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[cmd2014]

Yay! Do you like them???

My fancy lavender metallics are still MIA. Sadly, once they crossed the border the USPS tracking no longer worked, so I can't tell when they might arrive.

I do like them a lot, very different from white tahitians or ssps.

CMD, try putting your tracking now in Canadapost.ca, you should see where they are now in Canada. I discovered this when I was waiting for the ripples. USPS used to give us tracking all the way but i guess there's been some changes.

OMG! You are brilliant!!! Canadapost.ca says that they were delivered to my community post box today! Yippee!!! (even if it's just a slip telling me that I have to go to the post office to pay duty). I'm so excited to get home tonight and get them!

 

[cmd2014]

Bsomio,

Those are great on you! A really nice match to your earrings. I can see how versatile they'd be.

 

[pkinnew]

bsomlo - I had to go back and look at the pictures to find the earrings - that's how well they match with the double strand! Amazing blue/silvers and they just dance around your neck! Congratulations!

 

[CRDKeshi]

Bsomlo, Those Keshi strands are delightful ... such luster and color ... and the pearls are bigger than I imagined ... Congratulations Makes me smile to see keshis LOL

 

[seaurchin]

Winter white keshis. Wonderful!

 

[katbran]

Those Keshi are so gorgeous ! look at that satiny luster ! They will get lots and lots of wear ! What size are they ? They look reasonably large

 

[bsomlo]

Thanks everyone!

They are supposedly 7 to 9mm but I think they look larger...

 

[cmd2014]

Sadly, the metallics that I bought were not actually the colour I had imagined they would be. They were beautiful in terms of luster and I couldn't spot a blemish on them if I tried, but they were a very soft pastel lavender instead of the dark purple/green that I somehow was imagining in my mind based on the online pictures and blog posts. I thought about keeping them anyway as they are beautiful, but they totally blended into my skin tone and became near invisible, so I am having to send them back. So if anyone is sad that they missed out, they are 9.5-10 mm, and will theoretically be available in a week or two once they are safely back home.

 

[bsomlo]

CMD -- did you take pictures? They sound beautiful and will make someone very happy.

 

[cmd2014]

I did. The pictures I have are not the best quality:

Vendor picture:


What I hoped they would be from the blog shot:



What arrived:



Like I said, they are beautiful in their own right. They are large, SUPER lustrous (even though the light is poor in my picture, you can see how they glow...they are twice as lustrous as my white metallics), and blemish free. They just aren't what I was hoping for. I'm not sure if I got mixed up or what....

 

[bsomlo]

Lavender is perhaps the trickiest of all colors. It can range from light pink to grey to brown to deep purple with tons of variation and overtones. Your strand is beautiful, and I think it is beautiful on you. But if you were expecting a deep lavender with green overtones, you would need time to mentally adjust to what you received. The expectation versus real life is one of the challenges (and sometimes unexpected pleasures) for peal buyers.

 

[cmd2014]

Based on the pictures and description of these as one of the fancy colour shift strands, I was expecting quite a dark lavender/purple (maybe even a bit burgundy) with green overtones. I'm not sure if there was a mix-up and I got a different strand, or if I misread something, but the strand was a true clear pastel lavender, without any overtones. Much like the regular lavender strands on the website. So they were beautiful, but not for me. I just don't love pastel tones, which is why the freshwaters are not my normal go-to.

Given that all of the other strands are sold out, maybe someone who wants this one can call and get it for the current Black Friday 20% off. I mailed them today, so they should be back at POJ in about a week.

 

[Bailey1856]

Cmd,that's too bad. I actually really like it on you. So shiny and I don't think it blends with your skin tone at all. If I didn't have the two ripple strands I would have considered your strand. I don't believe i've seen one that lustrous.

 

[cmd2014]

Thanks Bailey. I think the picture had more contrast than IRL. In normal light/eye conditions, the strand matched me a bit too much and didn't pop like it does in the picture. We were both a bit too pale pink I'm afraid.

 

[katbran]

cmd- it is disappointing when something isn't what you were expecting. Hopefully you will find something else that will be just what you want. Maybe next time , if the colour is a big factor, ask for a photo to be sent that isn't a lightbox shot...something in daylight. Might help..,.maybe..

 

[ennui]

The blog says Kevin set aside the "fancy" metallics; is that what your strand is supposed to be? He says he was planning to use them for custom orders.

It's a beautiful strand, cmd. I'm sorry you don't like it. They really glow!

 

[cmd2014]

The blog says Kevin set aside the "fancy" metallics; is that what your strand is supposed to be? He says he was planning to use them for custom orders.

It's a beautiful strand, cmd. I'm sorry you don't like it. They really glow!

It was listed in the Maven collection and was described as a "fancy" metallic lavender. My understanding was that the "fancy" designation was for the ones that are the unusual body colour/overtone combos, so that's why I was expecting what I was expecting.

This was the exact description:

"This strand is part of a special collection curated by Kevin Canning owner of PearlsOfJoy.com. Each strand was hand selected in Hong Kong and chosen not only for it's strong metallic luster but also it's unusual body colors and overtones."

So this led me to believe that it was one of the fancy metallic strands which were set aside. Maybe I was wrong.

They do glow. They just weren't what I had in mind. It's ok...I'm really not trying to complain or criticize anyone. It's why there's the generous return policy, and my hope is that someone else will look at them and realize that this IS exactly what they are looking for, even though it wasn't what I was looking for. They were a gorgeous soft, clear, true lavender colour with AMAZING luster and were perfectly blemish free as far as I could see. They were also a great size. And I did think about keeping them, but honestly they were just too expensive once I figured in taxes and duty, exchange rate, and the fact that they were priced at a premium due to their being one of the "fancy" metallic strands, to keep given that they weren't what I had in mind, and I wasn't unconditionally loving them on me.

 

[Fly Girl]

cmd2014 - I'm like you in that I find that I need to be really picky about freshwater colors, or they just blend into my skin. Whites should be white or silvery, and not ivory or cream. Lavenders are even more tricky. I did get a fancy metallic lavender from PP last year, but only after Jeremy sent me three strands to choose from. So the right strand for you may take a bit, because they are rare, but I'm sure that you can wear a darker lavender once you find it.

And, that is the thing about pearls and purchasing them over the internet...they are what they are, and not what we initially picture them to be. Sometimes we grow to love them for what they are after they arrive, and other times not.

Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[ennui]

It's true about the lavenders. I have a multicolor freshwater strand, and there are a few of the deep lavender color with green tones, so I know exactly what you mean. I asked the vendor about a whole strand of that color, and he said I'd have to send him the necklace so he could match them. Photographs can't really capture the subtleties.