comparison of high luster strands. What's your favorite?

[lovedogs]

I was emailing with a pearl vendor asking about pearls with gem/granpearl luster but with some surface blemishes, as I sadly cant afford a certified granpearl strand.

To me, the #1 most important factor my eyes care about is luster/contrast. Small surface scratches dont bother me, which is good for my wallet haha.

the vendor showed me a few options and I'm curious about which ones PSers eyes prefer. They range in price from USD 2200-5200 and are either 7.5-8mm or 8-8.5mm depending on strand. I'm not labeling price or size to try to avoid bias, and tried to attach pics from similar lighting situations that the vendor sent.

I'd love folks' opinions on their favorite!

1.


2.

3.


4.


5.

6.

 

[Rhd3]

Sometimes I think I don’t belong on this forum because I really don’t see much of a difference. Lol. If pressed I’d choose strand 5.

 

[Rfisher]

I know nothing about pearls.
But I voted based on my impressions for your stated preferences.

 

[lovedogs]

Sometimes I think I don’t belong on this forum because I really don’t see much of a difference. Lol. If pressed I’d choose strand 5.

I know nothing about pearls.
But I voted based on my impressions for your stated preferences.

THank you both! @Rhd3 I have a very hard time seeing differences in luster/contrast on these. If I am VERY nitpicky I can see differences between the surface blemishes, but only in the extremes (e.g. 3.5 versus 1).

 

[MamaBear]

I am no expert, but was drawn to #6

 

[dk168]

My vote goes to #6 as they look the nicest to my untrained eyes.

DK

 

[Catmom]

I was immediately drawn to 5 but 6 made me pause as well. Ultimately went with 5. Keep in mind I'm very much a novice.

 

[NY_Resonant]

Are these strands all taken in the same picture? Lighting and orientation play SUCH a big role that you need them in same photos. Ideally you swap the order of strands in a few photos like: 123456, 654321, 456123.

 

[lovedogs]

Are these strands all taken in the same picture? Lighting and orientation play SUCH a big role that you need them in same photos. Ideally you swap the order of strands in a few photos like: 123456, 654321, 456123.

I asked the vendor about their thoughts regarding luster/contrast (e.g. which one(s) are the best?) Hopefully they'll share which ones have the most luster IRL and then I can ask for a few pics wiht the strands in different orders.

 

[Tartansparkles]

I opted for no.2. because to my eye they have the sharpest lustre and pinkiest colour (which I prefer). 5 and 6 would also be on my list.

(At the end of the process would you mind sharing the vendor? I'd like a bracelet and my preference is similiar to yours - want the lustre, happy with the blemishes )

 

[NY_Resonant]

I asked the vendor about their thoughts regarding luster/contrast (e.g. which one(s) are the best?) Hopefully they'll share which ones have the most luster IRL and then I can ask for a few pics wiht the strands in different orders.

My favorite is #6 followed by #2 followed by #4 in that picture but need more photos. Note #5 has a DARKER body (Which is supposed to help contrast) and looks to have less contrast than others to me which would make me eliminate it — even if it seems to have the best matching overtone and good gloss. I’d also eliminate 1 and 3 based on some of the surface artifacts being “deep enough” that I think would be visible RL.

Their pictures showed 5 pearls. You are buying a strand with 46-48 pearls right? Or 20ish for a bracelet? Either way, wayyyyyy too small a subset to make a decision. Once you narrow down options a bit, make sure you see all the pearls in the top 2-3 strands.

 

[lovedogs]

My favorite is #6 followed by #2 followed by #4 in that picture but need more photos. Note #5 has a DARKER body (Which is supposed to help contrast) and looks to have less contrast than others to me which would make me eliminate it — even if it seems to have the best matching overtone and good gloss. I’d also eliminate 1 and 3 based on some of the surface artifacts being “deep enough” that I think would be visible RL.

Their pictures showed 5 pearls. You are buying a strand with 46-48 pearls right? Or 20ish for a bracelet? Either way, wayyyyyy too small a subset to make a decision. Once you narrow down options a bit, make sure you see all the pearls in the top 2-3 strands.

Full pic of #6



Full pic of #2


Full pic of 5 (since some of you chose that one)

 

[lovedogs]

Adding a full pic of #1 because for some reason my eyes like it

 

[ShinyPleeease]

Full pic of #6



Full pic of #2


Full pic of 5 (since some of you chose that one)

I voted for strand #6 and still like it the best after seeing the full strand pics. To my eyes that strand has sharper luster and more contrast. It is the most pink strand to my eyes too (which I also like) but color preference is really subjective. At the end of the day, they are all very lovely!

 

[NY_Resonant]

Full pic of #6



Full pic of #2


Full pic of 5 (since some of you chose that one)

#6 has significantly better luster than the other two but is clearly also smaller (Than #5 at least).

I made a quick comparison hack-job between #6 and #2 that should make the luster difference clearer (This is all from different pictures so not a fair comparison)... but both the gloss AND contrast seems better.

 

[dk168]

Still prefer #6.

DK

 

[NY_Resonant]

Adding a full pic of #1 because for some reason my eyes like it

I can see 8 pearls in the #1 strand that would have surfaces that would bother me (3-4 i'd definitely want to replace if it was my necklace). Unless you have a compelling reason to choose it (Price, etc) --- I'd consider one of the others with fewer flaws.

 

[lovedogs]

I can see 8 pearls in the #1 strand that would have surfaces that would bother me (3-4 i'd definitely want to replace if it was my necklace). Unless you have a compelling reason to choose it (Price, etc) --- I'd consider one of the others with fewer flaws.

