- Joined
- Aug 14, 2009
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- 27,309
... With me empty-handed.
Weird thread. I know. I figured I'd start a new thread with an update since I've talked about this in a bunch of other places. The TLDF[ind] and TLDR[ead] of my search - I've been low key looking for 10mm+ akoya for a year and change now. I knew it was pushing the bounds of what akoya oysters are capable of, and that I was at the mercy of very scant availability, but I've been oddly lucky with pearls so I figured maybe I've got a shot...
A few days ago Yy sent me Takahashi's best options. Photos below - there were videos as well but I'll skip those, they don't really add anything to the story.
Yy indicated that both she and her boss preferred the top pair: Not an exact colour match but better mated in surface smoothness and luster. And apparently the bottom 10.07mm pearl has a tiny fishbite beside the hole. (Which, nope, if it's covered by the cup I don't care at all, but the disclosure was appreciated!).
Well, I'm me, we all know that a visible colour mismatch will bug me But the two 10.07s looked really close, so I asked Yy to try matching those up for me. These are the pictures Yy sent of the two 10.07mms. They're being compared to Takahashi's #1 quality (#1 is their best general availability - occasionally they get pearls that are even nicer than this #1 quality but that's a one-off sort of deal).
Well, definitely a better match, right? So I asked this:
And Yy's response: No.
She explained that this is as good as it gets in this size, but that these photos aren't really telling the whole truth - they still don't match superbly in-person. Not well enough for me. Can I just say for the thousandth time how much I appreciate Takahashi's commitment to honesty?
So here we are. I'm confident that if Takahashi can't find what I'm asking for then what I'm asking for isn't possible. And even Mikimoto's stud options only go up to 9.5mm. So - after three years of searching, and who knows how many collection incarnations, I'm putting the lid on my #RoundPearlPairs.
Not exactly a hardship, I don't wear plain pearl dangles and I've got all the studs I could possibly want. I've got a wonderful collection with specimens from around the world. No more!! I took some pictures of the lot yesterday - it's not *that* many. But yeah, okay, enough.
Top row bigger pair: Paspaley 12-13mm gems that Crystal_Dreams chose for me from Australia
Top row smaller pair: Pearl Paradise 11-12mm AAA - the pair that taught me that WSS can be just as spectacular as akoya, in their own way!
Middle row smallest pair: Mikimoto 7.5mm AAA that I had no business buying but couldn't resist...
Middle row beside the smallest pair: Takahashi 9.5-10mm gems - these are technically my mother's, but they spend most of their time in my jewellery box, shrug. These have a PSL Ten-nyo cert as well.
Middle row blues: Takahashi 9-9.5mm (uncerted) Madama-quality (non-pinked) akoya that were part of a group purchase inspired by envy of one of Crystal_Dreams' scores
Middle row on the other end: Mikimoto 9.25 AAA, my first Mikimoto purchase
Golds: Pearl Paradise 10-11mm AAA deep gold with strong green overtone - always my preference in GSS!
Blacks: Moline 10-11mm gem aubergine Tahitians that complete my Moline Tahitian "set"
Weird thread. I know. I figured I'd start a new thread with an update since I've talked about this in a bunch of other places. The TLDF[ind] and TLDR[ead] of my search - I've been low key looking for 10mm+ akoya for a year and change now. I knew it was pushing the bounds of what akoya oysters are capable of, and that I was at the mercy of very scant availability, but I've been oddly lucky with pearls so I figured maybe I've got a shot...
A few days ago Yy sent me Takahashi's best options. Photos below - there were videos as well but I'll skip those, they don't really add anything to the story.
Yy indicated that both she and her boss preferred the top pair: Not an exact colour match but better mated in surface smoothness and luster. And apparently the bottom 10.07mm pearl has a tiny fishbite beside the hole. (Which, nope, if it's covered by the cup I don't care at all, but the disclosure was appreciated!).
Well, I'm me, we all know that a visible colour mismatch will bug me But the two 10.07s looked really close, so I asked Yy to try matching those up for me. These are the pictures Yy sent of the two 10.07mms. They're being compared to Takahashi's #1 quality (#1 is their best general availability - occasionally they get pearls that are even nicer than this #1 quality but that's a one-off sort of deal).
Well, definitely a better match, right? So I asked this:
And Yy's response: No.
She explained that this is as good as it gets in this size, but that these photos aren't really telling the whole truth - they still don't match superbly in-person. Not well enough for me. Can I just say for the thousandth time how much I appreciate Takahashi's commitment to honesty?
So here we are. I'm confident that if Takahashi can't find what I'm asking for then what I'm asking for isn't possible. And even Mikimoto's stud options only go up to 9.5mm. So - after three years of searching, and who knows how many collection incarnations, I'm putting the lid on my #RoundPearlPairs.
Not exactly a hardship, I don't wear plain pearl dangles and I've got all the studs I could possibly want. I've got a wonderful collection with specimens from around the world. No more!! I took some pictures of the lot yesterday - it's not *that* many. But yeah, okay, enough.
Top row bigger pair: Paspaley 12-13mm gems that Crystal_Dreams chose for me from Australia
Top row smaller pair: Pearl Paradise 11-12mm AAA - the pair that taught me that WSS can be just as spectacular as akoya, in their own way!
Middle row smallest pair: Mikimoto 7.5mm AAA that I had no business buying but couldn't resist...
Middle row beside the smallest pair: Takahashi 9.5-10mm gems - these are technically my mother's, but they spend most of their time in my jewellery box, shrug. These have a PSL Ten-nyo cert as well.
Middle row blues: Takahashi 9-9.5mm (uncerted) Madama-quality (non-pinked) akoya that were part of a group purchase inspired by envy of one of Crystal_Dreams' scores
Middle row on the other end: Mikimoto 9.25 AAA, my first Mikimoto purchase
Golds: Pearl Paradise 10-11mm AAA deep gold with strong green overtone - always my preference in GSS!
Blacks: Moline 10-11mm gem aubergine Tahitians that complete my Moline Tahitian "set"
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