Multicolour Tahitian Bracelet from Hisano

[yssie]

The summary:

Hisano is a magician!!


The longer version:

Several years ago I decided I needed a cherry tahitian bracelet. A rep from Pearl Paradise selected a lineup and shipped them out to me, and… I was thoroughly disappointed - they looked dull and grey in-person. I decided then that tahitians Just Weren’t For Me.

Fast-forward to Spring 2019… After hours upon hours on Show me your Pearls and Pearl-Guide, I realized that

1. It was sunny the day I got those cherries, and I was right beside a glass wall, and
2. Precise matching of colour, orient, and strength of orient simply isn’t possible, so that’s an unreasonable expectation, but
3. Flawless surface and pin-sharp lustre is possible, and if a company makes that claim I don’t need to settle for less-than-exceptional surface texture.

I bought several round tahitian strands from Pure Pearls, The Pearl Source, and Pearl Paradise - some multicolour, some peacock, some pastel, some darker. They were all disappointing: Each strand had one or two pearls that were glorious - excellent lustre, bright body colour, strong overtone - but the majority, well, meh. They all went back, and I emailed Inta from LittleH to ask if it would be possible to create a bracelet-length strand composed entirely of those “one or two perfect” pearls.

I was prepared to wait several months. Some weeks later Hisano took over the project, and within a few days sent me fifteen 10-11mm and eight 11-12mm loose stones to look at. And every single one was extraordinary.

When originally comparing strands I noticed I was drawn first to pearls with strong overtone and lustre. I suspected I’d be more flexible on body colour and variance in tone, and seeing Hisano’s choices and lurking on @Pinkmartini87’s incredibly helpful thread mostly confirmed those feelings… And now, seeing the finished strand in-person, those were definitely the right choices for me

I've been meaning to post these for several days... Ailing human family and ailing furry family has made this week a challenge. Seeing these photos is making me smile


My lineup!! Makeshift lightbox. The strand is graduated from ~11.9mm to ~10.3mm



And my very favourite pearl front and centre if you catch it just right it's bright blue and bright pink!!

 

[yssie]

A few more photos...
Okay, a lot more photos
It was grey and gloomy here today, perfect weather for tahitians



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[yssie]

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With one of Hisano's baby freshwater bracelets - love this combo



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[yssie]

Mirror lustre on dark and light 12mm pearls - so sharp they reflect the print beneath



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Well, they're tahitians. The sun came out for a moment and "ruined" one of my photos. These pearls really just don't do direct light



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A nicely-matched darker pair that I'm going to have made into studs The more lustrous of the two (left in photo) actually has quite few surface blemishes - this is the only angle from which no blemishing is visible. Wouldn't work in a bracelet with two drill holes, just fine for non-articulated earrings!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

Wow, what an incredible bracelet! It looks absolutely amazing on you; everything about it is perfect!

So glad you found your perfect strand! I finally bought a necklace as well last week and it should be arriving on Monday; I’m nervous because most Tahitian strands also look meh to me, but seeing your awesome end result inspires me to never settle!

Enjoy your beautiful Tahitians!

 

[Rubymal]

Those luster on those...WOWW!! How many +'s can we give this A++++++ bracelet? Awesome bracelet!

 

[Austina]

Wow!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Lovely! Congrats on finding the Tahitians you truly love.

 

[yssie]

Wow, what an incredible bracelet! It looks absolutely amazing on you; everything about it is perfect!

So glad you found your perfect strand! I finally bought a necklace as well last week and it should be arriving on Monday; I’m nervous because most Tahitian strands also look meh to me, but seeing your awesome end result inspires me to never settle!

Enjoy your beautiful Tahitians!

Thank you And thank you for sharing your journey here - I learnt so much from your thread!! Yours, the tahitian vendor vs. consumer pics thread, and a handful others...

I’m really glad I knew what to expect this time! I know now that my assessment of those cherries years ago was neither fair nor reasonable. This time, having seen enough samples to feel confident judging realistically, I did much better in terms of setting myself up to appreciate them for what they are

This strand compromises on nothing. I don’t love the body colour but dislike the amount of surface blemishing. I don’t love the clean surfaces but wish they had more interesting colours. I don’t love the overtone on these pearls but not those pearls. I don’t wish they were bigger. I’m thrilled I hope you’re just as happy with yours!!