Thank you--having better eyes than mine on these strands is very helpful. My 2 favorites prior to posting anything were #1 and 6, so it helps to hear from folks here that #6 is a front runner.

I don't have a huge reason to choose 1 vs 6 (price is different, but not by so much that I want to base my decision on it). I *think* that when I look at both of the full strands next to each other in side-by-side tabs I prefer #6, but I'm curious what the vendor says and definitely would like to see some pics of strands next to one another.

 

[NY_Resonant]

Thank you--having better eyes than mine on these strands is very helpful. My 2 favorites prior to posting anything were #1 and 6, so it helps to hear from folks here that #6 is a front runner.

I don't have a huge reason to choose 1 vs 6 (price is different, but not by so much that I want to base my decision on it). I *think* that when I look at both of the full strands next to each other in side-by-side tabs I prefer #6, but I'm curious what the vendor says and definitely would like to see some pics of strands next to one another.

Yes, definitely need them next to each other to do a better comparison.

What I see so far:

#6 better surfaces than #1. Lighter BODY color than #1 and gives off a “cooler” warmth than #1 which is my personal preference. WORSE color matching than #1 — It jumps between a blue-overtone and pink-overtone on more pearls than #1 does on light reflections.

When they are next to each other, you may find #1 has a contrast advantage (or not) given what looks to be a darker body.

 

[lovedogs]

Yes, definitely need them next to each other to do a better comparison.

What I see so far:

#6 better surfaces than #1. Lighter BODY color than #1 and gives off a “cooler” warmth than #1 which is my personal preference. WORSE color matching than #1 — It jumps between a blue-overtone and pink-overtone on more pearls than #1 does on light reflections.

When they are next to each other, you may find #1 has a contrast advantage (or not) given what looks to be a darker body.

Maybe that's what I like about #1--the darker body color that might give the impression of more contrast (or might actually mean more contrast--won't know until I can compare them in one pic). I coulnd't figure out what drew me to #1, but I think the above explains it.

 

[Tartansparkles]

I can see a difference between #2 and #6 but only because they are side by side but I can't put into words what the difference is. They are all mouth watering.

 

[HGar]

2 followed very closely by 6 for me.

 

[yssie]

Can the vendor put all the strands onto one piece of paper or one mannequin bust and take one single comparison photo for you?

It's really impossible to dissect nuances when you're dealing with comparisons between photos like this. Like - just flat out impossible. Because cameras are tiny computers. Here's an example: In both pics left is a corner of the full pic of #5, right is a corner of the full pic of #1. They're clearly not the same. They're not hugely different, but they're clearly not the same. And none of us can predict precisely how this difference translates into what you're seeing in the pearls themselves (colour, colour match, and contrastiness) in each of these photos, because - tiny computers.





Having all the strands in one single photo eliminates a ton of this uncertainty.

The one thing you can do with each photo is compare all the pearls within each strand... But even then, because of these small lighting differences and that dratted tiny camera computer, we can't judge whether disparities in colour or overtone strength or contrastiness between pearls are being exaggerated in some strands more than others.

So basically - given the type of subtleties you're looking to decide between - this vendor needs to send you photos that compare all the strands together. They can accomplish this with just two photos on that bust. One nesting #1 inside #2, inside #3, inside #4, inside #5, with #6 on the outside... And then have them switch that order

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Hehe I went practically cross eyed after looking at the first set of pics but definitely love 6 after seeing the full pictures posted.

 

[Calla-lilies]

I also picked #6 - it seems to be sharper. But I’ll take any of these strands

 

[lovedogs]

More pics while I wait for the vendor to reply about taking pics w multiple strands at once.










Didnt have a pic of #1 by the window, but had this one (not apples to apples, I know):


The more pics I see of #1 the more I agree with @NY_Resonant that I might be bothered by the visible blemishes on the surface of some pearls.

Edit. The vendor originally suggested strand 1 if I wanted top luster but could deal w some blemishes, and strand 5 if I wanted top luster with less blemishes and could spend more than strand 1

 

[Calla-lilies]

These are beautiful!!

 

[LilAlex]

In our house, we would go with the better luster and more scratches/blemishes. They're soft and will accumulate door dings -- and who wants to be ridiculously careful with them forever? I have a sweater that's so nice I have never worn it.

I like pearls and, imo, pearl necklaces "in the wild" are meant to be appreciated as a cohesive (or contrasting) whole and not inspected pearl-by-pearl from a few inches away. (I mean I want them to be carefully selected and fairly represented but they needn't be near-perfect like a diamond.) Maybe this is pearl heresy.

If I could save thousands by buying a brand new car with a tiny door ding or two, I would do that in a heartbeat!

 

[NY_Resonant]

More pics while I wait for the vendor to reply about taking pics w multiple strands at once.










Didnt have a pic of #1 by the window, but had this one (not apples to apples, I know):


The more pics I see of #1 the more I agree with @NY_Resonant that I might be bothered by the visible blemishes on the surface of some pearls.

Edit. The vendor originally suggested strand 1 if I wanted top luster but could deal w some blemishes, and strand 5 if I wanted top luster with less blemishes and could spend more than strand 1

I recognize that window from that vendor. Very curious what you think of them once you get the actual pearls and what “Teri” number they assign to it!

 

[lovedogs]

I recognize that window from that vendor. Very curious what you think of them once you get the actual pearls and what “Teri” number they assign to it!

I'd love to hear your impressions of the vendor! Do you think their pieces are good quality? I'm asking Takahashi to see what they have as well, since I've bought from them before and been very happy.

Teri number of all of these is 100