New project coming - help appreciated

[Dizzie]

Dear pearl friends,

This girl is finally ready to jump the pearl waters. I do not have much experience with pearls outside of FWP. I do have a nice pair of freshadama studs from PP and a couple of nice FWP necklaces, but not much experience with saltwater pearls yet.

Lately I have purchased some tiny diamond hoops and now would love to add some pearl drops to go with them.

I want to do two sets of drops:

1) WSS - at least 10-11 mm, great luster, I want to be able to see some orient in them ( I know this will not be easy with WSS, but I am set on WSS), round (or very slightly off round), I am ok with a couple of minor blemishes as long as they have one absolutely clear side.

2) tahitian drops - again at least 10-11mm, possibly larger , ideally not baroque, but I know that this might be necessary to get the overtones I really want. I would love to find a pair of great tahitians which look clearly peackock'y in natural daylight (outside of the lightbox).

My budget is not set yet. I will have a generous bonus payment coming next month, so I expect to have some flexibility here.

To all the pearl lovers on this forum - can you please guide this newbie - here are the questions I am facing right now:

who are the vendors to address with such project? ( I am happy to buy the pairs separately from different vendors of course)

What is approx budget I should plan for such project?

How can I insure that the luster of the petals will be actually up to my expectations in real life (vs lightbox photos)?

Many thanks in advance

 

[dk168]

Good luck with your project!

I too have a tiny pair of diamond huggies, purchased from the Diamond District in LA in 2016 which I was there attending a pearl-related event, and have been collecting pearl drops since then.

The issue I have is that, I am after drop-shaped pearls, and am very fussy with it comes to matching.

My holy grail is 4 pearls, 2 each of Tahitians and WSS, very well matched in shape, so that I could have 3 pairs out of 4 pearls, including a pair of mis-match ones.

I come to realise it is difficult enough to find well-matched pairs in either Tahitians or WSS, let alone 2 pairs that are well-matched enough to be interchangeable.

When I saw the mis-matched pairs on offer at Takahashi, I did not hesitate to contact them and bought one of the pairs, and am very happy with my purchase.

Earlier this year while I was at Tucson for the gem shows, I spent considerable time going through a large bag of loose Tahitians in order to find a pair of drop shaped ones for a pair. They are on their way back to me after they have been re-drilled to full drill as I had requested originally.

I wire-wrapped them myself using hair pins.

Here are the various drops I have so far:



The ones on the left are mixtures of CFWPs (the larger lavender and white drops), Akoyas (the smaller peach and white round ones), and a pair of paved diamond ones that I had custom-made in White Gold.

The ones on the right are my mis-matched Tahitian and WSS attached to my tiny huggies; 3 pairs of Tahitians (a pair of semi round, a pair of low grade drop shaped, and the larger ones which are are the new ones from Tucson), and a pair of white Edisons.

The white Edisons are just a tad too big for me as they touch my face when I wear them.

The mis-matched Takahashi pearls are the best ones in terms of size, and the new ones from Tucson will be great when I finally make them into drops.

Here is a pic of the Tucson pair on their own:



Here is a pic of the mis-matched pair as seen on Takahashi's website that made my heart skipped a beat and messaged them right away to ask if I could have them (the pair at the top):

My advice would be to have patience and take your time to find the ones you like.

You could contact the usual suspects such as PP, Takahashi etc. and ask them to find suitable pearls for you.

I keep an eye on Etsy vendors and had purchased inexpensive pairs from them, and the matching was very hit and miss. More for educational purposes I'd say.

Good luck!

DK

 

[Beagles]

What a timely Post! Just today I started thinking about white pearl drops to wear on my gold hoops. Not sure yet whether I want SS or akoyas but I will be following your search with interesr

 

[Dizzie]

Good luck with your project!

I too have a tiny pair of diamond huggies, purchased from the Diamond District in LA in 2016 which I was there attending a pearl-related event, and have been collecting pearl drops since then.

