I am in love!

[Indylady]

I''ve been poking around looking for a nice strand, and I thought I''d order a loose AAA freshwater from Pearl Paradise just to check it out, and if it was decent I''d make a pendant out of it. I just got it in today, and I must say I am absolutely amazed by it! It is so pretty in person, the pictures just can''t catch it.

Specs:
White 9-10mm AAA freshwater pearl
In the comment box I requested, if possible, a pearl with orient.

 

[Indylady]

The pearl has a small dimple on it though; I wonder why they didn''t just drill over it? Its half drilled, and there doesn''t seem to be any depression around the drill hole. Its really not a big deal to me, but I just wanted to throw that out there.

 

[Indylady]

Sorry my countertop was gross!

I didn''t see it until it was already posted. Just one more! It has a rose overtone and has beautiful orient. It shimmers kind of green.

 

[plethora23]

Looks GREAT!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Looks gorgeous! I'm thinking about ordering a loose pearl from them too, but I don't know what I'd do with a drilled or half drilled pearl? Who are you going to go to make the pendant?

 

[cellentani]

It looks beautiful!! I''ve thought about doing the same thing - did you order a pendant mounting too?

 

[Kelli]

Very pretty!

 

[Indylady]

Thank you so much Plethora23, MakingTheGrade and Cellentani! I just ordered a 14k white gold pendant mounting from them today, I believe called the "Classic Pendant". It was only $22, and then I used a coupon code I found online that took off $10, so I got it for $12! I'm going to try to do it myself, there is a glue called VIGOR Jeweler's Epoxy that I have read is safe for pearls and seems to be recommended as well..this will be my first time trying to set a pearl myself, so we will see how it goes. And I will be sure to post pictures!

 

[Indylady]

And thank you Kelli also!

 

[Indylady]

Ok...so my wg pendant mount came in today. And I tried to set it..and failed. The part of the mount that fits into the pearl broke off! I noticed that it was bent and felt soft, and then as I tried to straighten it, it fell of entirely.

So, personally, I would probably not recommend this, unless you know what you''re doing.

 

[cellentani]

Date: 5/23/2009 8:30:35 PM
Author: szh07
Ok...so my wg pendant mount came in today. And I tried to set it..and failed. The part of the mount that fits into the pearl broke off! I noticed that it was bent and felt soft, and then as I tried to straighten it, it fell of entirely.

So, personally, I would probably not recommend this, unless you know what you''re doing.

Awww, sorry to hear that the pendant mounting didn''t work out. It doesn''t sound right to me though, that it broke off right away - I''d give them a call and let them know. I''ve heard good things about their customer service, so maybe they could offer something.

 

[brightlight]

Date: 5/23/2009 8:30:35 PM
Author: szh07
Ok...so my wg pendant mount came in today. And I tried to set it..and failed. The part of the mount that fits into the pearl broke off! I noticed that it was bent and felt soft, and then as I tried to straighten it, it fell of entirely.

So, personally, I would probably not recommend this, unless you know what you''re doing.

Oh, that''s too bad. Is it stuck in the pearl? I''m sure if you call them you can arrange to send the pearl in and have them remove the excess glue and mounting and mount the pearl onto another pendant.

 

[Indylady]

The pearl is actually perfectly fine even though I had put a little glue on the finding. As soon as I realized it wasn''t going in, I ran and wiped it off with a wet paper towel, and it was really just fine. I can''t see or feel any residue on it which is fantastic.

Thanks Cellentani! I hate to change subjects, but I must say that I absolutely adored your super skinny bands with the baguettes. So pretty and delicate!

I might just call them and ask for tips and if the findings are normally fragile or not. It could be that I got a weak one, that they are all like that, or that I bent it funky or put too much pressure on it. But, the pearl didn''t chip or break at all, so it seems wild that the white gold finding would break instead of the pearl.

I''ve definitely used little cheapie snap-set castings to make pendants out of extra gemstones I had, and those all came out pretty well. And I''ve done beading as well...but this was a totally different experience.

 

[princessplease]

Oh it''s lovely!!!!!

 

[suana]

i prefer order a AAA grade 8mm Japanese Akoya pearl and set with 18K white gold pendant accent with diamonds.
be ware many retails only carry Chinese Akoya pearls, and Japanese Akoya pearl''s price is five times than Chinese Akoya pearls, that''s why many retails mark a very low price of akoya pearl.

 

[Indylady]

Thank you Princessplease!

And this one is a freshwater, but thanks for the heads up Suana!

 

[Skippy123]

Wow, what a gorgeous pearl; beautiful orient!!!

Do you have a pic of he pendant pic? I would love to see that! hehe

 

[marcy]

Very pretty.

 

[Indylady]

Thank you Skippy and Marcy!

Skippy- I wish I did, but making a pendant was harder than I thought! I still have the finding and the pearl, but the drill hole wasn't big enough to accommodate the finding. I guess I should have done more research cause I thought that since it was half-drilled the drill hole would be big enough to fit a finding (for entirely drilled pearls, I assume they might be smaller drill holes since they are most likely to be used for stringing) but it big enough at all!

So from now on, I think I will just stick to pieces that are already made

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/21/2009 3:51:03 PM
Author: szh07
Thank you Skippy and Marcy!

Skippy- I wish I did, but making a pendant was harder than I thought! I still have the finding and the pearl, but the drill hole wasn''t big enough to accommodate the finding. I guess I should have done more research cause I thought that since it was half-drilled the drill hole would be big enough to fit a finding (for entirely drilled pearls, I assume they might be smaller drill holes since they are most likely to be used for stringing) but it big enough at all!

So from now on, I think I will just stick to pieces that are already made

Oh no, I am so sorry; can you take it to a jewelry store where they can do that for you? It is such a beautiful pearl!!!