 

[yssie]

@Austina, @LisaRN - Thank you!!

Those luster on those...WOWW!! How many +'s can we give this A++++++ bracelet? Awesome bracelet!

Right!? Everything I’ve ever read and heard indicates lustre generally diminishes as pearl size increases... And I certainly observed that trend in the strands I looked at in-person... I was prepared to wait months for enough exceptions to the norm to make a strand - Hisano is a magician!!

 

[pearlsngems]

It is true, generally, that luster diminishes with size of pearl/age of oyster. I've seen some large strands -- larger than 12mm-- that had mediocre luster.

You have a beautiful bracelet there!

 

[whitewave]

Wow! It’s amazing

So who is the vendor you ended on?

 

[Weeivy73]

What a gorgeous bracelet yssie!

Beautiful colours and fabulous luster!

 

[yssie]

Thank you @pearlsngems!

That’s certainly been the trend I’ve noticed too, though my sample size is far smaller than yours!! @LLJsmom and I did see some amazing SSs at Graff a few weeks ago - 14-17mm, perfectly matched, perfectly unblemished, mirror surfaces... Of course they probably cost a few kidneys

I think GSSs are next on my “need” list... And for that I have @mrs-b to thank


@whitewave Thank you!!

So Hisano (owner of Little H) and Jeremy (owner of Pearl Paradise) are married - there's a close relationship there that makes specifying vendors a bit complicated! I worked with Hisano, who sourced these pearls - I believe they're from Pearl Paradise inventory, but I'm not completely sure... All monetary transactions associated with this piece took place through Pearl Paradise


@Weeivy73 Thank you!! I've been wearing them to work because they look incredible in our office lighting (There exists a gemstone that does best in office lighting!!)

 

[LLJsmom]

THose pearls look so beautiful they look unreal. They’re just luscious. Maybe cause I want to eat one?

 

[Weeivy73]

Thank you @pearlsngems!

That’s certainly been the trend I’ve noticed too, though my sample size is far smaller than yours!! @LLJsmom and I did see some amazing SSs at Graff a few weeks ago - 14-17mm, perfectly matched, perfectly unblemished, mirror surfaces... Of course they probably cost a few kidneys

I think GSSs are next on my “need” list... And for that I have @mrs-b to thank


@whitewave Thank you!!

So Hisano (owner of Little H) and Jeremy (owner of Pearl Paradise) are married - there's a close relationship there that makes specifying vendors a bit complicated! I worked with Hisano, who sourced these pearls - I believe they're from Pearl Paradise inventory, but I'm not completely sure... All monetary transactions associated with this piece took place through Pearl Paradise


@Weeivy73 Thank you!! I've been wearing them to work because they look incredible in our office lighting (There exists a gemstone that does best in office lighting!!)

Yes I know what you mean on that point. I'm always being asked about my Tahitian strand... "Are those what I think they are?" they look their best in the shop lighting.

 

[mrs-b]

@yssie....

You.

Have.

PEARLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lady, your taste is SO specific and SO individual - your designs and projects put us all to shame! I am SO impressed with these - just stunning!! Congratulations on this amazing addition to your collection. BIG love for this!

ETA My GSS pearl earrings are currently being re-set. I decided I could do better. It will be a completely different look.

 

[sarahb]

Its beautiful @yssie -- each pearl so perfect! I love pearls & tahitians are my absolute favorite, enjoy your new beauty!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

HOLY. MOLY. Superb.(ps how did you decide on a clasp?)

cheers--Sharon

 

[Hounddog]

I absolutely love your Pearls...incredibly beautiful and so perfectly balanced, such gorgeous colours. Congratulations! They look great on you.
If I’m ever ready to buy my own pearls...I think my best route would be to commission you to commission mine for me! LOL!
I love your choices and your understanding and style. Gorgeous Pearls.

 

[MMtwo]

That bracelet is poetry. Every pearl is perfect. Enjoy and so happy for you!

