Freshwater pearls - an Australian supplier?

I am having heaps of trouble finding a supplier for freshwater pearls here in Oz. (This is particularly frustrating considering most of them seem to come from China!)

Most of the shops I've seen sell them loose, and for ripoff prices. The one that sold them on a strand also sold them at ripoff prices.

I am considering importing from the US, but really really don't want to seeing as postal rates to here are astronomical, I *should* be able to find a local source (!), and the irradiation of mail thing that someone mentioned in a previous request for US sources.

Can someone tell me where I can get cheap pearls in Oz, particularly in Sydney? I know there are other Ostrayans (and some Kiwis) who haunt this newsgroup...

It's become particularly urgent, as I have some *ahem* corporate functions coming up, and I want to "whip something up"...

Reply to
mªdcªt
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Wish I could help. Maybe someone will pipe up.

Reply to
starlia

I bought very affordable, gorgeous 16" strands of big pearls from an Australian dealer (I think their name was Goanna) at Tuscon in 2002. Do they have bead shows in Oz? Seems like they have 5 or 6 a year just in Chicago, which is not really a very beady town.

Georgia

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Reply to
Georgia

Was it GoGoanna? That's what google comes up with. :P

Guess I'll have to email them and cross my fingers they're local...

Thanks :)

Reply to
mªdcªt

I've searched in AU for fwp at a reasonable price and came up with zip. It's worth buying them from the US. I buy most of mine from Marjean at Halsey Trading. The quality is always excellent and she doesn't charge an arm and a leg for shipping. My stuff always arrives 7 to 10 days after she notifies me that it's shipped. She has a good range at the moment:

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I heartily recommend Halsey.

Reply to
Marisa Cappetta

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