Pearl Education (Warning: Somewhat of a Rant)

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#61
Wow...Thanks Callire! Yes, my origonal question was meant for you. But, I have recieved amazing advice from the other ladies on the forum. This is why I love TPF!

Thanks for all you information and knoweledge. I don't think I like the whole issue with the restringing on the Mikimotos. My DD is an active young woman and a bit hard on her jewelry. Not that she would be running on the treadmill with them on (at least I hope not!) ~but I imagine that over the years, she would definately need restringing. I only have one strand of Akoyas~got them for my 30th birthday from hubby. They are 20" long as that was the style back then to wear over sweaters and such. I have always been so careful with my jewelry and store it in the velvet envelope it came from the jewelers in. I do also have a double Akoya bracelet that I got from JCPenneys on a killer sale~but they are no where near the quality of my necklace. I have many freshwaters in both gold and silver (Honora in the silver) and still am very careful even with them. But my daughter~as much as she loves jewelry, just doesn't have the "respect" for lack of a better word, that I do and it seems most of us here do as well.

So you think 18" is ok for a petite young woman? I'm pretty sure she would wear them to work occasionally for meetings and such ~once she lands a good job! And of course, for special occasions~hopefully her wedding someday. If you think 18" is better for a classic strand ~ then maybe a strand of freshadamas or something in the future in choker length. I've heard jewelers sell little clips to hold the longer strand at a shorter length for temporary use. Have you heard of that?

I totally agree with you on the size. And am looking on the sites for a strand that is 7-8 or 8-9mm. I haven't heard of "The Pearl Outlet" but will definately check it out. What do you think of the site: Pearls Only? I was thinking whatever site I go with, that I might buy a pendant (for me :blushing:) first just to see how the process goes. I like the gold box chain that goes right through the pearl.~like one of the ladies showed on the other thread. So pretty.

I actually did find coupon codes for both sites as well as a rebate site for one of them~I'll be glad to share, let me know. I know this has been a long post but you seem very passionate about pearls and I always trust the advice here as it comes from a good place.

Thanks so much....ttys

Jan (aka Queen Catherine)
 
#62
No problem ;) I like to rant, that's all. My brain is like a sponge...

Jan: You can get basket clasps for adjusting length, or mystery clasps, or you could use one ofthese. I think 18" is definitely one of the best lengths for the akoya or hanadama. Freshadama would be a nice option for 16". You could also get a 16" freshadama just so you can see how nice they are in person ;)

Pearlsonly: I've personally never ordered from them. IMHO I don't like the fictitious grading system, AAAA. That's a little worrying. Also, I've personally never seen hanadama certified bracelets or earrings before... I'm not sure what they mean by that. (Do they take the pearls and re-string them? Which would be very troubling because they could easily use non-hanadama qaulity) They said this "Japan Pearl Exporters Association."

I'm assuming that because there aren't hanadama certificates for the bracelets or earrings, or any proof that they are, in deed, certified hanadama pearls-- that these are BLUE TAGGED pearls.Japan Pearl Exporters Association blue seal and HANADAMA are not the same thing!

It appears as thought they are trying to pass blue-sealed pearls as Hanadama.

LINK to JPEA Blue Seal Info sheet

Quoted from The Pearl Guide:
"The JPEA Inspection Tag DOES mean:

That the pearls are not damaged or cracked
That the nacre is at least thick enough to cover the nucleus
That the pearl is not bleached or dyed to the point that is it unsuitable for use
That the pearls are of a minimum acceptable quality

The JPEA Inspection Tag DOES NOT mean:
That the pearls are cultured in Japan
That the pearls are top grade
That the pearls are of any better quality than those without tags
That each pearl that passes inspection receives a tag"
 
#63
Do you know if Mikimoto will change clasp from yellow gold to white gold? And can they restring two 20" strands into one long strand? I had purchased 2 Mikimoto strands and 1 Mikimoto bracelet on sale (40% off - store closings) and they have gold clasps.

I haven't decided if I want to keep them because I would like to upgrade from 7 -7.5 mm to at least 8-10 MM akoyas. Should I keep them or sell them
 
#64
Malinda said:
Do you know if Mikimoto will change clasp from yellow gold to white gold? And can they restring two 20" strands into one long strand? I had purchased 2 Mikimoto strands and 1 Mikimoto bracelet on sale (40% off - store closings) and they have gold clasps.

