Placed order for my first pearls, but didn't quite think it through...

[Babyblue033]

Like my subject line, I just placed my order with Pearl Paradise for my very first pearl strand & studs, but I didn't think it through before I placed my order and now I'm slightly anxious. I was rushing a bit because I finally got DH to agree to get me these for Mother's Day (he realized it was a week away and he hasn't actually figured out what to get me yet...), then after I already placed the order I started having second thoughts and wondering if I bought the right things...

So in the morning I purchased:
8.5-9.0 mm AAA White Freshwater Necklace - in 16" & 18" because I'm not sure which length I would like better.
8.5-9.0 mm AAA White Freshwater Pearl Stud Earrings

Then later in the day I was thinking I should've actually bought Akoya studs for a little more money. I would've loved to get Akoya strands but I wasn't ready to spend so much for my first pearls, but for studs, wouldn't it be nice to get Akoyas? So I messaged Pearl Paradise to see if I can change my order but was told my order was already in process and due to unusual high activity, they don't think they can change my existing order. No problem, I can just order the Akoya studs separately and return the other ones after I get them.

But the bigger anxiety is the fact that with my original order, I didn't think about overtones and did not make any special request. I would like them to be as "white" as possible, which I assume means silver overtone, but more importantly I just don't want it to be "creamy".

Obviously I can easily return/exchange if I don't like them, but any idea what I might expect to receive given no special request for overtone? For all I know it'll be white enough as is and all this is moot point, but given I know so little about pearls (I've been reading this forum non stop for the past few weeks) and this is my first order, I was just feeling extra anxious about it. Also worried how things will match since I ordered FWP strands with Akoya studs.

Sorry for the long post, excuse my first time jitters!

 

[pearlsngems]

It's easier to match earrings and necklaces when they are all there together. Matching afterward becomes a bit trickier, unless one sends one's items back to be matched.

But since you ordered akoya studs the same day as the necklaces, I would think they would match them with your strands.

So...if you bought regular (pinked) akoya studs (not the natural white hanadama), I'm thinking it's likely you will get fwp with rose overtones since they would match the studs better, and rose overtones are probably the most popular. Rose overtones look white against the skin. I don't think they would default to cream overtones, if they were not requested specifically.

Mind you, I don't think it matters a lot if the studs and the necklace match perfectly in overtone, since the ears are a distance from the neck.

If the rose overtones don't work for you, you can return the pearls and try again. But a lot of people find rose overtones flattering, which is why virtually all akoyas are pinked.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

My thought is that since it is two separate orders, they won't even be trying to match the akoya studs to your first order because of the quantity of orders that they have. I think the fw studs are going to match your necklace better regardless. But once you get them, you can see for sure and return the ones you don't want. I'd personally wait and get the akoya earrings when you buy an akoya necklace so those will match. My akoya studs are totally different than my fw ones.

 

[Babyblue033]

Mind you, I don't think it matters a lot if the studs and the necklace match perfectly in overtone, since the ears are a distance from the neck.

Interesting you say that, I'll see just how much it bothers me once I receive them and go from there.

My thought is that since it is two separate orders, they won't even be trying to match the akoya studs to your first order because of the quantity of orders that they have. I think the fw studs are going to match your necklace better regardless.

That's what I thought as well. I really wish I waited to place my order until I had everything figured out, live and learn I guess. Pearls are hard!

But once you get them, you can see for sure and return the ones you don't want. I'd personally wait and get the akoya earrings when you buy an akoya necklace so those will match. My akoya studs are totally different than my fw ones.

I guess I'll wait and see what I receive. I have yet to see any decent pearls in person yet so it'll be interesting to at least see these 2 to compare and see what I like. My assumption is that I'll like the Akoya studs better but FW will match better.

I'm gonna be on pins and needles until I receive these!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I'd say that is true for me! I love the bright white of my akoya studs but the Freshadama likely will match the fw necklace I ordered better! But pearlsngems is right that they don't necessarily have to match perfectly, so you can try them on and see!

 

[Babyblue033]

Bit of an update. I'm afraid my first pearl journey isn't quite over yet.

So I received the FW necklaces in 2 lengths, FW studs, and Akoya studs. I think after reading these forums for weeks and looking at all those photos of everyone's lovelies, I've gotten rather spoiled and my expectations set too high

FW necklaces are nice, but didn't wow me at all. On top of that, 16" & 18" weren't quite the same and 16" was slightly whiter while 18" had better luster. Talk about confusing a newbie At least now I'm sure that I prefer 18". Biggest thing of course was that neither were quite white enough for my liking, which I was kind of expecting.

