Jumping on the Catherine Cardellini Bandwagon

[Fly Girl]

You guys are such a baaaad influence. I have been ooogling Catherine Cardellini's pearl sale for days now. I kept trying to picture her pearls with my various clothing, trying to figure if they would look good together, visiting jewelry stores to see what might look good on me, kept changing my mind on colors.....

I finally decided that I wanted some darker pearls, and went with this combo of bracelet and necklace.

http://www.catherinecardellinipearls.com/?subject=search&keywords=838&Submit=Search

http://www.catherinecardellinipearls.com/?subject=search&keywords=371&Submit=Search

Catherine was kind enough to pull them out and photograph them together for me. I decided they looked pretty good together.

 

[Fly Girl]

Peacock 7mm Almost Round to Baroque Freshwater Pearl Necklace and Earring Set
Description: Very colourful overtones, dyed black freshwater cultured pearls, baroque to almost round strung on aquamarine silk and knotted.
Length is just over 18 inches, but not quite 18.25 inches.
Earrings are simple drops of two pearls with vermeil daisy spacers and round 2.5mm shiny rolled gold bead. Pearls 6.7 mm and 6.5mm; drop of 3.1mm from piercing.
Grade: AAA
Pearl Size: 7mm down to 6.8mm at clasp.
Length: 18 inches (45.72cm)
Clasp: Handmade rolled gold hook and eye.

 

[Fly Girl]

The matching earrings which are included.

 

[Fly Girl]

Peacock Bubbles Freshwater Pearl Bracelet
Description: Double baroque freshwater pearls drilled sideways so they sit at right angles to each other to create a frothy look.Dyed black with purple, bronze, rose and green overtones. Strung on black silk and knotted between each pearl. Tapering from 11-12mm at the front down to just over 9mm at clasp. Matching necklace available.
Grade: AA+
Pearl Size: 11.9mm x 5.8mm down to 9.4mm x 6.9mm.
Length: 8 inches (20.32cm)
Clasp: Handmade rolled gold hook and eye.

 

[Fly Girl]

Another group shot. Catherine noted that although the bracelet had double pearls, individually each side was similar in size to the necklace pearls, so they work surprisingly well together. I like the idea of a double strand for the bracelet, but I didn't want that bulk around my neck. I'll be interested to see how they look in real life. The overtones of the necklace pearls look really nifty to me.

 

[Gailey]

Gorgeous set FG! I think dark ones will be the next on my list. Isn't Catherine a dream to work with? I have a bit of an anouncement myself ......

 

[PumpkinPie]

those are GORGEOUS! I thought I looked at her whole site and I don't remember any 'peacock pearls' like those.. they are amazing (I do love the peacock - I have feathers in a vase on my mantle)
I WANT

 

[Fly Girl]

Gorgeous set FG! I think dark ones will be the next on my list. Isn't Catherine a dream to work with? I have a bit of an anouncement myself ......

Thank you, Gailey, you bad influence, you! Waiting to hear your news and see your pretties.

I just received an e-mail from Catherine that my pearls are being posted today. I can hardly wait.

 

[iLander]

OMG!!

Those are STUNNING Flygirl! I am amazed how gorgeous they are!

I don't think I've ever seen black freshies with so much tone and variation, they are VERY SPECIAL!

PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY

 

[Gailey]

I had to come back for a second look at that bracelet - gorgeous!

I don't have any bracelets yet do I?? Hmm ......

 

[Fly Girl]

Thank you Gailey, iLander and PumpkinPie. I was at my jewelers earlier this week, and compared a $3,200 Tahitian strand to a $320 dyed freshwater strand. Of course, I preferred the Tahitian, but that wasn't going to happen. But, I got to see the gorgeous colorplay of the Tahitians compared to the relatively duller freshies. Catherine's necklace pearls here look better to me than the bracelet pearls, and both will probably be better than the freshwater strand I saw in person. The bracelet does look fun, doesn't it? I just thought that the matching double baroque necklace would be a bit much for me. That one would be more of a statement piece than I am looking for today.

 

[cushioncutnut]

Thank you Gailey, iLander and PumpkinPie. I was at my jewelers earlier this week, and compared a $3,200 Tahitian strand to a $320 dyed freshwater strand. Of course, I preferred the Tahitian, but that wasn't going to happen. But, I got to see the gorgeous colorplay of the Tahitians compared to the relatively duller freshies. Catherine's necklace pearls here look better to me than the bracelet pearls, and both will probably be better than the freshwater strand I saw in person. The bracelet does look fun, doesn't it? I just thought that the matching double baroque necklace would be a bit much for me. That one would be more of a statement piece than I am looking for today.

