Nice big pearl for a little boy

[mellowyellowgirl]

Hallo!

I have a child who is fascinated with pearls and keeps trying to find one at the beach!

I would like to pop a pretty pearl into his stocking this year. Any idea where I can get a nice large, reasonably priced one that is real.

He doesn't care if they're grown as long as it came from an oyster and looks pretty.

Many thanks!

 

[yssie]

Etsy

If he wants big and likes chunky funky shapes, search for "fireball" pearls. They're freshwaters (real pearls! And with natural colours - came out of the oyster coloured that way!) and can run anywhere from $15 to $200+... But I'm assuming you'd prefer to stay on the as-low-as-possible end of that range for a child's stocking stuffer... Random example so you can see what they look like, ish. Reputable seller but not the cheapest.

Large Size Purple and Gold Rainbow Water Droplet Edison Pearls Natural Metallic Baroque Pairs High Luster Freshwater Pearl for Your Design - Etsy

One picture corresponds to one product. Item: water droplet edison pearls 1 Pair Pearl Shape: water droplet Pearl Size: 14.3mm（W) 15.3mm（L) Pearl Color: Purple and Gold Rainbow，strong natural metallic. Hole size: No Hole Undrilled, please note or message me for drilling. I hope to provide

www.etsy.com

If he'd like more round-ish big pearls - "edison". About the same price range. Another random example. Reputable seller but again not the cheapest.

100% Natural Color, Edison Loose Pearls 10mm 13mm, A 177 - Etsy

This Gemstones item by AlohaPearlsHawaii has 576 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Kaneohe, HI. Listed on Mar 21, 2024

www.etsy.com

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Thank you so much @yssie

That is exactly the type of information I need!!!

I had no idea where to start!

 

[Pearlescence]

Any young person can easily wear a single pearl on a leather string, and they are stocked by most pearl suppliers.
To make it more 'real' to your son you could consider such an item from Kamoka, a pearl farm on Ahé in French Polynesia. I suspect the pearl farmer, josh, would be intrigued and do something special.

 

[Ionysis]

What a lovely idea. My 10 year old was obsessed with star sapphires so I bought her a tiny one for her stocking last year. She loved it. I’m sure your little boy will be so happy with his Pearl.

 

[dk168]

Etsy would be my suggestion too, and I have had reasonable purchases from these two vendors:

WillPearlJewelry - Etsy UK

Shop Wholesale Tahitian/Freshwater/Akoya/Southsea Pearls by WillPearlJewelry located in United States. Smooth dispatch! Has a history of dispatching on time with tracking. Speedy replies! Has a history of replying to messages quickly. Rave reviews! Average review rating is 4.8 or higher

www.etsy.com

and

WenPearls - Etsy UK

Shop Freshwater-Tahitian-South%2525252525252BSea-Akoya%2525252525252BPearls-WHOLESALE by WenPearls located in Yiwu, China. Smooth dispatch! Has a history of dispatching on time with tracking. Rave reviews! Average review rating is 4.8 or higher

www.etsy.com

One can also get "pearl in an oyster", however, they are naff and not authentic, especially when multi-colours are being offered as one cannot dye the pearls while they are still inside the oysters! Therefore, I shan't recommend them.

How about a shell with blister pearls? They are quite large and inexpensive and look pretty too. Again, try looking in Etsy.

Good luck with your search.

DK

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

@Pearlescence that website you recommended looks awesome. I really wanted their shell and pearl (no oyster meat etc they had a clean shell and it comes with a storage bag. Would have been perfect) but unfortunately postage costs are huge to Australia.

@dk168 Wen Pearls place has affordable Edison’s. I’m pondering whether to hold out for undrilled ones from somewhere or to buy the ones from this site. I need to work out whether the holes would bother him.

Hehe I saw something that looked really awesome initially. That Pearl in an oyster you mentioned. I thought it was just the shell but turns out it’s like a fully shrink wrapped oyster with meat! No way that would get past customs. Lol knowing Aussie customs they’d freak the heck out over that!

@Ionysis he takes all his little gems out and gets his grubby paws on them and then packs them all away. He has just as much fun as I do with my gems.

 

[Pearlescence]

No no no. Shrink-wrapped oysters with meat are a complete con. fakes and preserved in formaldyhyde.
If you are in Australia And since you asked, look for pearlzaustralia on etsy - I'm sure she will be able to sort something for you, either drilled or undrilled.

