16.0–18.8 mm round White South Sea pearl and diamond necklace
on bust
platinum and 18K white gold diamond ball clasp (72 diamonds, 6.44 ctw)
Museum-quality 16–18.8 mm White South Sea pearl necklace
Museum-quality 16–18.8 mm White South Sea pearl necklace
platinum and 18K white gold diamond ball clasp (72 diamonds, 6.44 ctw)
Click to enlarge

White South Sea · Australia

Assael Collection: 16.0–18.8 mm Round White South Sea Pearl Necklace, 18 inches

StrandSNW00325

$980,000.00

The strand you see is the strand you receive. We photograph every piece in our Los Angeles studio. No stock photography, and no other one like it.

What makes this one rare

This strand is white pink, the rarest of all colors in white South Sea. That alone would make it exceptional. It is also Select Gem, and the luster is so high it reads as nearly metallic.

Clasp

Platinum and 18K white gold diamond ball clasp, 72 diamonds, 6.44 ctw

Fitted to this strand and shown in the photographs. We can change it if you would prefer something else. Ask us before you order.

Want to see more of this strand first?
  • Free insured FedEx 2-day shipping, and free returns
  • 90 days to return it for a full refund
  • Certificate stating origin, quality and characteristics

This strand

Measured and matched by hand

Pearl size
16-18.8 mm
Shape
Round
Grade
Select Gem
Overtones
Pink
Length
18 Inches
We can add pearls to lengthen it, or remove pearls to shorten it. Ask before you order.
Pearl type
White South Sea
Origin
Australia
Natural color, never treated
Clasp
18K Gold
Stringing
Double-knotted silk

White South Sea color

How we read the color of this piece

This piece — Pink

A White South Sea pearl does not have one color. It has a bodycolor, the main color of the pearl, and it may have one or more overtones that appear across the surface as it moves. Describing a piece like this one as black would tell you almost nothing about what you are looking at.

We list the colors we can actually see, most dominant first, and we stop at three. Beyond that the list stops describing the piece and starts describing the species.

Overtones shift with the light and the viewing angle, so the same pearl can read differently as it moves. That is why a piece can look different in a photograph than in the hand, and why we photograph every one of these ourselves rather than using stock images.

Every color here grew in the oyster. Nothing we sell in this category is dyed or color enhanced.

White South Sea grading

What Select Gem means on this strand

Our grades consider luster, shape, surface and matching together, and luster is what they turn on. For surface we describe what the piece actually looks like rather than quoting a clean percentage. At these sizes a piece will almost always carry some marking, and a number cannot tell you whether that marking matters.

  • ALow to medium luster, noticeable variation from the stated shape, and marking readily visible across the piece.
  • AA+Medium to high luster with some variation in shape. More marking, sometimes accepted for the beauty of the piece as a whole.
  • AA+/AAAVery high luster, closely conforming to its stated shape. Most pearls very clean, with a few carrying more. The combined grade describes variation in surface, not mixed luster or an inconsistently matched strand.
  • AAAVery high luster, closely conforming to its stated shape, clean overall with any marking minor enough not to draw the eye.

Select Gem. This piece. A selection that sits outside this scale rather than above it. Not a tier we sort into, but a collection built over time: exceptional natural color, shape and surface at once, with any marking slight or sitting where a setting will cover it. Collected one pearl at a time, then assembled pearl by pearl.

16.0–18.8 mm round white South Sea pearl and diamond necklace
25 round white South Sea pearls · 44.60 momme · approx. 18 inches · platinum and 18K white gold diamond ball clasp (72 diamonds, 6.44 ctw)

This is the finest strand of South Sea pearls Assael has ever assembled, and to our knowledge the finest available anywhere in the world today. Twenty-five perfectly matched round white South Sea pearls measuring 16.0 to 18.8 mm, with a total weight of 44.60 momme.

Round white South Sea pearls at this size are extraordinarily rare. Matching twenty-five of them into a single strand, at the highest grade of color, luster, and surface, is a feat almost no inventory in the world could produce. These pearls score at the very top of every category, selected over years for a consistency and refinement that is essentially unrepeatable at this scale.

What sets a strand like this apart, beyond its size, is the quality of its luster and the depth of its overtone, the living glow of each pearl and the way the light moves across the whole. On this strand those qualities reach a level we have not seen matched. It is the kind of thing that has to be seen to be understood.

Finished with a substantial platinum and 18K white gold diamond ball clasp set with 72 natural diamonds totaling 6.44 carats.

For a piece of this significance, we welcome you to view it in person, at our Los Angeles vault or by private virtual appointment, and to see firsthand why it stands apart.

A museum-caliber strand, matched over many years and impossible to recreate. The single finest piece in the Assael Collection, held in our Los Angeles vault. One of a kind.

Before you decide

We can show you this strand first

This strand is finished and it is here, in our Los Angeles vault. Before you buy it we will take it out and photograph it again for you, in whatever light or angle would help.

If there is something specific you want to see, a close look at the surface, the drill holes, or this strand worn, just say so.

What you will see

New photographs of this strand, taken today.

We usually reply within one business day, Monday through Friday. Only one of these exists, so it stays available to everyone until it sells.

The same on every piece we sell

What you can count on before you look at a single pearl

We do our own buying

We do not outsource our buying, and we do not pick from someone else's catalog. Every pearl we sell is sourced, inspected and bought by us, from the growers, producers and dealers we have worked with for decades.

Natural color, guaranteed

Nothing we sell in this category is dyed, irradiated or color enhanced. The color you see grew in the oyster.

Finished in Los Angeles

Matched, strung and finished by our own team, with a solid gold clasp and a safety catch. Length and clasp can be changed before we ship.

Included with purchase

It arrives ready to give, or to keep

  • Certificate of authenticity

    Individually prepared, stating the origin, quality and characteristics of these pearls.

  • Presentation box and pouch

    For presenting the pearls and for keeping them safe between wearings.

  • Care kit

    A polishing cloth and instructions for keeping your pearls beautiful.

Buying from us

This piece is one of a kind

It has no reviews of its own because only one exists. These are reviews of Pearl Paradise from people who bought something else.

I ordered a string of pearls, and to my disappointment, they were too short. No problem. Paradise Pearls was wonderful, exchanged my string and I ordered a longer string. I am SO very pleased with them and love wearing them.

June H. · Verified buyer

Loved the human contact when I asked for photos, shipping was delivered on time and the pearl necklace is gorgeous. Definitely buying more from pearl paradise.

Melissa M. · Verified buyer

When I called to ask questions, customer service was so helpful. They answered all my questions and reassured me that I was buying high quality pearls.

Jodie L. · Verified buyer