Akoya studs arrived a day later than the rest, so I was fully expecting that to wow me in comparison and I was considering ordering Akoya strands based on those. They were definitely whiter with better luster, but not as much as I would've expected.

After overall an underwhelming experience so far, I spoke with customer service at PP and decided to go all out in hopes that I can find something that meets my high expectations. So now I'm waiting for Hanadama strand & earrings set in 8.5-9mm. Quite a jump I admit, but I figured I didn't want to go half way and not be disappointed again. Pretty crazy and impulsive on my part, especially given that this is my first pearl purchase, but I was a bit tired of not finding something that made my heart sing.

If I don't like those either, then I'll consider myself a non-pearl person and just go with costume pearls from now on

 

[pearlsngems]

That is a significant upgrade! I hope they are all you wish for!

 

[cmd2014]

The beautiful thing is that it’s risk free. If you don’t love them, send them back.

 

[Rubybrick]

Looking forward to see your hanadama, I am glad you didn’t keep the ones that didn’t make your heart sing.

 

[CareBear]

@Babyblue033 I TOTALLY get how you feel! I purchased a 7.5-8mm non-Hamadama akoya strand and 8.5 earrings from PP and I felt underwhelmed as well! I don't know if it is the size, or the rose overtone, or the need for more luster. Or maybe I just don't love akoyas? Waiting to see how you feel about your 8.5-9 Hanadamas!

 

[Babyblue033]

The beautiful thing is that it’s risk free. If you don’t love them, send them back.

I do feel bad but at least I did buy/keep 2 Tahitian pendants for my mom & MIL, and at the end of the day I'll keep a set of necklace & earrings.

@Babyblue033 I TOTALLY get how you feel! I purchased a 7.5-8mm non-Hamadama akoya strand and 8.5 earrings from PP and I felt underwhelmed as well! I don't know if it is the size, or the rose overtone, or the need for more luster. Or maybe I just don't love akoyas? Waiting to see how you feel about your 8.5-9 Hanadamas!

I'll let you know once I get them. At the end of the day I'll either keep Hanadama set because they are everything I expected, or just keep the original FW set because at that point I clearly have unrealistic expectations and there's no point in having something so nice that I can't appreciate

 

[cmd2014]

Don’t feel bad about sending things back. I have kept things that weren’t 100% perfect because of that, and they just end up sitting unworn in my drawer. I think of them with buyers remorse if I am being honest. Now I am much better at not keeping anything that doesn’t wow me. Online vendors offer the return policies they do because it is near impossible to judge pearls based on a light box photo, and people wouldn’t buy if the purchase wasn’t risk free. So I imagine they expect a certain percentage of returns.

ETA: Keep in mind too that some people just don’t like round white pearls. If you find that’s you, send them all back. Don’t keep anything you don’t love.

 

[pearlsngems]

Definitely don't keep anything you don't love.

But do take them out of the box before you judge them! The black velvet background just swallows up all the luster. Put them on, wear them in different rooms, indoors, outdoors, sun, shade, with different clothes. Wait a couple of days to decide.

Some of my favorite pearls looked truly disappointing when I first opened the box!

 

[lambskin]

Can't wait to see what you got and hear if you are happy.

 

[Babyblue033]

Oh boy, I admit I'm now just being ridiculous because I'm quite done...

First, pictures.
AAA Freshwater vs Hanadama.


On my wrist, Hanadama on the left & FW on the right.

FW on top, Hanadama on the bottom.

Hanadama

FW

Hanadama, FW, Hanadama earrings, AAA Akoya earrings


There's no comparison when it comes to luster. I finally see what everyone is talking about, Hanadama pearls are shiny and reflects like little mirrors. Pearls match much better than AAA FW which have some non-matchy pearls mixed in, as well as different sizes, and color is "whiter" than FW which is just too creamy for my liking.

Oddly though, on my neck it doesn't look QUITE white, although still not as creamy as FW.

So here's my dilemma. Hanadama set is beautiful, but it doesn't quite say "white" to me still. Maybe it's just my skin tone and white pearls just don't look good on me? But I'm realizing that what bugs me the most is the color of the pearls, and even luster can't compensate for it. As a matter of fact, the high luster of Hanadama kind of works against it because it almost looks metallic/gray rather than white.

In my last photo, you can see that AAA Akoya studs actually look the whitest among all of them. Ideally that would make a perfect necklace for me. So here's my last attempt at getting this "just right". I'm going to try a AAA Akoya strand with the least amount of pink over tone (they do not have any blue over tone strands). Even if it doesn't match the studs in whiteness and looks a bit pink, as long as it doesn't look creamy to me it might make a good mid point of color, luster, and $$$.

