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Baroque Blue Akoyas

Tanzigrrl

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
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744
I bought myself something pretty from PP this morning: 9.5-10mm baroque blue akoyas! I am so excited! I already own a strand of the 7.5-8mm blues, but they're too small for what I usually wear. I like my pearls just a smidge bigger. And, since the blues are on sale right now, I went for it. A friend is going to inherit my original strand from me because she has always liked them. I can't wait for them to arrive. Countdown is on! :dance:

Anyone else get any blue akoyas from the PP November sale?
 
I hope I do, but I won't know for sure until Christmas. I asked Santa for some blue akoya studs, so PP's November sale looked awfully serendipitous to me. :) And a mysterious fedex box from a certain address did arrive this morning... :appl:

I look forward to pics of your new strand!
 
I can't wait to see your blue akoya, ladies-- I bet they'll be gorgeous!

I was very tempted by the larger studs which I think were 8.5-9mm.
 
I'm tempted. But I already have a strand of 10 mm silver blue baroques and 9 mm Vietnamese blues in princess lengths. I'd love a rope of either type. I'm sort of waiting to see what PP posts on Black Friday. But I really shouldn't buy anything since I just had a unique silver blue pendant custom made for me.
 
Can someone please explain to this pearl ignoramus the difference between all the natural blue pearls that exist? I know there are Blue Akoyas but are there also other natural occurring blue pearls? Tahitian blues, etc? And if so can someone also explain the pros and cons of each? I really want to purchase a strand of blue pearls but before I take the plunge would like to know all the options. Thanks!
 
Akoyas will naturally be smaller than Tahitians. Akoyas will run in the 6mm to 10mm size range, while Tahitians will be in the 8 mm on up range. Also, the color is a bit different. The blue akoyas can be silver blue with rosy overtones to intense purply and aqua colors. The Tahitians will be a bit more on the green side and can be either silver blue without the rose tones to darker green blues. The baroque akoyas will be very free form, while the baroque Tahitians may be drops or circle's. There are plenty of exceptions to these rules. Well, they're not really rules, but just my general observations. Plus, you can get perfect rounds with both types of pearls. The Tahitians probably have thicker nacre, but the nacre on the Vietnamese blue akoyas is pretty thick, too.

I would recommend that you get on a website like Pearl Paradise and look at the blue akoyas and the blue Tahitians and just see what you like. It's really a matter of preference. One is not better than the other. I happen to love the blue akoyas because I own some, but I haven't seen any blue Tahitians in person.
 
missy|1448051980|3952203 said:
Can someone please explain to this pearl ignoramus the difference between all the natural blue pearls that exist? I know there are Blue Akoyas but are there also other natural occurring blue pearls? Tahitian blues, etc? And if so can someone also explain the pros and cons of each? I really want to purchase a strand of blue pearls but before I take the plunge would like to know all the options. Thanks!

The difference apart from size and luster that's inherent to the type of pearl would be the tone/color. I do think they are all lovely in their own way. There are blue akoyas, tahitians and south sea as well as freshwater pearls.

If you are getting a strand, akoyas is probably the easiest and most affordable way to go. Blue tahitian and south sea strands are a lot rarer and more expensive. I've never seen a strand of blue freshwater pearl before either.


BWeaves said:
The Tahitians will be a bit more on the green side and can be either silver blue without the rose tones to darker green blues.

There are tahitians that are absolutely blue without a tinge of green. I've seen light blue and dark blue tahitians that are totally blue.


I took some pics of the blues in my collection a few years ago.

image_183.jpg

More pics/close-ups here: http://www.pricescope.com/forum/pearls-new/photographing-my-pearls-t192475-60.html
 
Oh thank you girls so much for that detailed and helpful explanation! BWeaves and icy jade I really appreciate that. I have been toying with the idea of getting the blue Akoyas (Baroque as I cannot afford the perfectly round ones I wish I could get) and thank you for your excellent description and pics. Icy Jade you have a gorgeous collection of blues!
 
There's also natural blue Sea of Cortez pearls but for a strand you might need a mortgage! Very Very very rare.
 
Pearlescence|1448196776|3952739 said:
There's also natural blue Sea of Cortez pearls but for a strand you might need a mortgage! Very Very very rare.

Ooh you have my attention now. :love:
 
Thanks IcyJade! That's why I did say that there were plenty of exceptions to my comments. You are right that there are perfectly blue Tahitians, but they are pretty rare.
 
img_2754.jpg

Here are my light mix tahitians...several are without any green, on a blue, white, or silver base. I am so in love with the colors on this strand, that I just ordered some 14k white gold and diamond rondelles to string with them. I'm still searching for the perfect clasp, so for now, it's a 10mm white gold ball clasp.
 
Wow! Your Tahitians are gorgeous.
 
BWeaves|1448391643|3953625 said:
Wow! Your Tahitians are gorgeous.

Huge ditto. Those are spectacular Pirard. :love:
 
They're here, they're here!

I am so thrilled. I love these 1000x more than I loved my smaller strand of 7.5-8mm pearls. Like that thread about what you wish you had known when you starting buying pearls, I like my pearls just a little bit bigger and these 9.5-10mm baroque blues are awesome!

Thank you so much to PP for being amazing as always and for sending me the most beautiful strand I have seen. I am thrilled with them!

They are now wrapped and under the tree, but I got some pics of them before I put them there!

img_9962.jpg

img_9964.jpg

img_9965.jpg

img_9966.jpg
 
I love these! My favorite strand was my 18" strand of peacock circled Tahitians from PP, but these are definitely in competition for my heart now.

img_9968.jpg
 
They are so beautiful! I love how they glow.
 
Gorgeous. They just glow, don't they?

Chanukah is next week. Open them early and celebrate all the holidays!
 
They look so lovely on you!
 
They look beautiful on you. :appl:
 
Beautiful. :appl:
 
Wow how beautiful. Really lovely. So tempted. :love: :love: :love:
 
Ohhh beautiful!
 
Beautiful!!!
Love the luster~
 
I guess you don't go shopping for pearls were PP does. I've never had any problems with my Baroque baby blue akoyas and haven't seen any others here on this forum complain.
 
The BBAs I've bought have very thick nacre. I've gotten all mine from PP.
 
This is probably a silly question but does anyone remember how these baroque akoyas were described by PP? They appear to be so round and smooth in comparison to the free form baroque pearls. I love them!
 
Mine are from June 2009

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Thanks Nacrelover!
 
Pirard|1448387707|3953613 said:
img_2754.jpg

Here are my light mix tahitians...several are without any green, on a blue, white, or silver base. I am so in love with the colors on this strand, that I just ordered some 14k white gold and diamond rondelles to string with them. I'm still searching for the perfect clasp, so for now, it's a 10mm white gold ball clasp.

Pirard: what size are your pearls? They are absolutely gorgeous!
 
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