Help me pick the more colorful strand of the two!

[yssie]

Ignore the drops. A fair number of the rounds have nice body colour variance. Maybe about half of them. Enough for a brightly multicolour "sticky colour" bracelet.
https://cmwpearls.com/collections/r.../products/tahitian-pearl-necklace-multi-nl448

All vendors are going to include some "filler" pearls in their ready-to-go strands that will grey out in unfavourable lighting. You aren't going to get a super bright multi from a single strand unless you specialty source from loose lots (or have someone specialty source for you).

 

[Bojambles]

I feel like my love affair with Tahitians is doomed. I’m always expecting the same vibrant colors I see in these ideal lighting photos to translate and show up in real life lighting and it never quite translates.

I feel the same way as you... I just asked a trusted vendor if I was being unrealistic in my expectations for bright colours in Tahitians based on what I had anchored to on glamoured shots.

He very nicely confirmed that was the case.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@icy_jade I just read through your entire thread—wow! I really love the rope of baroques, so beautiful. And the photos of the same necklace in 4 different light conditions really helps!

@Bojambles I’m glad I’m not alone!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@yssie Thank you as always for all your time and teaching! I’m very grateful you took all the time to show me all those photos and type up all your wise, wise thoughts!

I saw that strand on cmw! I really love the color, but the OCD in me was having a panic attack at all the staggered shapes hahaha.

What about this strand (same website). The two blue pearls really pop out at me. Some of the rest are a bit more homogenous in color. Im not super blown away. Do you think this is a strand with more body color than the two I posted before (also from same vendor!).

$2500 isn’t a lot for a nice strand although I’ve never bought from this vendor before so not sure if safe to take a risk! (I may need to buy the pearls undrilled so in case I need to return them I can. Are there vendors in the US that can drill them for a fee?). The bit about import tax also scares me.

R/SR MULTICOLOR AAA/AA 11-13mm WP08-RC1

Grade – AAA/AA (Grading Tutorial) Shape – Round / Semi Round Color – MULTICOLOR, cmwpearls exclusive Size – 11-13mm11mm:11pcs12mm:18pcs13mm:7pcsPrice is for 36pcs pearl. Bidding Currency in USD.Import TaxPlease note that Import tax may apply in your country, and you may have to settle it with...

cmwpearls.com

 

[Pinkmartini87]

Oh wow, someone just purchased strand 2 I posted about earlier today! That was a quick snipe within a few hours!

I hate snipers! (Although, to be fair, I’m still undecided so maybe it’s better this way, saves me $$$)

On the bright side, I didn’t know they had their own website until @yssie sent me the link above. I had been looking on their Etsy page. So, for anyone who comes across this thread in the future for learning, here’s a link to the video I could not figure out how to post here earlier, but now found a direct link on their website to:

41pcs "Decoration" Fancy Color Necklace - Semi-Baroque 10mm AAA quality Tahitian Pearl

Tahitian Pearl Necklace composed of 41pcs of Semi-Baroque shape with a official grading score of AAA quality. Tahitian Pearl have different shape and Grading that affect their value. As the pearl color are natural and have not gone through any processing technique, customizing your own jewelry...

cmwpearls.com

 

[yssie]

@yssie Thank you as always for all your time and teaching! I’m very grateful you took all the time to show me all those photos and type up all your wise, wise thoughts!

I saw that strand on cmw! I really love the color, but the OCD in me was having a panic attack at all the staggered shapes hahaha.

What about this strand (same website). The two blue pearls really pop out at me. Some of the rest are a bit more homogenous in color. Im not super blown away. Do you think this is a strand with more body color than the two I posted before (also from same vendor!).

$2500 isn’t a lot for a nice strand although I’ve never bought from this vendor before so not sure if safe to take a risk! (I may need to buy the pearls undrilled so in case I need to return them I can. Are there vendors in the US that can drill them for a fee?). The bit about import tax also scares me.

R/SR MULTICOLOR AAA/AA 11-13mm WP08-RC1

Grade – AAA/AA (Grading Tutorial) Shape – Round / Semi Round Color – MULTICOLOR, cmwpearls exclusive Size – 11-13mm11mm:11pcs12mm:18pcs13mm:7pcsPrice is for 36pcs pearl. Bidding Currency in USD.Import TaxPlease note that Import tax may apply in your country, and you may have to settle it with...

cmwpearls.com

my guess at what this strand will do in the most favourable lighting outside the actual lightbox

 

[icy_jade]

@icy_jade I just read through your entire thread—wow! I really love the rope of baroques, so beautiful. And the photos of the same necklace in 4 different light conditions really helps!

@Bojambles I’m glad I’m not alone!

My wave strand holds its color in nearly all conditions - crappy pics already so don’t have to take new ones hahaha

So I bought some new stuff...

