No, really, thanks for all your suggestions.

“You guys should start a jewelry daily-deal site!” For the last decade or so, we’ve heard it as many times as Ricky Gervais has probably heard “You should make a TV show about where I work!” It sounds like a good idea. But it’s not.

Our business depends on both you and us being able to quickly research, compare, and understand products. A recognizable brand name, a bunch of online reviews, a generally clear picture of how the product and the price compare to the competitors: that’s how we know something is a good deal.

Jewelry, like the noxious mattress industry we’ve told you about, has always thrived by obscuring all those things. The less you can compare, the better they like it. What brands you’ve heard of are often retailers selling their own products. Points of reference for navigating the marketplace are distant and obscure.

We don’t get it, because we’re not supposed to get it. While this obfuscating smokescreen has been blowing since long before the Internet, it obfuscates exactly the thing about the Internet that gives consumers more power: the sharing of easily accessible information. That makes these industries even more resistant to Web-driven disruption than that other legendarily opaque retail sector, car sales.

Point is, when we look at jewelry, we usually don’t know exactly what we’re looking at. We usually can’t size it up the way we can a laptop or headphones. We usually take a pass on it.

Usually. Today, though, today we found one we like. Imperial Pearl have been sitting on top of the oyster for over 100 years now. Rita Hayworth was once their spokesperson. They’ve dangled around famous necks like Elizabeth Taylor’s and Nancy Reagan’s. They’re a legitimate, credible, widely recognized brand. And Imperial Pearl is still owned by the family who has run it for decades - the brand name is not licensed to some outfit of finance pirates keeping it alive until everyone hates it. It’s still the same Imperial Pearl it’s always been.

You’re welcome to do your own research. It’s tougher than you might think. We’re just waiting for the next headphones to come in so we can get something easy to research again.