FAQ

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 style=" border-top: 5px solid #993300; border-bottom: 5px solid #993300;" BGCOLOR="#3399CC" TEXT="#080000" background="1f8f9643.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Monotype Corsiva" ><I><B>ClassicThai.com</B></I></FONT><B>    </B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>|     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ClassicThai.com"><B>home</B></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><B>About Us</B></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Jewelry Products"><B>Our Jewelry Products</B></A><B>   |   </B><B>FAQ</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><B>Contact Us</B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#3399CC" TEXT="#080000" background="045d2b03.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="1df96cd0.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="205" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>FAQ</I></div> <div> All of the pearls we sell are cultured pearls acquired in China.  Most of our non-pearl jewelry is acquired in Thailand.  We look for only the highest quality products.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Does pearl jewelry require special care?</B></div> <div> Pearls are acquired from a living organism.  They are very different from precious and semi-precious stones.  Pearls can absorb odors and, in some cases, stains if not cared for properly.  You should not wear pearls on bare skin if you will be sweating.  In addition, you should avoid having perfume applied to areas where pearls will come to rest.</div> <bR> <div> Pearls should be cleaned with a dry soft cloth.  If you apply any polish to the clasp of a pearl necklace or bracelet you should be very careful not to let the polish come in contact with the pearls.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>I have been told that cultured pearls are cheap.  Why don't you sell natural pearls?</B></div> <div> Cultured pearls are natural.  With a cultured pearl a small "seed" is placed into the mollusk and that "seed" provides the irritant that starts the natural pearl making process.  In fact, it is very difficult to find non-cultured pearls, even in very high end jewelry shops.  Mikimoto pearls, the gold standard for the pearl industry, are cultured pearls.  They rose to fame when the founder(Mikimoto) perfected the mechanism for culturing pearls over 100 years ago. </div> <bR> <div> <B>You indicate that you provide a 20% or 30% discount in some cases.  Exactly how does this work?</B></div> <div> When you order anything from us you should add together the full retail price of all items ordered, including the adjustments to the retail price for changes in the type of clasp.  It doesn't matter if you are ordering all items from the Royal line or some from the Royal line and some from the Chic line.  Add the total retail price for ALL items ordered.</div> <bR> <div> If that total is greater than $250 USD then you will receive express shipping free of charge.  We generally use FedEx to ship items.  These are shipped fully insured.  Tracking numbers are sent when items are shipped.</div> <bR> <div> If the total retail price of all items purchased is greater than $300 USD you will receive free shipping AND a 20% discount on the total retail price of your order.  For this reason, it does not make any sense for you to order, say, $280 USD of jewelry.  If you do so you will need to pay $280 USD.  However, if you add to your order a pair of round pearl earrings in the Chic line ($50 USD) then your new total is $330.  With a total of $330 USD you still receive the free express shipping and you now qualify for the 20% discount.  Your discounted charge is $330 USD less $66 USD (the 20% discount) for a final total of $264 USD.  <I>In this case you actually save $16 USD by purchasing an additional item.  </I></div> <bR> <div> If your total is greater than $800 USD you will receive free shipping and a 30% discount on the total retail price of your order.  You do NOT receive the 20% discount AND the 30% discount. Only a single discount of 30%.  If the full retail price of all items ordered is $900 USD you will receive free express shipping AND a 30% discount so your final charge will be $900 USD less $270 USD (the 30% discount) for a final amount of $630 USD.</div> <bR> <div> We have additional discounts for customers purchasing items with a total retail value of $3,000 USD or more.  Contact us by email with the details of your inquiry for more information.  </div> <bR> <div> <B>Chocolate colored pearls are becoming a hot item.  Why have these not been available in the past?</B></div> <div> There are only a few natural colors for freshwater pearls.  White, Pink and Lavender are natural colors.  The pearls have these colors when they are harvested.  But other colors (gray, black, chocolate, red, green, etc.) are not natural colors.  Generally, white pearls are drilled and dyed to create these other colors.  The dying process, if done right, is very complete and permeates all layers of the pearl ... this is NOT just an outside coating.</div> <bR> <div> Black and gray freshwater pearls have always been popular due to their cousin, the black sea water pearl (which is natural, it is not dyed.)  Chocolate is a new color that has recently become very popular.  Part of its popularity comes from the fact that it is a color that <I>seems</I> that it could be natural.  Just like black freshwater pearls <I>seem</I> that they could be natural.  This perception, that it is a seemingly natural color, makes these attractive colors more interesting to customers.  This is in contrast to the red and green colors that are not seemingly natural, everyone knows these are dyed.</div> <bR> <div> <B>After looking at the AAA and AA pearls on the Royal Line page it is really difficult to tell the difference.  What is the difference between AAA and AA?</B></div> <div> Both of these are very nice and most people cannot tell the difference.  In fact, many of the pearl vendors in China will mark AA pearls as AAA.  Some internet shops and even jewelry shops will sell AA as AAA.</div> <bR> <div> There is some professional judgement involved.  There are many websites that discuss the difference, the best is to go directly to www.mikimoto.com since these ratings originated with Mikimoto.  We will not repaet it here.  But the judgement come in the following areas.  The Lustre must be very high to be AAA.  How high is very high.  In this case you must have the benefit of having inspected hundreds of sets to make this assessment.  The shape must be near perfectly round.  How near perfect is near perfect?  Again, you must have the benefit of experience.  We have that benefit.  </div> <bR> <div> We sell AAA's as AAA's and AA's as AA's.  We make enough money doing it right that we do not need to cheat.  However, to put our wholesale customers minds at rest we do provide an "inspect first" arrangement in selectred metropolitan areas in the USA for large wholesale orders (over $4,000 USD).  We would like you to trust us but we will also try to work with you so that you do not need to rely on trust.  However, although the "inspect first" arrangements do not require advance full payments this policy does require immediate settlement of the invoice.  Then neither of us need rely on trust in the early days of our wholesale relationship.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>