PearlParadise.com Review and Giveaway

Growing up, I remember photos of all the well-dressed women in the family wearing their good pearls. If the occasion called for dressing up, it called for pearls. These days, that's not always the case. Maybe you think good pearls are too pricey? Not so if you know about PearlParadise.com.

Recently, I was introduced to PearlParadise.com, an online pearl retailer. I received a strand of Freshwater Pearls to try out. The strand I received was the Pink Freshwater Pearl Necklace in 7.0-8.0 mm size (pictured above). You know, I had no idea pearls came in several colors until now. These are just beautiful! You can see me wearing them in the photo of my husband and I at my birthday dinner. I love how these pearls dress up any outfit. I feel pretty wearing them with a dress and fancy wearing them with jeans. I think they'd be really nice looking with a business suit as well. I have gotten many compliments on them.

Pearl Paradise is "The World's Largest Online Pearl Company!" selling pearls at up to 80% off. Let me me tell you though, they don't skimp on their Pearl Necklaces. When I received my pearls, they were packaged beautifully in an elegant presentation box with an authorized appraisal and Pearl Care Kit with polishing cloth. My shipment even included a documentary that featured Jeremy Shepherd, president and founder of PearlParadise.com on a trip to the exotic land of China to visit the Xuwen Pearl Paradise pearl farm. I watched the entire documentary and learned so much about pearl farming. I didn't know that the best time to harvest pearls is in the winter, but the best time to buy is when there is a lot of natural sunshine. If you get this DVD, I highly recommend you watching the documentary.

They cut out the middle man and Jeremy travels to the farms himself to pick out and purchase the pearls for the beautiful pieces of jewelry you see at PearlParadise.com

I asked PearlParadise for a brief history and this is what they said:
"Founded in 1996 and brought online in 2000, Pearl Paradise has grown into the world's largest online pearl company, with 2006 sales topping $20 million. With a custom-built, 1,400-cubic-foot vault filled with pearls, we offer a selection of pearls unlike any other pearl seller, online or off.

Our commitment to offering prices 80 percent below retail has accelerated our growth. With more than 100,000 satisfied customers to date, we have benefited greatly by word-of-mouth advertising. Our commitment to quality, customer service, and unbeatable pricing and selection has helped us become the Internet’s premier source of pearl jewelry."



I could go on and on. If you'd like to know more, check out some of their videos on YouTube. The one above is very informative about PearlParadise.com, how to tell if pearls are real and how to care for them.

Buy: The necklace I reviewed is an 18-inch Pink to Peach Freshwater Pearl Necklace and is available for $189 by clicking here. The strand I have is AAA quality. It has an appraised value of $945. Believe me, it is gorgeous! But, don't worry, if a traditional strand of pearls isn't your cup of tea. They have earrings, bracelets and rings as well in a variety of beautiful styles and pearl types. My pick is the beautiful Freshadama Pearl and Diamond Ring shown above.

Win a Freshwater Pearl Necklace like mine (that has a GIA Ceritified Appraisal of $945)!

Update: We have our winner! Congratulations to #229, Clarissa, who said, "from the video i learned pearls are the reaction of an irritant to a muscle". You have been emailed. Please claim within 72 hour. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
229
Timestamp: 2009-12-02 14:26:04 UTC

One VERY lucky Potamus Prefers reader (this one's open worldwide) will win a strand of pearls just like mine (the winner can pick color and length)! This would be a wonderful gift for a family member or even yourself.For the first required entry, check out http://pearlparadise.com/ then come back and tell me another item you'd like to own.

Want more entries? Well, of course!

If you'd like extra entries (after the required entry is completed), please leave a comment on this post for each entry:
1. Blog about this contest with a link back to PearlParadise.com and Potamus Prefers for five extra entries. The post should be at least 100 words and be an actual blog post, not just a short sentence. Thanks!
2. Subscribe to our feed by email for one extra entry.

Enter your email address:


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3. Become a follower of @PearlParadise on Twitter.
4. Tell me who this would be for.
5. Follow Potamus Prefers on Blogger.

6. Follow @PotamusPrefers on Twitter and tweet about this contest for one extra entry per day.

7. Tell me something you learned from the YouTube video.
8. Add the Holiday Gift Guide 2009 button to your blog or website for two extra entries.

<a href="http://www.holidaygiftguide2009.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Holiday Gift Guide" src="http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p461/KeMLpics/HGG/HGGButton.jpg" /></a><br /> <br />

This giveaway is open to worldwide entries and will end Dec. 1, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. Winner will be posted on this blog (in this post) and will be e-mailed (please be sure to leave an e-mail address if you aren't a blogger or if it isn't part of your profile). You will have 72 hours to reply.

Fine Print: We received a strand of pearls to review and keep at no charge to us from the company, but did not receive payment for this review. The opinions are ours only. Please do your research and decide for yourself if this is the best purchase for you.