Pearl watching in Manila

icy_jade · Aug 1, 2013

I am not sure if I am going to buy anything, but I am certainly pearl watching! I mean, cos soooooo many women wear pearls in Manila, and I can't help but ogle at their pearls... Even the Starbucks baristas wear pearls... Some ladies are really wearing excellent ones with great lustre too!

oh, and not smallish ones either... most studs are like 10 mm and above.

Anyhow, thought to share some pearl p*rn with you ladies, starting with some golden SSPs from Jewelmer. Not many for now, but I will try to take more over the weekend.

http://pinterest.com/amodularlife/manila-pearl-shopping/

LitGeek · Aug 1, 2013

Yay! More lovely pearls! Jemelmer sure knows how to do golden SS pearls right! Just look at those stunning settings

Swoon! Thanks for sharing the photos, and I enjoyed reading all about your pearl oogling

bsomlo · Aug 1, 2013

Just incredible!!!

icy_jade · Aug 3, 2013

Visited the pearl market in Greenhills and its incredible... Imagine a few hundred of these stalls filled with pearls...

So I saw loads of SSPs and freshwaters today. Mostly not great quality but there are some decent ones kept in the cabinets. Overall is a good place to get some presents. The stall owners are pretty upfront re: the pearls being Chinese fwps.

Overall is quite overwhelming. After a while you just don't know where to look. But I'll strongly recommend for anyone going to visit Manila to pop by.

icy_jade · Aug 3, 2013

LitGeek|1375378415|3494640 said:
Yay! More lovely pearls! Jemelmer sure knows how to do golden SS pearls right! Just look at those stunning settings Swoon! Thanks for sharing the photos, and I enjoyed reading all about your pearl oogling

The Jewelmer pics:

icy_jade · Aug 3, 2013

Omg... just been to Jewelmer and I now revise my opinion re: suitability of golden SSPs for me.

Such lovely intense goldens and lustre. Will post more pics later.

Gorgeous stuff! Now I just gotta have USD 1.5 to 2.5 K for studs, and a mind-boggling amount for their lovely necklace designs... probably in my dreams.

Does anyone here have stuff from Jewelmer? I love their flowery type designs.

bsomlo · Aug 3, 2013

Wait -- seriously. If studs are 2K, what is the price range for necklaces?!

That $12 choker is looking better every minute!

icy_jade · Aug 4, 2013

Peacock drops for < Usd 250... Yea or nay? Think 12 mm by 15 mm tall

Wg settings, with some diamonds.

icy_jade · Aug 4, 2013

bsomlo said:
Wait -- seriously. If studs are 2K, what is the price range for necklaces?!

That $12 choker is looking better every minute!

I will admit that I was too chicken to ask about the necklaces...

LitGeek · Aug 4, 2013

icy_jade|1375602185|3496284 said:
Peacock drops for < Usd 250... Yea or nay? Think 12 mm by 15 mm tall

Wg settings, with some diamonds.

Yay for sure!

bsomlo · Aug 4, 2013

I think the price is good -- but would only buy them if you love the color and shape. Otherwise, you'll see something you love more and think, man, I could have used the $250 towards this!!!

I ended up not buying the three things in my PP cart the first hour of the August sale and I'm so glad I didn't because when the opportunity to buy the fireball pendant came up, I didn't feel like I'd already blown $$ on stuff I didn't love.

Tell us what you decide.

icy_jade · Aug 4, 2013

bsomlo said:
I think the price is good -- but would only buy them if you love the color and shape. Otherwise, you'll see something you love more and think, man, I could have used the $250 towards this!!!

I ended up not buying the three things in my PP cart the first hour of the August sale and I'm so glad I didn't because when the opportunity to buy the fireball pendant came up, I didn't feel like I'd already blown $$ on stuff I didn't love.

Tell us what you decide.

LitGeek|1375617236|3496317 said:
icy_jade|1375602185|3496284 said:

Peacock drops for < Usd 250... Yea or nay? Think 12 mm by 15 mm tall

Wg settings, with some diamonds.

Click to expand...

Yay for sure!

Think this answers the question... Abt USD 220.
It was more a case of I think I will regret if I don't buy...

One is 12x15 mm and another is 12.5x15 mm.

icy_jade · Aug 4, 2013

icy_jade|1375602264|3496285 said:
bsomlo said:

Wait -- seriously. If studs are 2K, what is the price range for necklaces?!

That $12 choker is looking better every minute!

Click to expand...

I will admit that I was too chicken to ask about the necklaces...

Ok your imaginary friend went to another Jewelmer... A well matched deep golden round 10-12mm necklace is USD 14k. A round 12mm throughout with invisible clasp is USD20k. A mixed baroque strand is USD8k.

11.3 - 11.5 mm SSP studs are Usd 1.6 to 1.7k before some 20% rebate promo.

On the other extreme, here is my very affordable Usd 11.5 choker from Greenhills:

bsomlo · Aug 4, 2013

Hey, I didn't know it was a "I'll regret if I don't scenario"! In that case, you were right.

Wear them in health -- they are beautiful!

Thanks for the price quotes.

I am not lying when I say I love that $11.50 choker. Love, love it!