 

[CircularBrilliant]

When I was little, my parents took me to an amusement park where you could pick an oyster and get the pearl out of it (you picked the oyster yourself, and a staff member did the actual retrieving of the pearl from it). It wasn't a high quality pearl by any means, but the experience was so fun and I really loved it (and still have that pearl decades later!) Maybe there's a place near you that has something similar?

 

[Pearlescence]

That is what I was no no no no no no-ing about. It is a total scam. The oysters (usually akoya) are killed then any old pearl is shoved in, often deep dyed ones. and the oyster killed with chemicals which make it close tightly and preserved with formaldyhyde. At least you didn't get a dunk with the poisons.
I could get you one for a dollar but I won't

 

[yssie]

I was reading some about those pick-your-oyster deals… Something about how they preserve the oyster with the FW pearl inside (so it doesn’t decompose whilst waiting for a tourist to choose it) potentially being so toxic that some vendors won’t even drill these pearls!! And instead provide only cage style pendant mounts. That’s a kind of scary thought! The sales line is of course that it’s a rare and special specimen, it would be such a pity to destroy it by drilling it.

 

[CircularBrilliant]

That is what I was no no no no no no-ing about. It is a total scam. The oysters (usually akoya) are killed then any old pearl is shoved in, often deep dyed ones. and the oyster killed with chemicals which make it close tightly and preserved with formaldyhyde. At least you didn't get a dunk with the poisons.
I could get you one for a dollar but I won't

I was reading some about those pick-your-oyster deals… Something about how they preserve the oyster with the FW pearl inside (so it doesn’t decompose whilst waiting for a tourist to choose it) potentially being so toxic that some vendors won’t even drill these pearls!! And instead provide only cage style pendant mounts. That’s a kind of scary thought! The sales line is of course that it’s a rare and special specimen, it would be such a pity to destroy it by drilling it.

Whelp...thank you both for destroying one of my happy childhood memories lol. I had no idea! I retract my suggestion, but reserve the right to continue to hold onto and enjoy my pearl

 

[yssie]

Totally not my intent @CircularBrilliant - you keep right on loving that pearl and cherishing that memory

FWIW I think the commercialization and globalization of most experiences has made selling them a lot more… I don’t know what the word is, diabolical maybe? The last decade or two. Now it feels like so many experiences are about bang for the lowest possible buck and d*mn all else. I would totally believe that something like pick-your-pearl was just done differently - less potentially dangerously, more humanely, less sleazily (is that a word) - a decade ago.

 

[CircularBrilliant]

Totally not my intent @CircularBrilliant - you keep right on loving that pearl and cherishing that memory

FWIW I think the commercialization and globalization of most experiences has made selling them a lot more… I don’t know what the word is, diabolical maybe? The last decade or two. Now it feels like so many experiences are about bang for the lowest possible buck and d*mn all else. I would totally believe that something like pick-your-pearl was just done differently - less potentially dangerously, more humanely, less sleazily (is that a word) - a decade ago.

<3 I know you didn't! And I suppose if I had applied critical thinking to the experience over these past decades, I would have realized something was suspicious about the park having available a bunch of oysters all with pearls in them...

 

[yssie]

<3 I know you didn't! And I suppose if I had applied critical thinking to the experience over these past decades, I would have realized something was suspicious about the park having available a bunch of oysters all with pearls in them…

So I’ve heard of using ultrasound to see if there’s caviar… I wonder if you could give an oyster an ultrasound to see if there’s a pearl? An xray would probably kill it right?

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

How about Catherine Cardellini? I think she in Australia.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Pearlescence]

Whelp...thank you both for destroying one of my happy childhood memories lol. I had no idea! I retract my suggestion, but reserve the right to continue to hold onto and enjoy my pearl

Oh dear, that was in no way my intention. I apologise.
The mania about pick a pearl has died down a bit, it was all over facebook last year and I got daily emails asking about the valuations these get rich quick merchants were putting on dyed dull potato freshwater pearls. I did the information for a BBC consumer programme on it. So it is a bit of a raw nerve still and I was harsh.
They probably don't drill them simply because they can't - no drill. They don't usually know anything about pearls. They were part of some pretty fierce pyramid supply chains.
Yssie, pearls are routinely x-rayed at pearl farms to see if the graft has worked

 

[CircularBrilliant]

Oh dear, that was in no way my intention. I apologise.
The mania about pick a pearl has died down a bit, it was all over facebook last year and I got daily emails asking about the valuations these get rich quick merchants were putting on dyed dull potato freshwater pearls. I did the information for a BBC consumer programme on it. So it is a bit of a raw nerve still and I was harsh.
They probably don't drill them simply because they can't - no drill. They don't usually know anything about pearls. They were part of some pretty fierce pyramid supply chains.
Yssie, pearls are routinely x-rayed at pearl farms to see if the graft has worked

No worries! I never thought to question how so many oysters with pearls were available. I figured ones with pearls like mine (small, natural white) were just very common. Incidentally, they did drill it for me in case I wanted to pop it into jewelry. I never did--I loved that little guy and crotcheted him his own pouch, which continues to house him to this day I'm glad to know the truth about how it works now, though. Better to be informed than not, even if the truth is unpleasant.