Flygirl... those are beautiful!! I love the rainbow colors on those pearls!! I too have jumped on the Catherine Cardellin bandwagon! She took an entourage of pictures of several items on my wishlist and I still had a hard time choosing. She really is great to work with and I am sure her pearls are as great as she is!! I can't wait to receive mine as I know you feel the same way!

 

[movie zombie]

what fun! i'm really interested in those double baroques.....its that texture/color thing for me again.

i haven't been too keen on the tahitians....but i do love these that you've ordered.

MoZo

 

[Fly Girl]

The pearls arrived today. I'm pleased with the set, and think I will get a lot of wear out of them. The pearls are quite colorful, which I was hoping to see. I especially like the earrings, as I wasn't sure about them, but I find they are pretty and fun. I had my photo shoot at sunset in a room with lots of yellow pine panelling, hence the yellowish tint to the lighting.

Let's begin with a couple of wrist shots of the double baroque bracelet. By the way, the bracelet length is just perfect for me. I'm quite pleased.

 

[Fly Girl]

Neck shot of the necklace.

 

[Fly Girl]

Ear shots of the earrings.

 

[Fly Girl]

Close up of the necklace. I love how the pearls reflect the images of the nearby pearls. Very cool.

 

[LGK]

It's great to see some high quality dyed black freshies. Frankly I think the colors on black-peacock dyed freshwater pearls are stunning, I have a keshi strand of them that I break out fairly frequently. They're not really like *anything* else out there, but most are unfortunately pretty lousy quality. With great lustre and a nice size your set looks fabulous! Great buy, for sure. The neck shot is great, they look quite classy, but with a twist.

 

[cushioncutnut]

They look so elegant on you! I just love mirror like reflections with all the rainbow colors! They have me re-thinking black dyed freshies!

 

[iLander]

Ooooh! Pretty!

Love all the different colors in these!

They seem very cheerful and lots of fun to wear!

What do you think?

How does the real thing compare to the pics?

 

[artdecogirl]

Oh my those are gorgeous Flygirl! I might have to jump on that bandwagon myself, ps is such a bad influence!!!!

 

[Fly Girl]

Thank you CCN, MoZo, LGK, iLander and Decogirl. I've taken the time to wear these a few times and I have some thoughts.

First, the colors are stunning. I was back at the jewelers today to look at their dyed freshies that I thought looked so sooty in color. Yep, they still look sooty. Like someone covered them with soot from the fireplace. Mine do not have the sooty look. I can tell the difference between the AAA grade pearls of the necklace and the AA+ grade of the bracelet. The bracelet colors are not as vibrant as the necklace colors. I will try to stick to AAA grade pearls in the future, at least for dyed pearls.

Second, as LGK suggested, the look is classic with a twist. I have some black suits I wear to the office and generally pair the suit with a colorful top. These dyed freshies look awesome under office lighting and with a black suit. Note, the photo is not taken under office lighting, but I'm trying to give you some idea.

Third, these are 7 mm pearls, but they looked smaller in person to me than another strand of 7 mm pearls that I own. When I measured the black pearls I realized that while they are 7 mm across, they are only 5 mm high. So, it takes more of them to make a strand, and gives it a bit different look than I was expecting to see with rounder pearls. The slightly button shape doesn't bother me, but I think I would like the look of slightly bigger pearls than these. So, unless the pearls are round, I'll need to get 8 or 9 mm in size.

Fourth, I like the heavy rolled gold handmade clasps that Catherine uses. They work well and feel sturdy and look pleasing to my eye. The double baroque pearls in the bracelet give it a nice fun look. The bracelet size fits well on me.

Finally, the pearls look better in person than in the pictures. I like the multiple colors and the metallic finish. In some lighting the blue/purple colored pearls dull to black, but the metallic copper colors will stand out more. I like how this strand fills a niche in my jewelry wardrobe. They don't look like cheap costume pearls, they look classy and businesslike, but not stuffy. I expect I will be getting a lot of use from this strand, and I don't hesitate to recommend them.

 

[iLander]

FG, I am glad that you like them and you're going to get a lot of use from them.

I think they are really cool with brightly colored tops! I like the way the "go" with your outfit, no matter what color you have on.

I appreciate you taking the time to give a detailed review, and I think that will really help people when they are deciding about purchasing.

Please post your neck shots in the neck shots thread, and make a note about the 5 mm high, I think that's important to consider.

 

[Burberrygirl]

FlyGirl, those are very pretty! Thank you for the neckshots, they look so nice on you!

 

[artdecogirl]

Thankyou Flygirl for the review, when buying online it's always nice to hear from someone who has one irl.

 

[cushioncutnut]

Thanks for all the details about the pearls. They really do have a beautiful rainbow of colors and look beautiful on you. I love how they really pop especially with the turquoise shirt!!! They just Glow!

 

[HHPmom]

They look great with both colors. But I like it paired with turquoise better than red. The luster is really nice, much better than dyed freshies I usually see.