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@dhimer I may have missed a few updates - last I recall you were planning to intersperse these beads with pearls, is that not your goal any more?
I bought a band from Aauros - very nice at good pricing. However, I can't imagine that custom making a necklace full of beads is at all cost-effective!! I'd recommend going to your local Chinatown or Little India and checking the jewellery stores there out... 22k and 24k are the norms in Asia, and cost of labour is minimal, and if you just want plain beads - that's such a "standard" ask, you might be able to get what you're looking for at significantly lower expense than custom made in the US...
This is not what you're looking for. Just an example.
Buy Vintage Antique Design Handmade 22k Yellow Gold Beads Four Line String Fabulous Necklace Wedding Anniversary Jewelry Online in India - Etsy
Buy Vintage Antique Design Handmade 22k Yellow Gold Beads Four online on Etsy India. Shop for handmade, vintage and unique Wedding Necklaces items from TribalOrnaments online on Etsy
Also... Gold is coming down but it's still stratospheric. At 83g you're talking 5k spot, for 24k. It may come down further. I personally am not buying anything materials-intensive right now.
My eyes go to the middles too, or the bottoms if you want more round shapes. The pink and green is a relatively common colour combo (although superbly bright colouring is always rare!), bright blues like bottom right are more unusual. If that makes any difference to you.
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Wait - no luck getting even multicoloured Tahitians from any vendors? (Moline, Pearl Paradise, Takahashi). Worth inquiring about gold south seas with Pearl Paradise and Takahashi, you might be pleasantly surprised!
Otherwise if you’re finally final on the all-gold and you have a good relationship with your MIL - I would 100% wait for Her trip to India and see what she might be able to make happen in-person. Given how substantial the savings may be - it’s worth checking, for sure.
Re. The SOC - beautiful options
Hi @dhimer - I saw this on IG and thought of you!
@inner_golddigger on Instagram: "Yesterday I had a glass of wine with a friend who also works in education, and we talked about the difficulty of the word “balls.” As in “please put the balls away.“ or, “don’t throw the balls around like that.” It’s
129 likes, 34 comments - inner_golddigger on July 22, 2022: "Yesterday I had a glass of wine with a friend who also works in education, and we talked about the difficulty of the word “balls.” As in “please put the balls away.“ or, “don’t throw the balls around like that.” It’s bad enough that it...
It’s 18k but the bloomed finish gives it a 22k vibe. $2100.
This is a contender
I couldn’t find Tahitian options that were in budget - everything I liked was out of reach (at least at this moment since I don’t feel confident enough to pick pearls in that $$$)
I think I will have my MIL get me a readymade one in India since this style is quite common there.
Which means more play $ for me now
Back to the SOC - when you say the colors are common or rare, do you mean as far as SOCs go ? Or common/rare over all pearl types ?
I included a video link to all 3 of the pearls for your consideration and feedback
And another video of the middle pair
Do any of these pass the @yssie test? Would they be good enough to be purchased and worn by the PS pearl queen (that’s you ). I really value your opinion because I have no clue what I’m doing when it comes to pearls. Thank you again
Lol I don’t know about any of that but I’m happy to help as much as I can… I should add that @canuk-gal saw the light and jumped on the right akoya (Mikimoto!) train wayyyyy before me…
So in general there are two types of “baroque” pearls (of any sort, SOC and other types) - there are the types that look like “normal” spheres or teardrops but they’re a touch off-kilter, and there are the types that just look like rocks, lumpy and bumpy with random contusions everywhere. These are all of the first type - first and third pairs are almost-spheres, middle are almost-teardrops. What that means is that the colours can be bright, but they’re also going to be pretty predictable - in that middle pair you’re going to see a red eye with a green halo from pretty much every angle.
Here’s one of @lilmosun‘s rock-esque baroques. (They were mine once upon a time, hence me sharing the video). The shape is more lumpy, which allows for more random colourplay.
The farm grades based on certain characteristics… These are my observations of their grading over the years:
Brighter colour = brownie points.
More colours = no extra brownie points.