The GSSPs were the unexpected buys from last year's fair. When I saw the oval at the fair I just had to have it cos it looked so gorgeous, and then I had to get earrings to go with it. I've not managed to capture the correct color, nor its overtone and orient in my pics but I think you can see...

www.pricescope.com

 

[yssie]

Oh wow, someone just purchased strand 2 I posted about earlier today! That was a quick snipe within a few hours!

yeah now that its gone i'l lbe blunt you didn't miss out. that strand will go grey grey grey except like four pearls anywhere outside the lightbox . cmw has some nice multi potentials that wasn't one of them

 

[icy_jade]

This strand looks colorful?

45pcs "Lollipop" Pastel Necklace - Round/Near-Round 8-11mm AAA/AA quality Tahitian Pearl

Tahitian Pearl Necklace composed of 45pcs of Round/Near-Round shape with a official grading score of AAA/AA quality. Tahitian Pearl have different shape and Grading that affect their value. As the pearl color are natural and have not gone through any processing technique, customizing your own...

cmwpearls.com

 

[pearlsngems]

Btw my inspiration strand is one owned by a Pser here (apologies I don’t remember the member, hope it’s ok I share photos of that strand because it’s so stunning!):

I'm just replying to post the link to the post by dmz who bought these pearls for his wife, for anyone who is interested (the thread about the 2014 PP Tahitians sale is a fun read, with many lovely Tahitian photos.)

PP Tahitian pearls on sale!

I am in real pearl overload! Everyone's strands are amazing. I wore mine today to meet with a client...probably a mistake...she had that "I'm paying her too much" look in her eye! gorgeous pearls, I would love a neck shot too!!! Here ya go...

www.pricescope.com

Good luck finding your perfect strand!

 

[Cerulean]

@icy_jade's bubble rope is the perfect example of this IMO. I have pics saved somewhere on this computer... "This" being - focusing on body colour variety, and deprioritizing overtone. Body colour is what will "stick" through various lighting environments - overtone fades in real-world lighting.

A few years ago I bought a couple of strands from Cees and made a multicolour bracelet with exactly this in mind. I wanted a bracelet that largely ignored overtone in favour of diverse body colour. I sold it a while ago but here's the thread with pics -
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...5mm-from-cees-newly-strung-never-worn.260904/


One of the pics from that thread. A bit blurry and white balance is a bit off, I know. This was taken in the pseudo-lightbox. All the pearls except these three pretty much have no - or minimal - contrasting overtone... All the pearls except these three are the same colour in the middle and on the outside, there's no "soap bubble halo" of colour.




Here's what I mean by body colour being "sticky" across various lighting environments. The smaller strand is another multicolour with strong overtone but not as much body colour variation.

In this pic both strands look really nice. Very multicolour. Pseudo lightbox. Again, ignore the white balance.


In this lighting - the real world version of a lightbox, by a window on a cloudy day. Both strands look multicoloured but the bottom is winning on colour.


In this lighting only the Cees strand shows actual colour variance. The overtones on the smaller strand have faded.


This is possibly the most unflattering lighting environment ever - directional incandescent light. The smaller strand with strong overtones but weaker body differential is totally just shades of grey. But amazingly - the Cees strand still reads as multi!



To clarify - neither strand in these photos is actually for sale!! I took the pics for someone back when I had the Cees strand listed and I'm reusing them here for illustration.

This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much for sharing! you’ve helped demystify so much about pearls!

 

[Cerulean]

Ignore the drops. A fair number of the rounds have nice body colour variance. Maybe about half of them. Enough for a brightly multicolour "sticky colour" bracelet.
https://cmwpearls.com/collections/r.../products/tahitian-pearl-necklace-multi-nl448

All vendors are going to include some "filler" pearls in their ready-to-go strands that will grey out in unfavourable lighting. You aren't going to get a super bright multi from a single strand unless you specialty source from loose lots (or have someone specialty source for you).

Wow those drops are a nightmare design hah! So hard to see past those…but the rounds are lovely!

 

[Cerulean]

My wave strand holds its color in nearly all conditions - crappy pics already so don’t have to take new ones hahaha

So I bought some new stuff...

The GSSPs were the unexpected buys from last year's fair. When I saw the oval at the fair I just had to have it cos it looked so gorgeous, and then I had to get earrings to go with it. I've not managed to capture the correct color, nor its overtone and orient in my pics but I think you can see...

www.pricescope.com

Beautiful strand…goodness! You’ve got such incredible pearls…

 

[Pinkmartini87]

my guess at what this strand will do in the most favourable lighting outside the actual lightbox

Thank you @yssie for taking all that time to do this for me—you really are amazing!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@icy_jade Thanks for the link to the other thread—I wish I could go to a pearl fair like that! I saw the lollipop strand—sadly yellows don’t look good on me. I’ll keep searching and in the meantime I might join you and some of the jade lovers on the other thread (I’m getting ready to buy a bangle from ultimate jadeite).

