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Double pearl dangle earrings help

adlgel

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Jan 27, 2008
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I have been casually considering adding a pair of somewhat simple pearl earrings to my earring wardrobe. Not as simple as basic studs but still something that can be worn everyday. And due to freshly re-pierced ears after surgical repair I have realized that I do better with earrings that have a straight post.

I was reading some posts and happened upon this picture from @icy_jade . The style of these really spoke to me although I will be going with all white pearls. I especially liked the fact that the bottom pearl did not have a cup-style attachment. It streamlines the look in my opinion. I started searching for earrings like this and found the attached pair from Pearl Paradise. Do these seem like a good option and does the price seem fair? I think I'd prefer to avoid going the custom route so if are there any suggestions for other vendors who might have something in this style I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for your thoughts.

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yssie

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Pearl Paradise is a great source for something like this, I think!

If you call or chat in I believe you’ll be able to choose your pearls from loosies and have them set into the style you want. If you just buy off the website they’ll pic the pearls for you. I personally always recommend having them send you photos of pearls to ensure you get the best ones, since they’re all the same price within a given size and quality band!

The main functional difference between the PP style and your inspiration - ignoring the prong vs. bezel set diamond and which motif the diamond is attached to - looks like the PP pair will only articulate side to side, whereas @icy_jade‘s pair permits the dangling pearl to move both side to side and front to back. Is that a difference that’s meaningful to you?
 

adlgel

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@yssie thanks for chiming in. That's an interesting point about the side to side vs. front to back articulation. While perhaps in an ideal world I'd like both articulation directions, I think I like the PP style enough to forego that possibility. Particularly if it means I don't spend weeks googling and searching for alternatives. Sometimes I'm up for that sort of extended period of time spent evaluating options and splitting hairs over design decisions, but this is not one of those times.
 

yssie

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@yssie thanks for chiming in. That's an interesting point about the side to side vs. front to back articulation. While perhaps in an ideal world I'd like both articulation directions, I think I like the PP style enough to forego that possibility. Particularly if it means I don't spend weeks googling and searching for alternatives. Sometimes I'm up for that sort of extended period of time spent evaluating options and splitting hairs over design decisions, but this is not one of those times.
You might send PP the style you prefer and see if they can source or make something more similar. They don’t do CAD and casting, but they can source findings and do simple alteration/custom jobs.
 

adlgel

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@yssie Would love to get your opinion on these two pairs that PP sent me photos of for this style earring which I would get in yellow gold. Their website describes these as "AAA quality Akoya pearls both above and below".

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bling_dream19

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I'm excited for you and these will be gorgeous!
 

yssie

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@yssie Would love to get your opinion on these two pairs that PP sent me photos of for this style earring which I would get in yellow gold. Their website describes these as "AAA quality Akoya pearls both above and below".

IMG-6308.jpg

Of those two quartets I pick #1 - smoother surfaces, sharper reflections, and stronger pink iridescence.

There IS a colour differential between the two largers in #1 1 you could ask about that, if you’d prefer a closer match. They aren’t “badly matched” by any means. My personal tendency is to relax a little on matching for non-stud earrings, but that’s just my personal thinking! ::)

How do you like the proportions? And how big are these pearls? Will the drop hang below the bottom of your lobe?

Here’s why I ask. My piercing is about 8.5mm above the bottom of my earlobe. What I mean…
1CE7709C-2FC9-4073-8FDE-304F024C09A6.jpeg

So if I wear earrings where the post part goes into my piercing and the drop part is shorter than ~9mm, the drop doesn’t actually hang - the earlobe sort of kicks it forward. Super unflattering!!

Long way of saying - make sure the total distance from post to top of drop is longer than from your piercing to the bottom of your earlobe on both ears :bigsmile:
 

adlgel

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The top pearl is 6.0-6.5 and the bottom pearl is 8.5-9.0. I will ask Makenna about the measurement of the distance between the pearls when set to help determine whether the bottom pearl will actually hang free. The distance from my piercing to the bottom of my lobes runs about 7-8 mm.
 

adlgel

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The shopping experience with Pearl Paradise was fantastic. I asked Makenna whether there was any way to get “ear shots” of this style and she said that they did have a pair made up so she sent me a pic and I purchased those. I received them today but unfortunately they give me a “bridal” vibe which is not what I was going for. So even though they are beautiful earrings and I love the design in concept in reality they just weren’t quite right so I will keep looking. I’ll do some local try-ons of cosmetic pearl jewelry to narrow down what look I really do like and the head back to Pearl Paradise once I figure myself out lo.

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adlgel

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@yssie as one of the pearl experts who contributes so much knowledge to this forum, I thought I'd target you with this question but love to hear what others think.