If only it's longer, colorful cousin would get to me...

bsomlo · Aug 4, 2013

BTW, the colors in the shot where they're set is just gorgeous!

icy_jade · Aug 5, 2013

bsomlo said:
BTW, the colors in the shot where they're set is just gorgeous!

bsomlo|1375628110|3496362 said:
Hey, I didn't know it was a "I'll regret if I don't scenario"! In that case, you were right.

Wear them in health -- they are beautiful!

Thanks for the price quotes.

I am not lying when I say I love that $11.50 choker. Love, love it!

If only it's longer, colorful cousin would get to me...

Fingers crossed that the beautiful strand will get to you soon.

As for the earrings, they are beautiful. Loads of compliments when I wore them today. Great size, colour n luster.

Definitely no regrets getting them. They make for such an excellent souvenir from Philippines.

And no brainer re: my $11.50 choker!

Think I won't have time for more pearl shopping. Will update on my Greenhills/Jewelmer experience when I get home.

icy_jade · Aug 8, 2013

Alrighty, so I am home and thought to pen down my memories of pearl shopping in Manila while they are still fresh.

I really only went to 2 places to look at pearls, and they are pretty much at extreme ends of the spectrum... the first is Jewelmer, and the 2nd is the pearl market at Greenhills.

First, Jewelmer.

Before stepping into Jewelmer, I didn't think that I'll like golden SSPs (ok, so I was really inexperienced)... but after seeing and trying on the most gorgeous goldens at Jewelmer, I am an official convert... but only for those super intense goldens that seem to have some slight overtones that are sooooooo gorgeous. With my skin tone I look meh in the champagne and light golden SSPs. But the intense ones are GORGEOUS. So if you are Asian or have a darker complexion, don't give up on golden SSPs yet. The intense golden ones are fantastic. I suppose it's just like how light pastel (i.e. "spring") colours look bleh (on me) for those who believe in seasons/colour tones.

Of course, the pearls are expensive. I'd mentioned the prices earlier so I won't repeat them here, but what you don't get to see is how wonderfully round, blemish free, lustrous and with slight shimmering overtones that makes you think that they are probably worth the price. (Or I am having temporary pearl madness but yeah...)

Jewelmer stores can be found in top hotels and malls in Manila (Peninsula, Shangri-La, Glorietta, Greenbelt, etc). The stores also stock white SSPs (again, wonderful quality and of similar pricing to the goldens), and various pearl collections that you can see on the Jewelmer website (some really beautiful pieces and settings!).

Some more pics from the exterior store displays for your viewing pleasure.

icy_jade · Aug 8, 2013

More...

Really love the Tropics setting!

icy_jade · Aug 8, 2013

Last batch!

icy_jade · Aug 8, 2013

And on the Greenhills pearl market.

To be honest, I saw loads of low quality pearls at the market. But... better quality pearls are available, and probably at economical prices if you can find them. Would be hard if you are totally inexperienced tho. E.g. my colleagues who went with me found it hard to pick good strands/distinguish between lustre and even after I tried explaining to them how I picked the pieces that I'd recommended them to buy...

For good FWP, just tell the vendors that you want to see 'the best'/AAA/etc. Once they start to take the strands from their vault/safes, then yeah, you probably get to see fairly decent AAA FWP. Only problem is in bargaining (which I am not great at), but you can always go to all the stalls to recce the best prices. As for length, they are only willing to send in entire strands. But once you have chosen the length/clasp, the ladies all seem pretty proficient in knotting. Lots of fireballs, but didn't see any soufflés or kasumi-like pearls. Some metallics spotted as well.

Akoyas - very few stalls stocked akoyas and they are called 'mikimotos'. I'll advise against them in general cos the quality looked so-so to me (and I went thru over 90% of the 100-plus stalls there).

For tahitians, I only saw a few stalls which stocked decent quality tahitians. Again, prices are quite attractive, and you can choose the findings that you prefer. Didn't see any strands, but some earrings are fairly decent, with clean surfaces and mirror lustre.

For SSPs, after going to Jewelmer, I'll admit that I didn't feel interested in the SSPs at Greenhills. But I did see some decent ones, and I suspect that more good quality pearls are available in their vault if you show serious interest. Again, fairly attractive prices. I'll just go for white SSPs tho... cos I have no idea if the goldens are natural or dyed.

And yes, think those are genuine SSPs and tahitians that I spotted in the stalls. Not FWPs. Anyway the vendors were pretty upfront re: the pearls being FWPs, at least for those that I asked.

Am guessing that I am allowed to post the names of the stalls that were recommended or that I bought from? If not then I can always remove them...
1. Omai Pearl - Stall 49
2. Emmah Pearl - Stall 29
3. Mimi Pearl - Stall 69

Not sure how permanent the stall numbers are... someone told me that the stalls move around so names would be the best.

mrs taylor · Aug 8, 2013

My brain just exploded.

icy_jade · Aug 8, 2013

Just a bunch of random pics in the next few posts, just to give an idea of the pearls that are available.
It was a bit overwhelming at times (so many pearls!) so I just took some snaps whenever I remembered to.

icy_jade · Aug 8, 2013

More...

icy_jade · Aug 8, 2013

More... and a better map of the place... (section in purple by the left called pearl section)

bsomlo · Aug 8, 2013

I just can't imagine that many pearls in one place...

Thanks for the pearl reports, IFOM. It's been really fun reading and viewing!!! And your hubby sounds like a doll.