@pearlsngems Many thanks for finding that thread. Yes, that’s the one!

 

[icy_jade]

@icy_jade Thanks for the link to the other thread—I wish I could go to a pearl fair like that! I saw the lollipop strand—sadly yellows don’t look good on me. I’ll keep searching and in the meantime I might join you and some of the jade lovers on the other thread (I’m getting ready to buy a bangle from ultimate jadeite).

It’s ok, the right one will come. Don’t give up ok?

 

[Pinkmartini87]

It’s ok, the right one will come. Don’t give up ok?

I’ll wait for the right one to come along!

 

[bright&shiny]

@Pinkmartini87 thank you for starting this thread!

@icy_jade and @yssie - I feel as though I have new pearl eyes. You have transformed my understanding of and ability to interpret pearl photos, and I can’t thank you enough!

What an amazing thread

 

[icy_jade]

Random eye candy:

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

 

[icy_jade]

@Pinkmartini87

I finally rem where I saw a gorgeous multi recently. Here:

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

Maybe you can try asking for a custom too?

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@Pinkmartini87

I finally rem where I saw a gorgeous multi recently. Here:

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

Maybe you can try asking for a custom too?

Thanks!!! I’ll message them!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

3 new contenders! To be honest other than size I don’t see much diff in luster or body color, but would love others’ thoughts

13x11 (very mild blemish)

12X10 (mild blemish):

10x8 (moderate blemish):


And all 3 together:

 

[Pinkmartini87]

I’m on the fence to be honest.

What I like: these seem to be solid body colors and prob will “stick” better in different light conditions. Nice shape, not bad luster, for me blemish degree is fine.

What I dislike: The color scheme is a tad repetitive (am I being too picky/unrealistic here?). I see mostly blue, yellow, Aubergine, amd whites. No “fancy” colors like pink, pistachio, etc. Or is it because this is under “non-fancy” lighting so I don’t see the whole array of overtones?

 

[Pinkmartini87]

For comparison, this is the inspiration strand I’m aiming for (thanks @icy_jade!). To me this inspiration strand looks like it has a wider array of different colors? Or is it just a difference in light conditions (calling @yssie)

Should I ask to see the above 3 strands in the same outdoor light conditions as this inspiration strand?

 

[yssie]

You aren't seeing the overtones in the pics they sent. Body colour is nicely varied. If you put the strand from IG (second set, outdoors) into the same light as the ones they sent you - it'd look the same.
Never hurts to get more photos in various lighting environments... You could ask for photos on skin, too.
You can always have them adjust the pattern a bit! It can't change completely, because the pearls need to graduate unnoticeably in size, but small adjustments to break a pattern up are definitely doable.

 

[icy_jade]

Agree with @yssie that you can ask for more pics in the IG pic lighting to check overtone.

re: preference, for now one of the two bigger ones. 8-10 is a bit small unless you are petite and love small pearls. Plus there is pearl shrinkage syndrome.



Edit: Am bad at reading pics but I do like the smallest strand luster and color - feels “tight”, dunno why that word pops to mind. But yeah, 8-10mm to me imo is too small. When you are of a certain age (like me) baby pearls don’t quite work unfortunately. Of the other 2, I prefer the middle one… again by feel but maybe as it seems less pastel when I examine both more closely. And a few of the pearls in the middle strand seem to have nice overtones that will “pop” in the right lighting. Curious to know if indeed so if you do ask for more pics.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

Will post more photos once I get them!!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

More photos!!! @yssie & @icy_jade

1.Outside in sunlight:
Bigger strand:


Smaller strand:


2. Inside in natural light:

Bigger strand:


Smaller strand:


3. Inside in artificial light:

Bigger strand:


Smaller strand:

 

[Pinkmartini87]

I’m torn. To me the colors are slightly more intense in the smaller strand. But the bigger strand has more overall color variation (I love love the beautiful dark blue pearls)—partly because there are some lighter pearls mixed in so by contrast it brings out the darker pearls next to it.

The bigger strand is almost 2x price of the smaller. Budget is not a limitation here. But just thought I’d mention it.

In both of the strands above, I don’t see any of the super fancy jewel overtones like in the Instagram photo of other strand though. Again, not sure if it’s because of the light or not.

Re size, here’s me with a 10-12.5 mm strand:


And me with a 8 mm strand:


I’m not sure what size suits me better (white prob appears larger so the Tahitians may look smaller in comparison even if the same size).

Help!

 

[yssie]

In both of the strands above, I don’t see any of the super fancy jewel overtones like in the Instagram photo of other strand though. Again, not sure if it’s because of the light or not.

It’s the lighting (still). You can see that some of these pearls have strong overtone, it’s just not being highlighted in these photos. Dark purple is strong contrasting overtone, light purple is less strong but still contrasting overtone.


The smaller strand is nicer. More vivid different body colours, and luster is better matched across all pearls in the strand. But it is smaller.