The issue I have is that, I am after drop-shaped pearls, and am very fussy with it comes to matching.

My holy grail is 4 pearls, 2 each of Tahitians and WSS, very well matched in shape, so that I could have 3 pairs out of 4 pearls, including a pair of mis-match ones.

I come to realise it is difficult enough to find well-matched pairs in either Tahitians or WSS, let alone 2 pairs that are well-matched enough to be interchangeable.

When I saw the mis-matched pairs on offer at Takahashi, I did not hesitate to contact them and bought one of the pairs, and am very happy with my purchase.

Earlier this year while I was at Tucson for the gem shows, I spent considerable time going through a large bag of loose Tahitians in order to find a pair of drop shaped ones for a pair. They are on their way back to me after they have been re-drilled to full drill as I had requested originally.

I wire-wrapped them myself using hair pins.

Here are the various drops I have so far:



The ones on the left are mixtures of CFWPs (the larger lavender and white drops), Akoyas (the smaller peach and white round ones), and a pair of paved diamond ones that I had custom-made in White Gold.

The ones on the right are my mis-matched Tahitian and WSS attached to my tiny huggies; 3 pairs of Tahitians (a pair of semi round, a pair of low grade drop shaped, and the larger ones which are are the new ones from Tucson), and a pair of white Edisons.

The white Edisons are just a tad too big for me as they touch my face when I wear them.

The mis-matched Takahashi pearls are the best ones in terms of size, and the new ones from Tucson will be great when I finally make them into drops.

Here is a pic of the Tucson pair on their own:



Here is a pic of the mis-matched pair as seen on Takahashi's website that made my heart skipped a beat and messaged them right away to ask if I could have them (the pair at the top):

My advice would be to have patience and take your time to find the ones you like.

You could contact the usual suspects such as PP, Takahashi etc. and ask them to find suitable pearls for you.

I keep an eye on Etsy vendors and had purchased inexpensive pairs from them, and the matching was very hit and miss. More for educational purposes I'd say.

Good luck!

DK

What a stunning collection. So lovely to share your experiences with me.

Love your mismatched pearls especially.


Now speaking of Takahashi and PP ( what would be other vendors to inquire to?) - would you recommend to inquire about both sets of Pais with each of them or do those vendors have their sweets spots in one or another type of pearls.

 

[Dizzie]

What a timely Post! Just today I started thinking about white pearl drops to wear on my gold hoops. Not sure yet whether I want SS or akoyas but I will be following your search with interesr

Lol , great minds think alike

 

[yssie]

I gots questions for ya

1. For the WSS. Is there a particular colour of overtone you really want to see, or a colour you don’t want to see?

2. For the Tahitians. So the thing about Tahitians… Even the absolute nicest Tahitians with the strongest overtone you could have won’t show their overtones in sunshine or spotlight-esque environments. Outdoors on a grey, cloudy, overcast day, absolutely. But not in sunlight. Are you okay with that?

 

[yssie]

Here are some WSS examples. If my first question isn’t clear. Posting without any explanation - are any of these “yes that” or “heck no” for you? Just in terms of overtone colour, ignoring size and luster.









I ask because if you have a specific strong colour preference that does actually change my vendor recommendation!

 

[Dizzie]

I gots questions for ya

1. For the WSS. Is there a particular colour of overtone you really want to see, or a colour you don’t want to see?

2. For the Tahitians. So the thing about Tahitians… Even the absolute nicest Tahitians with the strongest overtone you could have won’t show their overtones in sunshine or spotlight-esque environments. Outdoors on a grey, cloudy, overcast day, absolutely. But not in sunlight. Are you okay with that?

Oh many thanks for stating such relevant questions, @yssie!!! You are a queen of pearls !

