( like your new one) made of grey pearls.

Your necklace looks so modern and fun (I always worry pearls can look a little too straightlaced). Would you tell us what diameter pearls you chose and the length of your necklace? Thanks!

What a great experience! For those of us who can’t go to HK, I’ve had good luck finding pearls from shell at bead shows like Bead Renaissance in strands and string them myself. The vendor has imported the pearls from HK or China. Not the same charming experience and probably not the same quality, but very inexpensive this way. Although most shoppers have a tax number, I don’t. Many of these shows are open to the public, but you pay tax. Some are better than others. I’ve bought strands long enough for a 16 inch necklace for as little as $2 (smaller size than Angie’s). There are many colors available.

Just this morning, my husband left a suprise birthday present for me at the front desk of my work: a BEAUTIFUL 5-strand chocolate pearl cluster necklace. Like Sal, I am a fool for pearls–my prize is a graduated strand of Mikimotos, purchased at the Okinawa store in 1958 (I have the receipt!) Angie: people say pearls can be worn with anything, but what are the guidelines?

You have me now wondering if shell pearls are the type of pearls I saw at this artisan vendor stand about a month ago. They had a nice weight and did not look fake.

The woman said she could make any sort of necklace I wanted – including a duplicate of the torsade I saw in Paris. I have her card and website URL around here somewhere. The prices were in similar range (but multiply by 5, for 5 strand torsade). Only issue: she said it is getting harder and harder to find pink and apricot pearls, for some reason. So those are somewhat more expensive. Did you find that in HK too?

I too love white pearls but I have to say the pink and apricot just looks so lovely against the skin…

Apricot and cream pearls are my favorite. I just bought a large pearl ring, and the pearl is shell. I didn’t know what that was at the time–I just liked the ring! I guess I lucked out. Since I’m on the lookout for a chunky apricot pearl necklace, I’ll now look for “shell pearls.” Thanks for this informative post.

Tanya, I just bought a beautiful chunky short strand of large grey pearls at Target. It was $40, but goes with so much in my wardrobe and had such a nice weight to it that I didn’t mind. It might be worth checking there?

What a great find! I absolutely love your Hong Kong shopping realated posts – they remind me of the markets in India where it’s hard not to go overbosrd buying all the fabulous finds within those many tiny lanes. I always land up with more baggage than I can probably manage, but seeing as how great the prices are down there, a little extra baggage never hurts. You’ve inspired me to document my shopping experiences when I go there next time!

Angie and I had an amazing time in the Jade Market and I have already gotten a lot of use out of my two pearl necklaces. They are absolutely beautiful with most of my wardrobe. Also, while in the Jade market I also purchased jade foo dogs and several other jewelry items. The bargaining was also another fun part of the experience, sometimes you felt like you were getting away with murder if you negotiated too heavily. You also have to be careful not to get overwhelmed, there is so many nice things that it is hard to tell the quality from the junk. Luckily we had Angie there to guide us and I would up with two fabulous necklaces! I will definitely remember this experience.

Another beautiful travel inspired blog entry! I’m not a pearl girl myself but very much enjoy the great pictures, vivid descriptions and interesting background info about the Jade Market. Makes us all feel a little bit like we were there with you. THanks

Those pearls are beautiful! I love the idea of colored pearls, would love a bronze or taupe color. Did someone say they had them at Target
Thank you so much Angie, I would never have known such a thing existed.

You’ve really been busy there in Hong Kong Angie;-) I love all the insights into Hong Kong street style, and now this fantastic market. I would love to try a strand of pink, grey or purple pearls some time, and I’m sure I’d be completely overwhelmed by l’embarras du choix in such a place. Jade appeals to me as well, funny because I just realised that I don’t own a single jade item. On the whole I’m sorely lacking in the accessories department, might be time to go shopping…

How wonderful, Angie! I’ve just been catching up on entries of your HK trip and am dying of envy regarding custom-made clothing and jewelry!!!

I’m living vicariously through you and loving every minute of it! Great pearls. A
statement piece!

Nice to know that there other pearl lovers out there! (Thanks for appreciating the sentiment, Antje). And, I’m tickled by the compliments, Sal and Diane Pearls are close to my heart, which makes your positive reactions to this post all the more special.

Thanks for sharing alternative shell pearl retail resources that are closer to home , Joy, Ellen and Telly. That’s good to know.

Redhead, I love your Mikimoto story and your pearls sound exquisite. I’ve inherited a triple strand of Mikimoto pearls which my late mother bought in HK in the late 70’s. I actually remember the day she brought them home. I’ve worn them a few times for very fancy occasions, but for the most part I prefer to hold them in my hands and look at them from time to time. They have an ornate gold and emerald clasp that was SO my Mum, but not me. Changing the clasp is not something that I want to do, so I’ll stick to wearing my less valuable pearl necklaces instead. It’s all good!

Tanya, Ana, Shiny and Inge, you’d look fantastic in the alternative pearl colours that tickle your fancy. (Those colours were available at the jade market too). I’ve tried all the colours and unfortunately I don’t look good in any of them. I’m sticking to white and cream pearls (which are my favourites anyway), but I can enjoy the colours on you.

Meena, I’m looking forward to hearing about your shopping travels in India. Keep us posted.

Another pearl lover here. Great post Angie. Now I want some chunky pearls to add to my collection. Just out of curiosity, I haven’t seen Sex and the City and can’t seem to find a good picture of SJP’s pearl necklace that is so famous. What does it look like?

Thanks for posting! Looking forward to the outing.

Here are two pictures Sarah:
http://blog.seenon.com/2008/06.....to-pearls/
http://www.nationaljewelernetw.....226d?imw=Y

Here is another one Sarah:
http://www.purepearls.com/blog.....06/sjp.jpg

I am enjoying these HK shopping posts and I am very much a pearl fan. If I ever get around to going to HK I have to visit this market. All 3 of my pearl necklaces so far are white pearls. I would love to have a strand of charcoal gray ones. My mom bought a long strand of charcoal-to-bronze pearls in Hawaii last year at a small Japanese store (I don’t know if they’re cultured or shell) and they cost a little over $100. The strand hangs down to about the middle of her chest when she has it on.

A note about jade: I seem to remember that the Chinese have a tradition that jade is only lucky if it was given to you by someone else. You never buy jade for yourself.

I have some of these too, in a grayish purple color on a short strand — I should wear them more often!

thank you a million for this post! It’s hard to know what to go for sometimes with pearls and this helped

My coworkers and I ordered some pieces from this site, good deal!

where I can find the pearl market here in hongkong

I am visiting Hong Kong this week and I know that Jade Market is in Yau Ma Tei, but how do I get there from the MTR?

gud evening im philipine ask me wer you in the hongkong and you contac number becus im eteristing in pearl for holsale buy.thank you