Nice experience at Tasaki London and images

[Bravissimo]

Just wanted to drop in and report on a nice experience at Tasaki in London. Sales staff were very kind. Here are some images. I did not make a purchase but was impressed with their pearls. Here’s some pictures for y’all. I was looking for a slightly longer strand of 8mm akoyas like 20 inches rather than 18 but they went by centimeter and it looked like I needed to do a big jump up and probably buy a strand to double up for a longer length. Regardless they were nice and let me photograph.

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

Wow, I know near nothing about pearls but these are so beautiful to me!

 

[yssie]

I’ve not seen any Tasaki pearls myself but they have an excellent reputation, I’d love to one day

 

[katbran]

I'm surprised they couldn't make you a 20" necklace. It's quite a waste to have to purchase 16' in order to get the additional 2' ... You could always have a bracelet and tin cup made for the last 14' but still it's money you hadn't planned on spending.

 

[Bravissimo]

Wow, I know near nothing about pearls but these are so beautiful to me!

They were quite nice. My aunt keeps saying she’s sending me some mikimotos from my grandmother so I’m waiting for those but I see these in my future. Might reach out to Pearl paradise to compare.

 

[Bravissimo]

I'm surprised they couldn't make you a 20" necklace. It's quite a waste to have to purchase 16' in order to get the additional 2' ... You could always have a bracelet and tin cup made for the last 14' but still it's money you hadn't planned on spending.

Right. And I am not a bracelet person. Or I am but they’re gold and would mess up pearls.

 

[Pearlescence]

I am also surprised. It's completely basic and makes me wonder how much they ,manufacture themselves.

 

[Bravissimo]

Just dropping in to say I shopped Mikimotos today. Honestly, I could not tell a difference in 8mm akoyas between AA and AAA. Also Mikimotos did not seem any nicer than Tasaki. However they could make specific length strands whereas Taskaki could not. I ended up with a random SA and tried talking to him about overtones as the A+ one was whiter than the pinkier AA and AAA. He was like you are only seeing that because they are next to each other. No discussion re what looked best on me.

I think I am going to wait until we go to Japan. Or maybe send my BF over to buy for me. He says the yen is down. To me that should mean pearl prices should drop. Has anyone noticed?

 

[katbran]

I'm not sure about Akoya prices but South Sea Whites have gone up 30-50% over the past year. Covid had a huge impact on farming - workers couldn't travel and all the other restrictions meant few pearls went into the water..... smaller harvests are bigger prices. And as we know...once prices go up they seldom come down..

I would be surprised if this hasn't effected Akoya prices to some degree. The yen is at a 24 year low so even if prices have increased ..the dollar should cover it.
I'm about even with the Yen so it's nice

 

[Gabor]

Yes, the USD is at a historic high, and while Americans are in a buying frenzy for second homes in Europe at discounted prices I don't think we're going to see Mikimotos or Tasakis lowering their prices in the US or London for that matter. I think you will see the biggest value for the strong dollar only if you go to Japan and shop there for Japanese products at prices set for the Japanese consumer shopping in Yen, same as the Americans buying pied-a-terres' in Paris at prices set in the local currency. By some strange logic, in spite of a historically low Yen and historically strong dollar, we'll still continue to see rising prices on Mikis in the western hemisphere at least. Actually, just yesterday I was looking at a post by Yssie showing Mikimoto studs with price tags attached and I could see that the prices today, about a year later, are already higher than last year. So no, no lowering prices on Akoyas at least...If you can go to Japan and shop there.