Now to the answers:

1) for WSS my preference would be neutral to pinkish.
I found this picture on one of the pearl sites. The overtones of the two pearls on the left look pleasing to my eye, while the two pearls on the right is something that I would rather avoid (too creamyon one hand, too cool on the other hand)

2) now to the tahitians - thank you for drawing my attention to this fact. Yes, I will be fine with this fact. I just would love my earrings to be as colorful as possible in the normal indoor conditions (no spot lights)

 

[Dizzie]

Here are some WSS examples. If my first question isn’t clear. Posting without any explanation - are any of these “yes that” or “heck no” for you? Just in terms of overtone colour, ignoring size and luster.









I ask because if you have a specific strong colour preference that does actually change my vendor recommendation!

Oh gosh, @yssie - you are a dream. This is super helpful!!!

So just being guided by my gut feeling- (and of course they are all absolutely stunning!!)

First photo from the top - my eyes read those as fairly bluish, but I am drawn to the rainbow like appearance.

Second photo from the top - drawn to the very left pair ( which does seem to have some teal overtones, doesn't t it?)

Third photo - pair on the right.

Last photo - upper pair, as lower looks too bluish in this specific shot.

Lol my answers are probably all over the place. And I stated all the different pearls as my favorites

I have a feeling that the best would be somewhat neutral pair with strong overtones. I love when pearls have that rainbow'y look to them

 

[dk168]

What a stunning collection. So lovely to share your experiences with me.

Love your mismatched pearls especially.


Now speaking of Takahashi and PP ( what would be other vendors to inquire to?) - would you recommend to inquire about both sets of Pais with each of them or do those vendors have their sweets spots in one or another type of pearls.

I would spread your search over a number of trusted vendors - you just don't know when a suitable pair may appear!

I follow a number of Etsy vendors, including one of PSer's own shop:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/pearlzaustralia?ref=usf_2020

DK

 

[yssie]

This is actually super helpful! So my interpretation of your answers -
You really don’t care for a stronger blue/teal
You’re okay with a little blue, maybe if it’s just enough to cool a creamier body down
You like some pink
You don’t dislike green

So… My recommendation for the WSS - Pearl Paradise and Mikimoto.

The colours you like tend to actually be the colours Pearl Paradise stocks! Finding stronger teals from Pearl Paradise is basically a non-starter these days, but that’s not what you want - perfect. Definitely call or chat in and see what they’ve got!

Paspaley likes teal in their gemmies. Don’t bother.

Takahashi, if you’re at the point of caring about overtone enough to have opinions but you aren’t sure how those overtones translate in different lighting - I don’t love Takahashi for you. No return policy and limited photo lighting environments means they’re best for folks who either know exactly what they want or folks who don’t care all that much! Especially because in my (albeit anecdotal) experience the two reps who handle the English online requests do like a stronger/cooler blue… And something like overtone colour nuance is too easy to lose in translation. I'd probably wait to reach out until after talking to Pearl Paradise and maybe Mikimoto as well.

Mikimoto, significantly more expensive but if they have the colour you want, worth it IMO. And if you talk to the right SA - they can specialty source as well. Feel free to reach out (IG is best right now, I can’t even start to explain my current email woes LOL) if you’d like to chat SAs

 

[Dizzie]

This is actually super helpful! So my interpretation of your answers -
You really don’t care for a stronger blue/teal
You’re okay with a little blue, maybe if it’s just enough to cool a creamier body down
You like some pink
You don’t dislike green

So… My recommendation for the WSS - Pearl Paradise and Mikimoto.

The colours you like tend to actually be the colours Pearl Paradise stocks! Finding stronger teals from Pearl Paradise is basically a non-starter these days, but that’s not what you want - perfect. Definitely call or chat in and see what they’ve got!

Paspaley likes teal in their gemmies. Don’t bother.