I haven't decided if I want to keep them because I would like to upgrade from 7 -7.5 mm to at least 8-10 MM akoyas. Should I keep them or sell them
Click to expand...

I'd just call them and ask. I'm not familiar with mikimoto and their policies regarding repairs. Luckily, they'll probably have a good resale value if you do decide to part with them. But, if you're looking for 9-10mm, you're probably better off with South Sea pearls rather than akoya. Akoya doesn't normally grow that large, so strands are very expensive (especially for mikimoto, AAA, or hanadama qaulity). A 9-9.5 will run between 2k-4k depending on the quality for non-mikimoto. If you are looking at mikimoto, you might want to consider getting SS, starting at 10-12mm for 7k to 15k since mikimoto is going to very, very expensive at that size.
 
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#65
Malinda said:
Do you know if Mikimoto will change clasp from yellow gold to white gold? And can they restring two 20" strands into one long strand? I had purchased 2 Mikimoto strands and 1 Mikimoto bracelet on sale (40% off - store closings) and they have gold clasps.

I haven't decided if I want to keep them because I would like to upgrade from 7 -7.5 mm to at least 8-10 MM akoyas. Should I keep them or sell them
Click to expand...

They should be able to replace the clasp, no problem. I found a thread online where people sent in a strand of vintage Mikimotos to be restrung and they offered to restring it and replace a silver clasp with a 14k gold one for $140-$183. I'm sure they could do something similar for you for even less (since you're swapping gold for gold). They'll just keep your old clasps.
 
#66
Thank you so much Callire for taking the time to post all this! I found it very informative and tremendously helpful. Thanks again for advising me on the undertone too :smile1:
 
#67
Clop: No problem!

More on overtones:

Overtones are a bit tricky to work out, but once you do, they can make your pearls look amazing on your skin tone!

Scroll down to see a photo of all four white overtones

(Gals, chime in with your overtone and skin type, this is all a generalization)

Rose: Rose is the most universally flattering overtone. If you're on the fence, get rose. It usually works best for very pale people, or blueish pink complexions.

Silver: Silver works best for people with tanner skin, or more of an olive complexion. Silver is the closest you can get to a "pure white" pearl, so they offer more contrast against darker skin (which is a good thing, it can make the pearls look bigger).

Silver-Rose: A compromise between Silver and Rose. If you're not sure which one between the two, this can be a good option. IMO, it's more of a toned down rose, and I personally prefer rose over silver rose. If you have light skin, but you're not really olive and you're not really super pale, this can be a good option for you.

Ivory: Or more creme colored pearls. Again, this looks better on darker skintones. I think it also looks better if you have more yellow undertones in your skin rather than bluish pink overtones.

Honestly, don't stress about them though. They really aren't that important. High quality pearls will look good no matter the overtone. My freshadamas are a very strong ivory overtone, and while I prefer rose, they still look great.

IMHO: Also, a lot of people don't like to bring this up (especially retailers- obviously) but some people's skin tone simply doesn't agree with certain pearl types. It's sort of a give and take.

For example, I really don't look good in Golden South Sea pearls, red-purple Cortez pearls, lavender freshwaters, dyed Black Akoyas, and I'm still trying to figure out what tahitian overtones I can pull off. The pearls themselves are gorgeous, but it's kind of like dressing in a fantastic Vera Wang gown that's NEON orange. Some people can pull of the neon-traffic-cone orange, while others just can't. But hey, if you want to wear it anyway, more power to you. I still own a GSS pendant even though it clashes with my skin because it's pretty :) (go Vera!)


On the other hand though, Pink Freshwaters make my skin *glow* Plus, I can pull off any of the white overtones, although rose looks best. (I have super super pale skin, it's pretty much paper white with a blue-pink tint. )
 
#68
I just wanted to say that I had a very positive experience dealing with American Pearl.
They have an office in NYC and I went there, and they showed me the different colors, sizes, qualities that they had. I picked out the pearls I preferred for earrings and they made them up for me. After I wore them for a day, I realized I would prefer a drop style earring and called them to ask if it could be done. I was very pleased since they could have refused or been nasty, but they were very nice about it. I sent the earrings back to them, and a few days later, I received beautiful drop earrings with diamond accents set in white gold and the ear wire set in 18k yellow gold, exactly as I had requested.
Just so you know, they have at least one happy customer!
 