 

[mrs-b]

@yssie....

You.

Have.

PEARLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lady, your taste is SO specific and SO individual - your designs and projects put us all to shame! I am SO impressed with these - just stunning!! Congratulations on this amazing addition to your collection. BIG love for this!

ETA My GSS pearl earrings are currently being re-set. I decided I could do better. It will be a completely different look.

@yssie -

Can we get an update on how this piece is holding up? I'm fascinated by it and would love to hear anything you can tell us on how it's wearing.

 

[katbran]

I'm glad you were able to find a bracelet that you love. The only way to really understand the colours is to look at lots of pearls. Peacock can be grey or green with pink or red .. blue can be silver blue or blue silver or blue green . Aubergine can be grey with red or red with green etc etc So it's not surprising that when pearls show up they seldom are what we are expecting. It even happens to me .. and I've looked at a lot of pearls. I have strands that I've just dropped into my bag of Tahitians and not looked at again for a year as my initial thoughts were negative. Bringing them out later ... I wondered why I didn't like them. Light changes EVERYTHING, that's why Hisano did a wise thing by sending the loose pearls for you to look over. We all see colour differently and so it's impossible to rely on someone else's description. I'm thrilled for you !

 

[yssie]

@LLJsmom Another delayed but heartfelt thank you

... No. No eating the pearls.

@Weeivy73 They really do!! And I love them for it! Wearing faceted gemstones in non-optimal lighting always bothered me... Now I’ve got diamonds and spinels for when it’s sunny and they look their best and pearls for when it’s cloudy and they look their best

Thank you @sarahb!!

I’m so glad I gave Tahitians another chance! I adore this bracelet. I’ve been wondering what those cherries might have looked like had I given them a fair inspection two years ago Choosing to do the Multicolour Thing has had the happy side effect of scratching itches for various colours, but I can’t help but think how fabulous it would be to have a strand full of peacocks like this one, or blues like that one...

But the other half would have my head!

@canuk-gal Thank you!! The clasp was actually the easiest decision - much easier than picking which pearls to not use! One of the strands I bought and returned had this sort of clasp and it was just lovely

@moneymeister Thank you so much

 

[yssie]

@Hounddog Thank you!!

Hisano sent me twenty two pearls to choose from - fifteen 10-11mm and eight 11-12mm. It took me a full week to whittle the lineup down to bracelet length... Every time I decided to oust one I’d look at it just to be sure and decide I still wanted it after all and put it back And then there were the days of agonizing over order and colour, in daylight and at night in the living room and in the early morning in the bathroom and, and, and I definitely have a new-found respect for stringers who can figure it all out in one sitting!!

 

[yssie]

@katbran You are so right!! If I hadn’t had all those strands sent out I’m confident I wouldn’t have known what to look for.

Before reaching out to Hisano I purchased an “AAAA” peacock strand from The Pearl Source. The pearls had beautiful, vibrant green body colour, but only one had any overtone worth writing home about and all were more blemished than I wanted. I spoke with Leon, who explained that strong overtime in rounds is extremely rare, and that strong overtone plus sharp lustre plus clean surfaces plus size was simply an impossible ask.

But I knew it couldn’t be “impossible”: All the strands I’d seen had one or two pearls that were everything I wanted. Expensive and time-consuming? Probably. But not impossible.

I did wind up spending more for this strand than any of the others I looked at. No regrets. The other half observed that I should really limit the amount of time I spend on a project, because time seems to invariably lead to expense. Satisfaction is definitely a moving target!

 

[yssie]

@mrs-b Thank you love

I know we’ve talked about this a bit - but this is honestly the very first year that I’ve really embraced non-diamond pieces. Pearls, opals, moonstones - And I LOVE them!! Looking back I can see how I got here and why it took so long: I started with brilliant diamonds, moved onto rose cuts and briolettes for “something different”, then those weren’t “different” enough... I think I had to get the diamonds out of my system to appreciate other stones for what they are

I’ve learnt a lot about my jewellery preferences this year. I’ve learnt that I’m a staid-and-steady rings person and a frivolous bracelet person - I’ll never wear a tennis bracelet and I’ll never wear a cocktail ring! I’ve worn this strand nearly every day since I got it - it’s casual, it’s unusual (around here anyway!), and it’s my vision of best-of-breed. I love how these pearls change in different lights - there’s always a new look to admire. I remember that you wrote in one of your threads a long time that it’s impossible to not appreciate the best version of anything - that’s so very true!!