Takahashi, if you’re at the point of caring about overtone enough to have opinions but you aren’t sure how those overtones translate in different lighting - I don’t love Takahashi for you. No return policy and limited photo lighting environments means they’re best for folks who either know exactly what they want or folks who don’t care all that much! Especially because in my (albeit anecdotal) experience the two reps who handle the English online requests do like a stronger/cooler blue… And something like overtone colour nuance is too easy to lose in translation. I'd probably wait to reach out until after talking to Pearl Paradise and maybe Mikimoto as well.

Mikimoto, significantly more expensive but if they have the colour you want, worth it IMO. And if you talk to the right SA - they can specialty source as well. Feel free to reach out (IG is best right now, I can’t even start to explain my current email woes LOL) if you’d like to chat SAs

This is incredibly helpful, @yssie !!! I will reach out to the vendors that you recommended and will keep this thread updated as soon as I have some options to discuss.

 

[Dizzie]

I would spread your search over a number of trusted vendors - you just don't know when a suitable pair may appear!

I follow a number of Etsy vendors, including one of PSer's own shop:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/pearlzaustralia?ref=usf_2020

DK

This is a great hint, @dk168 !!! Greatly appreciated. I will definitely check this shop out

 

[katbran]

Thank you DK Very kind of you ! Most of my pearls aren't on my ETSY shop as I tend to put everything pearl related on IG . I would also say that Most Australian SS tend to be White with faint pink orient... there is also a green orient with some white.
Drop shapes are wildly different - some look quite oval and then they can taper to a proper tear drop in others. It's actually not that easy to find good drop shapes so I tend to just buy them whenever I find a pair and tuck them away. Farms are getting so good at producing Round pearls the other shapes seem to be dropping off ( pardon the poor pun)

 

[yssie]

@katbran May I ask a question? I had this thought earlier today but I wasn’t sure if it would be okay to ask.

If an international customer wants to return something, is that an option? I know that that can get really challenging for smaller vendors, perhaps if the customer comped the shipping charges and customs fees or something? Or is that maybe case by case?

I personally would be happy to buy my own pearls from you any time because I trust your eyes and I trust that I can translate what you describe and your (tons!!) of photos into what I’d see myself. That’s such a difficult thing to do when you’re in that weird middle ground though, where you care enough to have an opinion but you aren’t quite sure what that means for you IRL. I don’t even want to think about how much money I could have saved had I been able to skip that step!

If this is not appropriate to ask here no worries. I’m reporting my post to the mods as well in case I’m asking you something that’d make you break the rules here to answer.

 

[dk168]

Drop shapes are wildly different - some look quite oval and then they can taper to a proper tear drop in others. It's actually not that easy to find good drop shapes so I tend to just buy them whenever I find a pair and tuck them away.

Tell me about it, hence it has taken me a long time to find drop shaped pairs that I like!

One more pair on my list which is a pair of WSS, and I shall keep a closer look at your IG page.

DK

 

[katbran]

Yssie
I'll message on IG

 

[Dizzie]

So excited, I have send my requests to Pearl Paradise and Mikimoto during the last few days, so I am super excited to see what will they come up with. Also in the next few days I will go and see what some higher end shop local to me have to offer to gauge my eye a bit. Many thanks to everyone who chimed in so far

 

[mamong]

Not sure if this would be helpful. I have some pictures of Paspaley pearls in different lighting.
In the first two pictures: the fun wonky shape bracelet, keshi and button studs are from Paspaley and the pair of baroque wss is from Takahashi (from their IG I saw they also have whiter wss). I’m absolutely drawn to Paspaley pearls. Never feeling bored looking at them

 

[Dizzie]

Not sure if this would be helpful. I have some pictures of Paspaley pearls in different lighting.
In the first two pictures: the fun wonky shape bracelet, keshi and button studs are from Paspaley and the pair of baroque wss is from Takahashi (from their IG I saw they also have whiter wss). I’m absolutely drawn to Paspaley pearls. Never feeling bored looking at them

What a gorgeous collection, @mamong. So happy to read that you love them so much. Definitely makes them keepers

 

[Dizzie]

A quick update on the search. I am still waiting on the input from Pearl Paradise, though I ruled out Mikimoto. They came with suggestions between USD 6000- USD 9000 for the two pearls (albeit set in earrings) so I felt that I can for sure make a better deal elsewhere . Going for some window shopping with local dealers this weekend

 

[yssie]

Yeah. Mikimoto is even more expensive than Paspaley - I’m actually pleasantly surprised by the low end of your price quote. Not gonna lie.

