Ladies, I Have (Eye) CANDY

[iLander]

Okay, hopefully the giftee won't peek at this forum, I got the pearls yesterday and they are VERY NICE!

Here's my VERY detailed review which is also at the end of my thread "Freshies on their way":

Here's my honest opinion: VERY NICE! In most lights, they look exactly like the third picture up top there. In very dim light, I get the colors that you see in the first and second picture. In bright light, from a distance, they give an overall impression of a very shiny peachy off white strand. The luster is excellent, and the different colors are beautiful. In RL they look like the ones in the Pearl Paradise pix, but not all of them are a mirror finish. They are as Catherine described "a few mirror luster" pearls. I actually don't like an overall mirror finish (which is why I don't buy from PP) I prefer a more natural look, which is what the majority of them are. They do look very shiny (more so than my Mikimoto pearls) but only a few are "mirror" per se. I think she has strands that are 100% mirror, but they are not my personal preference.

I KNOW CCN's strand is nice, because there are a few pearls in this strand that are purple like hers, and they are absolutely beautiful! There are some golden overtoned pearls and they are stunning, so if you're considering one of those go for it (on my list for my birthday for sure!). The pink and peach colors are very soft and pretty, if you like those colors, you will like these. There is an orangey one, almost tangerine that is a FABULOUS color, very usual and intense. I might ask Catherine for some of those!

They are very heavy and substantial, almost as heavy as my SS strand, but not quite (they are a little smaller than the SS, BTW). I like the clasp a lot more than I thought I would, it's actually fairly graceful in RL. The 10mm is a good presence, excellent for all size ladies, IMHO. I think 8mm is a little smallish, more a subtle pearl, but the 10mm is a good size.

I don't see any blemishes, anywhere, Catherine was right at rating them AAA. They are EXACTLY as described.

These are so far and away better than the bead show and gift store pearls that you usually see, and they are a gift that will last her well into old age. Maybe even get passed down through the years! That's the kind of quality these are. For the price of a nice sweater and some fancy pants jeans, I bought a really NICE piece of jewelry.

OVERALL OPINION? BEST FREAKING $150 I EVER SPENT!

Seriously, don't you think?

I feel her pics are accurate for color in low light, but they don't show how SHINY the pearls are. Excellent luster, if you ask me!

 

[HHPmom]

iLander,
I love multicolor strands. It's like you can have all kinds of candy at the same time instead of just one kind. $150 for 10mm? Nice!

 

[whitehotblank]

Aw, iLander, you shouldn't have, we barely know each other! Oh well, now I have seen them you might as well send them...

I wish. Those are also lovely (wtf - the pearls from her site, posted here, somehow always look more alluring here than they do on her site - maybe it's psychological because I know now that someone has bought these and I can't have them?) - I prefer CCN's strand, but only for me and only because warm tones make me look like an albino zombie. Those will look FAB on someone with darker/warmer skin than me.

 

[cushioncutnut]

Ilander, as I posted in the other thread, I really think you got a spectacular set of pearls for them. For the price,quality, and size, I would venture to day that PP would charge easily $500 for the like, although their's may be a bit rounder and more metallic. These are beautiful and the recipient is going to love them!!

 

[cushioncutnut]

Aw, iLander, you shouldn't have, we barely know each other! Oh well, now I have seen them you might as well send them...

I wish. Those are also lovely (wtf - the pearls from her site, posted here, somehow always look more alluring here than they do on her site - maybe it's psychological because I know now that someone has bought these and I can't have them?) - I prefer CCN's strand, but only for me and only because warm tones make me look like an albino zombie. Those will look FAB on someone with darker/warmer skin than me.

LOL! ...but thank you!

 

[Lovinggems]

Very pretty, and a nice size!

 

[iLander]

Thanks, guys, you are all so sweet!

HHP: Thank you, I thought it was a decent deal.

WHB: Actually, since you prefer CCN's strand, she told me she'd send you hers . . .

CCN: White Hot said she was willing to pay the postage.

LD: I can't write . . . drooling on keyboard . . . your new strand is so awesome!

 

[cushioncutnut]

Thanks, guys, you are all so sweet!

HHP: Thank you, I thought it was a decent deal.

WHB: Actually, since you prefer CCN's strand, she told me she'd send you hers . . .

CCN: White Hot said she was willing to pay the postage.

LD: I can't write . . . drooling on keyboard . . . your new strand is so awesome!

teehee... it would have to be from my cold, dead body!!

 

[movie zombie]

lovely!

MoZo

ps i love your statement re the best $150 you've ever spent.....i have to agree!

 

[iLander]

I just realized that I never did post the receiver's reaction to the gift of these pearls!

She loved them!

She wears them with her edgy boots and dark jeans (conservative sweater, BTW), and the effect is very striking.

It's interesting to see younger people wear pearls, a lot of them are doing it now, and it's exactly this effect they are going for. The pearls make them look very classy, but the rest of the outfit can be edgy and young, and it keeps people from "classifying" them with a glance. Definitely interesting.