Smoother skin = brownie points.
Less blemishing = brownie points.
Near-sphere or near-teardrop shape = brownie points.
More luster = no extra brownie points.
Medium body (over very dark or very light) = brownie points.
Bigger size = brownie points.
Their grading is also very dependent on immediate comparisons, so what they call “gem” might be A+ one year and Gem+ another year.
So the farm’s grading and your personal priorities may or may not line up exactly. For me, I tend to favour a dark body and rock-like shape (more random and multicoloured iridescence). But that’s my preference, formed in part by the pearls I already own - I’ve got plenty of spheres and teardrops, I don’t feel any need for more! For someone newer to pearls or even just new to Cortez pearls I would choose the middle pair of those three options, a classic near-teardrop shape with nicely matched colouring; you can always go more rocky later on if you decide that’s what you fancy!
Edit: Green and pink is a relatively common combination with both Tahitians and SOC. That doesn’t make it undesirable by any means.
Instead of the SoC or in addition? SOC are weird little pearls, these others are more traditional…
Having seen a fair number of Mikimoto Tahitian pearls - meh. You can get better quality for less from Pearl Paradise.
If you want a multicolour akoya Takahashi is the place to go! It’s not a very “classic” strand though… Like pastel Easter eggs.
On the 7-7.5 card - top right
Just a couple more comments from me and then I'll give this thread back to its rightful addressee. I have both grey/blue and white akoya studs and I wear the whites 9/10 times more than the blue. Blue hardly ever leave the jewellery box TBH. The whites are so classic, and they go with every outfit... I have darker olive skin (I'm guessing I'm darker than you but maybe not by a huge amount) and my akoya blues aren't very saturated in colour, they look icy on me more than "actively grey" or "actively blue". Contrasting more than complementary. A very striking look, but somewhat limiting in terms of wardrobe, for me. Whereas I think my white akoya (I like strong pink overtone) have just enough warmth to turn the warmth in my skin into glow 
For everyday I would 100% choose spectacular whites over any other colour! At least to start out 
Well that's something both me and @canuk-gal can understand - best for the budget no compromises please and thank you
I think for mismatched earrings to work there has to be something tying both earrings together... And with round pearls that's got to be the mount. A unique halo, a bezel, something that "mates" those two otherwise-different pearls. With baroque pearls you have a bit more freedom because the matched (or visually evenly weighted) shapes of the pearls themselves takes on a lot of that "mating" burden. So for me - definitely not on the SOC rounds, they're not close to mated and I think they'll just look oddly mismatched on the ear (as plain studs).
Akoya are so classic. The perfect pearls for the size range you want. Here's the thing, though... I don't think grey or gold akoya are more exciting than white!! They're all the same, in that there's one body colour and one overtone colour and that's pretty much that. They behave exactly the same way... The only thing that varies is what those specific body and overtone colours are!
I'm a huge white akoya fan. I should say that up front.
One white pair and one blue pair, both from Takahashi, W-B-W-B L-R:
Same two pairs, B-B-W-W L-R:
Well that's something both me and @canuk-gal can understand - best for the budget no compromises please and thank you
I think for mismatched earrings to work there has to be something tying both earrings together... And with round pearls that's got to be the mount. A unique halo, a bezel, something that "mates" those two otherwise-different pearls. With baroque pearls you have a bit more freedom because the matched (or visually evenly weighted) shapes of the pearls themselves takes on a lot of that "mating" burden. So for me - definitely not on the SOC rounds, they're not close to mated and I think they'll just look oddly mismatched on the ear (as plain studs).
Akoya are so classic. The perfect pearls for the size range you want. Here's the thing, though... I don't think grey or gold akoya are more exciting than white!! They're all the same, in that there's one body colour and one overtone colour and that's pretty much that. They behave exactly the same way... The only thing that varies is what those specific body and overtone colours are!
I'm a huge white akoya fan. I should say that up front.
One white pair and one blue pair, both from Takahashi, W-B-W-B L-R:
Same two pairs, B-B-W-W L-R:
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