Pearl earrings, what type of pearl?

[MakingTheGrade]

I"m looking to get a pair of white pearl earrings, budget 400-600$, but there are so many options for white pearls!

So I''m wondering what you guys might get with that budget? Akoya? Freshwater? Wait for a sale to get South sea?

 

[Indylady]

What kind of a size range are you looking for? Are you interested in having a particular brand or color?

For freshwaters, $400 is probably way more than you would need.
9.5-10mm Freshadama''s are around $115 and 9-10mm of the Presidential line freshwaters from Pearls of Joy are $150.

For akoyas, if you want to look at Mikimoto studs, the 7mm A+ are about $360 and the 7.5 A+ are $610.
-Blue Nile Premier akoyas are about $330 for 7-7.5mm studs.
-Tiffany has 6.5-7mm studs for $325.
-Pearl Outlet has 8-8.5mm AAA studs for $225.

The info above definitely has a large range of sizes; my goal in picking the pieces was to stay under budget and therefore looks really scattered in terms of actual specs.

Golden southseas are generally cheaper than white southseas, and would probably be easy to accommodate within your budget, but I don''t think that smaller white southseas (around 9-10mm) are necessarily out of reach either.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I''m helping a friend pick out a pair as a birthday gift for his girlfriend who is pretty petite, so I think 7mm would be a good size.

Are all Mikimoto pearls Hanadama Akoya Pearls?
How are the quality of the Tiffany pearls?

Haha, my friend really doesn''t know much about pearls (neither do I really), all he said was "nice white pearl earrings". And I get the feeling he''s trying to impress this girl, lol.

So we were considering whether to go for the nicer/pricier pearls (like Southsea over freshwater), or to get freshwater pearls and use the extra budget to get earrings that had diamond accents. I''m not really a pearl or diamond girl, so I don''t really know what the average gal might find more "impressive", lol.

Thanks for helping!

 

[innerkitten]

You can probably get more bang for your buck with freshadamas. I am a huge fan of South sea pearls too.

 

[Indylady]

Don''t quote me on this, but it is my understanding that only entire strands are given Hanadama certification, and not studs or even bracelets. Your friend might want to give them a call, from my experience the sales associates from Mikimoto America have been very helpful.

And I don''t think that the Tiffany website has their quality ratings listed.

For the wow factor, I think I would go with Mikimoto, though you could find the quality elsewhere for less, I think a pair of Mikimoto studs would be so nice as a birthday surprise, and be under his budget anyway. If he really wanted to hit or go over $400, he could go up on the quality on the 7mm.

 

[CDNinNYC]

Date: 5/17/2009 12:50:51 AM
Author: szh07
Don''t quote me on this, but it is my understanding that only entire strands are given Hanadama certification, and not studs or even bracelets. Your friend might want to give them a call, from my experience the sales associates from Mikimoto America have been very helpful.


And I don''t think that the Tiffany website has their quality ratings listed.


For the wow factor, I think I would go with Mikimoto, though you could find the quality elsewhere for less, I think a pair of Mikimoto studs would be so nice as a birthday surprise, and be under his budget anyway. If he really wanted to hit or go over $400, he could go up on the quality on the 7mm.

Pearl Paradise is now carrying Hanadama studs. I bought a pair from them and received the Hanadama certification.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I looked on pearl paradise but they seemed all sold out

 

[Indylady]

Wow CDNinNYC! That is awesome! I would love to see some pictures!

MakingTheGrade, so sorry I was wrong about the Hanadama certification. It is so unfortunate that they are out of stock, at $225 for the 7-7.5mm, they seem like a great deal!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Hmm...if I wanted to get best bang for buck, definitely Freshadamas. I adore mine.

But if I was REALLY going all out - hello white South Sea pearls!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Hehe, well I told my friend to see what kind of pearls the gal currently wears. South sea pearls have a softer luster than freshwater or akoyas, so if she likes those she might not like the south sea ones as much.


I must say, I''m kind of falling for the golden south sea pearls! I don''t know if it''s work with my chinese skintone though (I''m on the paler end of the spectrum though).

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 5/17/2009 9:40:31 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
Hehe, well I told my friend to see what kind of pearls the gal currently wears. South sea pearls have a softer luster than freshwater or akoyas, so if she likes those she might not like the south sea ones as much.



I must say, I''m kind of falling for the golden south sea pearls! I don''t know if it''s work with my chinese skintone though (I''m on the paler end of the spectrum though).

MTG, I was actually looking at the gold ones too (just because they''re so different from anything I have - I only have white and black pearls). I think they''ll work well - I''m Korean, and I''m on the darker side, but I found that yellow gold complements my skin, and the yellow undertones, really well (I just happen not to wear it, that''s all

). And the gold South Seas are a dark enough gold that I think it''ll work well with lighter Asian skin as well. Very rich looking!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Thanks BEG! I think I might recommend my friend get the freshdamas, and save the extra cash for a nicer gift down the road (they've only been dating a few months).

I might ask my fiance to not get me anything for christmas/valentines/my birthday next year, and instead save up for a nice golden south sea pearl pendant for our 1 yr wedding anniversary next summer. He got me a pendant for our 1st dating anniversary, so I thought it'd be cute if he got me another pendant for our 1st wedding anniversary.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Maybe he could get her the Freshadama earrings and a bracelet. But if he wants to give her expensive ones to impress her, then I''d go with high quality Mikimoto or Tiffany at 7-8mm. South Sea are too big for me to wear as studs.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Good point, the South seas do tend to come bigger. Although I don''t know if he''s set on studs, he might do dangles.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

One other thought is, since they haven''t been dating too long, he should start with the Freshadamas. So that later down the line, he can always impress her with an even bigger gift (the South Seas). Work up to it