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#69
Nice thread Callire, I really enjoyed reading your info on Akoya Pearls. While my education was in all types of pearls, it's been a few years since studying Akoya pearls and I really only sell an occasional strand here & there or by special request when a retailer requests it. I'm strongest in my knowledge in South Sea & Tahitians and tend to gravitate towards these.
I have extensive Pearl Guides that I have shared in the forum here before, I hope you don't mind me adding some of them here:

~Guide to South Sea Pearls (History, How SS culturing was started in Australia, fun facts):

~What is a Mollusk? Pictures of Non Nacreous Pearls (written with fellow TPF member Mistikat)

~Pearl Size Guide & Picture examples

~Pearl Shape Chart
 
#70
What a great thread:ps:

I am thinking of getting a pair of nice "white" pearl studs (around 8 mm). What quality would you recommend? I have been looking at pearlparadise.com and it seems as if it is possible to choose silver, rose or ivory overtones. Are these pearls still "white"? Also I couldn't find Hanadama pearl earrings on their site but I guess that AAA quality would be "good enough"?
 
#71
Kashmira~

I just purchased a pair of 8-9mm pearl earrings from PP. They were a great company to work with. So much so that I will order my daughters graduate school gift from them ~a nice strand of AAA Akoyas or Hanadamas. The pearls I ordered came in a lovely box as well, with a certificate of appraisal and other information and documentation.

I also had ordered an inexpensive pendant from PearlsOnly~not such a great experience. So much so that I ended up cancelling the order! That's just my experience; but I don't think you can go wrong with Pearl Paradise.

Good luck!
 
#72
QueenCatherine said:
Kashmira~

I just purchased a pair of 8-9mm pearl earrings from PP. They were a great company to work with. So much so that I will order my daughters graduate school gift from them ~a nice strand of AAA Akoyas or Hanadamas. The pearls I ordered came in a lovely box as well, with a certificate of appraisal and other information and documentation.

I also had ordered an inexpensive pendant from PearlsOnly~not such a great experience. So much so that I ended up cancelling the order! That's just my experience; but I don't think you can go wrong with Pearl Paradise.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply! May I ask you what type of pearls/ quality of pearls you did order?
 
#73
Sure...I just ordered the Freshadamas for the earrings. They were about 60- if I remember correctly but came with an appraisal for almost 350- Mine are in the rose overtone as I am very fair..they look great...when the bigger ones come back~I will definately be getting them!!

I wanted to test each company out before I ordered DD's gift as that will be a biggie.

Hope that helps
 
#74
QueenCatherine said:
Sure...I just ordered the Freshadamas for the earrings. They were about 60- if I remember correctly but came with an appraisal for almost 350- Mine are in the rose overtone as I am very fair..they look great...when the bigger ones come back~I will definately be getting them!!

I wanted to test each company out before I ordered DD's gift as that will be a biggie.

Hope that helps
Click to expand...


Thanks! I think that I will get the Freshadamas as you were so satisfied with your purchase but I might wait for the bigger ones to be back in stock since they were not too expensive.
 
#75
kashmira said:
What a great thread:ps:

I am thinking of getting a pair of nice "white" pearl studs (around 8 mm). What quality would you recommend? I have been looking at pearlparadise.com and it seems as if it is possible to choose silver, rose or ivory overtones. Are these pearls still "white"? Also I couldn't find Hanadama pearl earrings on their site but I guess that AAA quality would be "good enough"?
Click to expand...

Freshadama is simply breathtaking in person. Actually, AA+ pearls are still great-- I think they're "good enough" for most occasions, but if you can afford AAA, freshadama, gem quality, or Hanadama, why not? I've got some lower-grade 11mm multicolors, and even though they have blemishes (that you can't see from 2 feet away), they do look pretty darn good on me ;)

The pearls are absolutely still white ;) If you go back a few pages, you can see a photo that I used to show orient. It's a completely white pearl, but strong rose overtones. The overtones help the whiteness compliment your skin tone. Kind of like those millions of shades of white that they have in the paint-chip books (this white is a little beige, this one is a little grey-white, etc). Silver is the truest white of all the overtones, so if that's a concern, go for that.
 
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