Us OL's (older ladies) have nothing on these chicks . . .

I spent most of the day looking at the beautiful colors in different lights, and being jealous!

 

[cushioncutnut]

I just realized that I never did post the receiver's reaction to the gift of these pearls!

She loved them!

She wears them with her edgy boots and dark jeans (conservative sweater, BTW), and the effect is very striking.

It's interesting to see younger people wear pearls, a lot of them are doing it now, and it's exactly this effect they are going for. The pearls make them look very classy, but the rest of the outfit can be edgy and young, and it keeps people from "classifying" them with a glance. Definitely interesting.

Us OL's (older ladies) have nothing on these chicks . . .

I spent most of the day looking at the beautiful colors in different lights, and being jealous!

LOL! ...and I love seeing the younger crowd wearing pearls with their jeans. So classy and feminine looking. Some of the younger girls I see, (my daughter included) wear such duddy clothes like t-shirts with their frayed out jeans. Pearls can really class it up. Even if it is a simple pair of pearl studs. I keep telling my daughter, I had a girl for a reason. I hate when I buy her clothes that she has picked out (and I have approved of..LOL!) and then she wears a ratty ol' t-shirt. Drives me insane as I like when girls look "girly". Nothing wrong with being a "tom-boy" once in awhile..........but I really want her to wear what she has picked out and what I have paid for!

 

[iLander]

I just realized that I never did post the receiver's reaction to the gift of these pearls!

She loved them!

She wears them with her edgy boots and dark jeans (conservative sweater, BTW), and the effect is very striking.

It's interesting to see younger people wear pearls, a lot of them are doing it now, and it's exactly this effect they are going for. The pearls make them look very classy, but the rest of the outfit can be edgy and young, and it keeps people from "classifying" them with a glance. Definitely interesting.

Us OL's (older ladies) have nothing on these chicks . . .

I spent most of the day looking at the beautiful colors in different lights, and being jealous!

LOL! ...and I love seeing the younger crowd wearing pearls with their jeans. So classy and feminine looking. Some of the younger girls I see, (my daughter included) wear such duddy clothes like t-shirts with their frayed out jeans. Pearls can really class it up. Even if it is a simple pair of pearl studs. I keep telling my daughter, I had a girl for a reason. I hate when I buy her clothes that she has picked out (and I have approved of..LOL!) and then she wears a ratty ol' t-shirt. Drives me insane as I like when girls look "girly". Nothing wrong with being a "tom-boy" once in awhile..........but I really want her to wear what she has picked out and what I have paid for!

Oh, I know EXACTLY what you mean CCN! You buy them stuff, and they seem to like it, but then you find it at the bottom of the closet. Mine does the girly thing sometimes, but also the scruffy T-shirt thing, too. Bleah! She does have a weird thing for shoes, though; when she was 2 she saw a pair of minnie mouse shoes, screamed at the top of her lungs, grabbed them, put them on (actually there was a short tussle, when we had to take away the wrong size that she grabbed, and hand her the right size) and wouldn't take them off for 3 days! She slept in them! She STILL has a thing for shoes. Totally not from me, I could care less about shoes, to me they're just something you have to buy out of necessity.

 

[cushioncutnut]

I just realized that I never did post the receiver's reaction to the gift of these pearls!

She loved them!

She wears them with her edgy boots and dark jeans (conservative sweater, BTW), and the effect is very striking.

It's interesting to see younger people wear pearls, a lot of them are doing it now, and it's exactly this effect they are going for. The pearls make them look very classy, but the rest of the outfit can be edgy and young, and it keeps people from "classifying" them with a glance. Definitely interesting.

Us OL's (older ladies) have nothing on these chicks . . .

I spent most of the day looking at the beautiful colors in different lights, and being jealous!

LOL! ...and I love seeing the younger crowd wearing pearls with their jeans. So classy and feminine looking. Some of the younger girls I see, (my daughter included) wear such duddy clothes like t-shirts with their frayed out jeans. Pearls can really class it up. Even if it is a simple pair of pearl studs. I keep telling my daughter, I had a girl for a reason. I hate when I buy her clothes that she has picked out (and I have approved of..LOL!) and then she wears a ratty ol' t-shirt. Drives me insane as I like when girls look "girly". Nothing wrong with being a "tom-boy" once in awhile..........but I really want her to wear what she has picked out and what I have paid for!

Oh, I know EXACTLY what you mean CCN! You buy them stuff, and they seem to like it, but then you find it at the bottom of the closet. Mine does the girly thing sometimes, but also the scruffy T-shirt thing, too. Bleah! She does have a weird thing for shoes, though; when she was 2 she saw a pair of minnie mouse shoes, screamed at the top of her lungs, grabbed them, put them on (actually there was a short tussle, when we had to take away the wrong size that she grabbed, and hand her the right size) and wouldn't take them off for 3 days! She slept in them! She STILL has a thing for shoes. Totally not from me, I could care less about shoes, to me they're just something you have to buy out of necessity.

Ha! My daughter has a shoe fetish too! ....but then I can honestly say she gets that from me....