 

[dk168]

Ha! I still have my collection of pearls that came with the oysters I picked from a pearl jewellery shop where my ex-hubby and his family lived and still live.

The shop has long gone, and it was where my first significant strand of pearls was purchased. And yes, we paid over the odds for a nice strand of dyed Akoyas!

That was back in the mid 90s before I knew about pearls, hey ho!

I intend to have the pearls made into a pendant of some sort, as they have sentimental value.

DK

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Ha! I still have my collection of pearls that came with the oysters I picked from a pearl jewellery shop where my ex-hubby and his family lived and still live.

The shop has long gone, and it was where my first significant strand of pearls was purchased. And yes, we paid over the odds for a nice strand of dyed Akoyas!

That was back in the mid 90s before I knew about pearls, hey ho!

I intend to have the pearls made into a pendant of some sort, as they have sentimental value.

DK

my dyed freshwater station necklace was $300 back in 2000, when that was almost a week's wages
we have all learnt and moved on

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

@mellowyellowgirl if you do deside to buy something from Wen it arrives so quickly
like under 10 days

 

[Sparkledrops]

That is something really cool to collect!

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

@mellowyellowgirl Please tell Santa that I too would love to find pearls in my stocking!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Thank you everyone! I managed to find a single, undrilled 10mm pearl.

It has an imperfection but it was relatively inexpensive.

I'll post pictures when it arrives!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Sorry everyone!!!

The pearl arrived, complete with a beautiful bag, perfect for his Christmas stocking!



Ermmm......I also got distracted and bought a few things for myself!




First time I've owned any pearls!!!!!

They are so solid!

I really like the necklace (love the colors) but the earrings ...... Omg the earrings are EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

I'm mad mad mad about the earrings!!! They are dangly and the one giant pearl is so awesome and fun!!!!!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Sorry everyone!!!

The pearl arrived, complete with a beautiful bag, perfect for his Christmas stocking!



Ermmm......I also got distracted and bought a few things for myself!




First time I've owned any pearls!!!!!

They are so solid!

I really like the necklace (love the colors) but the earrings ...... Omg the earrings are EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

I'm mad mad mad about the earrings!!! They are dangly and the one giant pearl is so awesome and fun!!!!!

they look wondeful on you
and i bet the vendor had lots of fun finding that one giant pearl

 

[katbran]

Thanks very much my dear ! I'm so glad the big pearl was a hit and it will be a great xmas present. I knew you would be mad about those earrings. I only had two pair that I'd found in Hong Kong that had such mirror lustre and that fabulous Champange /white colour. Sadly both are gone, but to happy homes ! And as I said you will get lots of wear from that pretty multicolour strand. Enjoy and feel free to come back anytime ... the pearl bug has bitten !!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Thanks very much my dear ! I'm so glad the big pearl was a hit and it will be a great xmas present. I knew you would be mad about those earrings. I only had two pair that I'd found in Hong Kong that had such mirror lustre and that fabulous Champange /white colour. Sadly both are gone, but to happy homes ! And as I said you will get lots of wear from that pretty multicolour strand. Enjoy and feel free to come back anytime ... the pearl bug has bitten !!

I'm hiding them from my sister! Just wore them out today but she's over this afternoon so I'm just going to take them off now!!!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thanks very much my dear ! I'm so glad the big pearl was a hit and it will be a great xmas present. I knew you would be mad about those earrings. I only had two pair that I'd found in Hong Kong that had such mirror lustre and that fabulous Champange /white colour. Sadly both are gone, but to happy homes ! And as I said you will get lots of wear from that pretty multicolour strand. Enjoy and feel free to come back anytime ... the pearl bug has bitten !!

this is all so cool
i forgot that the pearl came from you

 

[katbran]

Ha! No worries ! Using Katbran here and Pearlzaustralia on IG and Etsy it's easy to get turned around ! I'm just glad you loved those metallic lustre earrings - those pearls were stunners !