If they had THE pair of WSS that made your heart beat faster, and of course if you’ve got that sort of budget… WSS are the sort of thing that once you get into a certain tier of quality and requirements - if you find #YourPerfectPearls you just buy them ‘cause you won’t ever find them again. Scarce little buggers.

But if they don’t have #YourPerfectPearls there is no good reason to spend that much. Pearl Paradise was my first choice for you too, if they have what you want then you’ll do very well on value for cost. If they don’t, well, then you can expand the search at that point.

Fingers crossed Pearl Paradise has what you’re after!!

 

[Dizzie]

Thank you so much for your input, yssie. You are right - when there is a right pearl coming along one should grab it.

 

[Dizzie]

Now to some eye candy.

I got the first batch of photos from vendors.

First come the stunning WSS drops. They are awesome, with incredible luster, but I am set on rounds.


Then Tahitians - here are some stunning options that I need a critical eye to look at

 

[Dizzie]

More eye goodie coming in - I quite love the round pairs. Tahitians are looking a tad too pale in comparison, though look a tad better matched.

 

[dk168]

More eye goodie coming in - I quite love the round pairs. Tahitians are looking a tad too pale in comparison, though look a tad better matched.

Pass on the Tahitians, however, I quite like the WSS especially "A" at the top.

Personal preferences and all that.

DK

 

[NY_Resonant]

My personal views: Pass on all tahitians.

With regards to the WSS, I only like 1 pearl unfortunately. C row, the pearl on the right. The one of the left unfortunately has the worst luster out of all 6 pearls (Noticeably worse) AND doesn’t seem to match overtones well in the sunlight picture.

Row A and B are too green for my personal tastes. Row A, the right pearl also seems to have a so-so smooth skin (Look around the sun in pic).

Maybe vendor can find another pearl to go with the C row-right pearl?

 

[lovedogs]

I really like the B pair of the WSS, but that's just my personal preference. I would pass on the tahitians if I were you

 

[yssie]

Are you able to have these WSS rounds shipped out to look at in-person? Pearl Paradise has a very generous return policy.

Here's the thing... And this is the sort of thing you kinda gotta answer for yourself, noone else can answer for you... All of these pairs are 80% of the way to exceptional. You know that 80/20 cliche - you'll spend 20% of your time getting to 80% of finished, and then 80% of your time getting the rest of the 20% there? Pearl vendors are a lot like that - here you've got 80% of the way to exceptional at 20% of the cost, and if you want better (better matched, more pink & silver, more lustrous) you'll probably have to spend 80% of the cost to accomplish that...

For some of us, we'll spend the 80% more for the 20% improvement because that 20% improvement yields so much extra enjoyment. For others that return on investment isn't worth it. No wrong answers!!

If you can swing taking a look at two pairs in-person i'd vote top and bottom pairs, because the middle pair is very warm (creamy body with a green overtone) and it sounded like that wasn't your initial preference. At the very least you'll find out if you do or don't like these WSS colours

 

[Dizzie]

Thank you so much, to @dk168, @NY_Resonant , @lovedogs and @yssie.

I appreciate your opinions greatly.

I wanted to provide you the latest update on my search process. I have received some more WSS options to consider.



Indeed, as @yssie mentioned the search for the pearls that make one's heart sing. Unfortunately none of the pearls above were the ones that really made me smile.

I decided to pass on all the suggested WSS options from online vendors.