GSSs. What are you up to? Or are we going to have to wait and see? I thought I might do a GSS bracelet next, but I’m not sure I’d get much use out of it - it might be a little too “classic” for me! But I need more pearls I went a bit Sea of Cortez crazy last week... I’ll see the loot in a few hours when I’m home...

 

[Weeivy73]

Mirror lustre on dark and light 12mm pearls - so sharp they reflect the print beneath



- - - - - - - - - -

Well, they're tahitians. The sun came out for a moment and "ruined" one of my photos. These pearls really just don't do direct light



- - - - - - - - - -

A nicely-matched darker pair that I'm going to have made into studs The more lustrous of the two (left in photo) actually has quite few surface blemishes - this is the only angle from which no blemishing is visible. Wouldn't work in a bracelet with two drill holes, just fine for non-articulated earrings!

Yssie, was just wondering if you are wearing the pearls as studs yet? Will you wear them on their own, or with something else? Round your neck I mean

 

[mrs-b]

@mrs-b Thank you love

I know we’ve talked about this a bit - but this is honestly the very first year that I’ve really embraced non-diamond pieces. Pearls, opals, moonstones - And I LOVE them!! Looking back I can see how I got here and why it took so long: I started with brilliant diamonds, moved onto rose cuts and briolettes for “something different”, then those weren’t “different” enough... I think I had to get the diamonds out of my system to appreciate other stones for what they are

I’ve learnt a lot about my jewellery preferences this year. I’ve learnt that I’m a staid-and-steady rings person and a frivolous bracelet person - I’ll never wear a tennis bracelet and I’ll never wear a cocktail ring! I’ve worn this strand nearly every day since I got it - it’s casual, it’s unusual (around here anyway!), and it’s my vision of best-of-breed. I love how these pearls change in different lights - there’s always a new look to admire. I remember that you wrote in one of your threads a long time that it’s impossible to not appreciate the best version of anything - that’s so very true!!

GSSs. What are you up to? Or are we going to have to wait and see? I thought I might do a GSS bracelet next, but I’m not sure I’d get much use out of it - it might be a little too “classic” for me! But I need more pearls I went a bit Sea of Cortez crazy last week... I’ll see the loot in a few hours when I’m home...

@yssie - hallo dear girl.

I love that you're indulging in non-diamond pieces. Diamonds are wonderful - sparkly - beautiful....safe. But I think there's a bit of the wild child in your soul, so I'll love seeing what that part of you can create. If I can be so presumptuous as to give you a piece of advice - when you do a new piece, however far you push it past the usual - push it a little further. I'd love to see you let out that side of your creativity.

Re my collection - I'm paring, paring, paring down. And I'm upgrading. For example, my white SS pearl and diamond drops - the big ones - have 2 x G colored IF pears at the top of the setting. Their stats are perfectly matched. And they've been bugging me since DAY ONE because I can see tint in the tip!



Obviously you'll never get light return on a pear like you can on a round brilliant, but I figure I can cut off the tint at least, so this week I've bought 2 D colored pears. They're very, very well matched for dimensions, depth and table, and I'm hoping they perform well. They also seem to have minimal bowtie, which is a firm requirement.

Anyway, that's the sort of thing I'm doing these days; more quality, less quantity. I'm not sure if you remember my DKJ 18kt custom made yellow and rose gold hoops:



...well, I'm having a pair made in platinum to match them. The white metal ones in the above photo are custom made and are also platinum, but I love the DKJ ones, so am melting these ones down and putting the metal towards a third pair of the hinged design.

I've recently upgraded the sides on my 3 stone - from G VS2 and G SI1 to two x F VS1, and I'm VERY happy with those. Next year I'm hoping to upgrade the center to something a smidge larger and move from VS2 to VS1. Not a remarkable difference, but *I'll* know. This is the one I'm planning to buy next year; if someone buys it before I do, it will break my tiny little perfectionist heart!!

