In Reply to: pearls in bali posted by trembler on Sunday, 2. March 2008 at 12:11 Bali Time:
if you go up to the Pantai restaurant in Tuban, have a nice meal there, then make your way down the beach towards Kuta. USUSALLY there are pearl sellers there on the beach. They tell you that the pearls come from Lombok, but apparently they come originally from China. The sellers get them from Lombok. I bought a shortish length of black freshwater large pearls for about 80,000 (I think-it was a few years ago). I have had several jewellers and other retailers comment on the quality of them. I had to get them restrung just this year, so I've certainly had good value out of them.
Over the years I have found these sellers to be the cheapest, and I certainly haven't had anyone say that my pearls are fake. They may not be number one quality, but really are stunning.