Can you mix and match pearl types - meaning can you get a reasonable match between the pearls in akoya stud or dangle earrings and a white south sea pendant that you intend to wear together? Or is it always best to use the same type of pearl in jewelry that you intend to wear together?
 

dk168

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Yes. How is this any different than trying on earrings in a jewelry store? In addition someone at PP had them in their ear to take photos before they were shipped out to me.

Like me, Pearlescence are based in UK, we are not allowed to try on earrings for pierced ears, and sales of such earrings are not returnable or refundable.

DK :))
 

adlgel

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@Pearlescence this definitely falls into the "you learn something new every day" category. I had no idea the UK prohibited the return of pierced earrings. I still am a bit befuddled as to the science of why. With a healed piercing the earring post or wire is only making contact with skin, just like a ring, bracelet or necklace would as once an ear lobe piercing heals the interior of that piercing is just like a tunnel of skin.

So while yes someone could choose to try-on an earring in an unhealed piercing, it's equally possible that someone could try on a ring, bracelet, necklace or even clothing and have an open wound that would make contact with the item they are trying on. So it's just an interesting choice to me to limit the return of earrings.

ETA: I certainly understand the prohibition of returning earrings used in piercings such as the nose or mouth or other more "private" areas due to ongoing contact with bodily fluids.
 

yssie

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@Pearlescence this definitely falls into the "you learn something new every day" category. I had no idea the UK prohibited the return of pierced earrings. I still am a bit befuddled as to the science of why. With a healed piercing the earring post or wire is only making contact with skin, just like a ring, bracelet or necklace would as once an ear lobe piercing heals the interior of that piercing is just like a tunnel of skin.

So while yes someone could choose to try-on an earring in an unhealed piercing, it's equally possible that someone could try on a ring, bracelet, necklace or even clothing and have an open wound that would make contact with the item they are trying on. So it's just an interesting choice to me to limit the return of earrings.

ETA: I certainly understand the prohibition of returning earrings used in piercings such as the nose or mouth or other more "private" areas due to ongoing contact with bodily fluids.
Don’t feel bad. Really. Pearlescence is a vendor who knows that Pearl Paradise is based in the US and that the US has no such regulations. I can’t speak to her agenda in asking that question, but I know that it didn’t come from a position of genuine curiosity because she has personally brought this specific topic up multiple times on this very forum.
 
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yssie

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Can you mix and match pearl types - meaning can you get a reasonable match between the pearls in akoya stud or dangle earrings and a white south sea pendant that you intend to wear together? Or is it always best to use the same type of pearl in jewelry that you intend to wear together?
For me I think it mostly depends on how particular one is about their pearls having super similar characters?

Akoya and WSS, the best akoya have sharper luster than the best WSS, and most WSS have smoother skin than most akoya. You certainly can get WSS that have “decent akoya like” luster, and akoya that have “SS smooth skin”, but I feel like searching for that character match would be a really painful project! And then there’s the size disparity - if you want 6-7mm pearls and 11-12mm pearls, and you want white pearls, then you’re mixing akoya and WSS and there’s just no way around that!

I personally tend to be incredibly particular, but even for me - I’ve got a larger WSS that I plan to turn into a pendant to wear with my white akoya studs and gosh darn it that’s just what I’m gonna do :lol:

I do think that when you add a colour change in as well - white and gold, white and black, white and blue - then all the wait which species of oyster did this white come from differential kind of goes out the window. Hard enough to get the colours and sizes you want!! And of course when there are multiple colours in play noone’s going to be dissecting shades of white!

For me that’s my comfort line. Different pieces? Different types of pearl in the same colour, okay. But I wouldn’t mix different types of pearls of same colour in the same piece unless I wanted to use the difference in character as part of the design.
 

adlgel

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As always thanks for your thoughtful response @yssie.

And I'm not sure why I tagged Pearlessence instead of you @dk168 in my reply. Blame it on a case of the Mondays lol.
 

dk168

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As always thanks for your thoughtful response @yssie.

And I'm not sure why I tagged Pearlessence instead of you @dk168 in my reply. Blame it on a case of the Mondays lol.

No worries.

DK :))
 

katbran

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It's illegal to return earrings in Australia as well - a health and safety issue. I know America has different rules but you should always check as some USA sellers may not allow pierced earring returns due to health concerns. Of course this should be made clear from the beginning.
 

Pearlescence

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At the risk of boring some of you it is not just the UK which requires us to refuse to accept earring returns (Generally European Law requires that we accept no-quibble no reason returns for two weeks if items have been sold remotely)
When I've posted it is so that buyers can acquaint themselves of different legal regimes and customs around the world. I recall that other posters have done the same.
 

adlgel

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Now these earrings from the Pearl Source will most definitely NOT be returned. This is the vibe I was going for. I’m not a great judge of pearl quality but for the price I paid these are definitely a keeper. These are the Akoya Pearl Dangling Diamond Earrings in 14kt yellow gold. I selected White overtone for the pearl color and upgraded to the 8-8.5mm AAA pearl option.

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