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3755577.htm

As for my GSS drops, I decided they were bottom heavy. I also haven't been wearing my (roughly) 2ctw K VS1/VS2 diamond studs set in yellow gold - which I love, but which were a bit small for me as a stand alone piece. So I decided to combine the two. The top will be these:



And the pearls will be added to sit juuuust below the studs. My favorite earring design for my face is very short, stubby, stud-style drops. These will exactly fit the bill and use 2 of my favorite pieces to make one super-awesome piece. And the pear and heart, currently attached to the GSSs, will be removed and once again I'll have to find something to do with them!

So that's the sort of thing I'm doing - refining, improving, enlarging - trying to create more individual, higher quality pieces. I've canned pretty much every other project I had planned to concentrate on this process and am getting rid of anything that doesn't fit this bill; I want to be left with exceptional pieces - beautiful, individual, classic...well, pieces like yours, really!

 

[Weeivy73]

@yssie - hallo dear girl.

I love that you're indulging in non-diamond pieces. Diamonds are wonderful - sparkly - beautiful....safe. But I think there's a bit of the wild child in your soul, so I'll love seeing what that part of you can create. If I can be so presumptuous as to give you a piece of advice - when you do a new piece, however far you push it past the usual - push it a little further. I'd love to see you let out that side of your creativity.

Re my collection - I'm paring, paring, paring down. And I'm upgrading. For example, my white SS pearl and diamond drops - the big ones - have 2 x G colored IF pears at the top of the setting. Their stats are perfectly matched. And they've been bugging me since DAY ONE because I can see tint in the tip!



Obviously you'll never get light return on a pear like you can on a round brilliant, but I figure I can cut off the tint at least, so this week I've bought 2 D colored pears. They're very, very well matched for dimensions, depth and table, and I'm hoping they perform well. They also seem to have minimal bowtie, which is a firm requirement.

Anyway, that's the sort of thing I'm doing these days; more quality, less quantity. I'm not sure if you remember my DKJ 18kt custom made yellow and rose gold hoops:



...well, I'm having a pair made in platinum to match them. The white metal ones in the above photo are custom made and are also platinum, but I love the DKJ ones, so am melting these ones down and putting the metal towards a third pair of the hinged design.

I've recently upgraded the sides on my 3 stone - from G VS2 and G SI1 to two x F VS1, and I'm VERY happy with those. Next year I'm hoping to upgrade the center to something a smidge larger and move from VS2 to VS1. Not a remarkable difference, but *I'll* know. This is the one I'm planning to buy next year; if someone buys it before I do, it will break my tiny little perfectionist heart!!

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3755577.htm

As for my GSS drops, I decided they were bottom heavy. I also haven't been wearing my (roughly) 2ctw K VS1/VS2 diamond studs set in yellow gold - which I love, but which were a bit small for me as a stand alone piece. So I decided to combine the two. The top will be these:



And the pearls will be added to sit juuuust below the studs. My favorite earring design for my face is very short, stubby, stud-style drops. These will exactly fit the bill and use 2 of my favorite pieces to make one super-awesome piece. And the pear and heart, currently attached to the GSSs, will be removed and once again I'll have to find something to do with them!

So that's the sort of thing I'm doing - refining, improving, enlarging - trying to create more individual, higher quality pieces. I've canned pretty much every other project I had planned to concentrate on this process and am getting rid of anything that doesn't fit this bill; I want to be left with exceptional pieces - beautiful, individual, classic...well, pieces like yours, really!

Sorry to reply on a post for yssie mrs-b but I just wanted to say how much I appreciate and enjoy hearing your design ideas and refinement of your existing pieces. I think you are very clever and wise with your choices.
I've gone back to the drawing board on the opal earrings design I was thinking about doing (where I separated that crystal opal in two) and I'll wait and make them a little more substantial later on rather than rush them for the sake of it now. I won't enjoy them if I don't make them awesome. Can't wait to see your new projects! And again sorry to hijack.