I'm getting impatient at this point so I paid extra for overnight shipping, so more to come tomorrow

 

[pearlsngems]

Hanadama are pinked just as other akoyas are, unless one gets the natural white hanadamas-- so yes, there would be a bit of rosiness.

Also, as the pearls as so very reflective (high luster) they reflect your skin tone to some degree. I could see where slightly less lustrous akoya pearls might look whiter... but they will still have been pinked.

Great photos, by the way! I love the hanadamas on you.

 

[Babyblue033]

AAA Akoya arrived today, pictures first comparing FW, AAA Akoya, and Hanadama.



Hanadama (top) & AAA Akoya (bottom) on me in different lighting.



FW, AAA Akoya, and Hanadama. With the AAA Akoya earring in the middle to compare.


I'm afraid the decision isn't as obvious as I would've hoped. What do you guys think?

 

[cmd2014]

In the pictures where you are wearing the necklaces, I think the Hanadama looks the best on you (whitest, shiniest, and with the most pop in contrast to your skin). My preference by far would be Hanadama > AAA > Freshwater strand. Plus, the Hanadama earrings instead of the AAA. The luster is much better on the Hanadama too. In comparison it makes the other two strands look flat.

But I also think that you have to consider whether you think white round pearls are for you, and if *you* love any of the strands on you IRL. If yes, keep it. If no, seriously, send them all back.

 

[pearlsngems]

Both the akoyas look fabulous on you, and not really very different from each other in the neck shots. The hanadama has higher luster but not by a lot.
I'd pass on the FW.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I have been going through a similar experiment and decision. The one thing I hear from you is that you want white. Well, guess what? There are white body color akoyas with silver overtone. American Pearl sells them. They are AAA and would fall into Hanadama range. Don’t look at their Hanadamas because they really don’t sell them. Cmd2014 has bought some of their AAAs and said they compare to Mikimoto Higher end pearls. I did not want a pinked strand for my long ones, either. I wanted white-white, not cream, not pink. You actually didn’t get PPs best freshwaters which are the Freshadamas. I talked with them but they didn’t really have any white ones. They didn’t have white with silver overtone Hanadamas either, except for the Natural Whites which are really much higher. I’d say you need to order a strand from American Pearl at this point and see if that’s the right one.

 

[Babyblue033]

I apologize in advance as this is going to be long, but maybe it'll be educational/interesting to others as much as it's been to me.

But I also think that you have to consider whether you think white round pearls are for you, and if *you* love any of the strands on you IRL. If yes, keep it. If no, seriously, send them all back.

In the beginning, I honestly wasn't sure if I loved any of them, and to your point, if white round pearls are for me at all. But more I looked at Hanadama, I loved it for its luster and depth. I can stare at them for hours! What I was having serious second thoughts about though was whether or not getting "the best" at this point in my life was a smart thing to do. More on that later...

Both the akoyas look fabulous on you, and not really very different from each other in the neck shots. The hanadama has higher luster but not by a lot.
I'd pass on the FW.

That was my thought as well, but since price difference between AAA & Hanadama wasn't enough, I decided to return the AAA Akoya.

I have been going through a similar experiment and decision. The one thing I hear from you is that you want white. Well, guess what? There are white body color akoyas with silver overtone. American Pearl sells them. They are AAA and would fall into Hanadama range. Don’t look at their Hanadamas because they really don’t sell them. Cmd2014 has bought some of their AAAs and said they compare to Mikimoto Higher end pearls. I did not want a pinked strand for my long ones, either. I wanted white-white, not cream, not pink. You actually didn’t get PPs best freshwaters which are the Freshadamas. I talked with them but they didn’t really have any white ones. They didn’t have white with silver overtone Hanadamas either, except for the Natural Whites which are really much higher. I’d say you need to order a strand from American Pearl at this point and see if that’s the right one.

I've been closely following your thread, and actually decided to order a strand from POJ based on your purchase. And I know you were wondering about how it compares to PP Freshadama, which I ALSO ordered (I know, I went all kinds of crazy ), you'll probably find this interesting.

So I was having SERIOUS second thoughts about all of this, because I went from wanting a simple, everyday, my very first pearl necklace, to buying the top of the line Hanadama that costs thousands I felt like I got way over my head and lost sight of what I wanted, kind of got swept away with all the excitement, when the reality is that I wanted a simple necklace I can wear casually on a daily basis. Not to mention I'll have to deal with 2 young children with their sticky fingers for many years to come. I rarely go out anywhere fancy and I'll be wearing this with T-shirts and flip flops, although come Sept I'll be going back to work so that'll be my "fancy" occasions

So I took a deep breath and ordered 2 more strands. Frashadama from PP & AAA FWP from POJ based on DS's thread since she was also looking for the most "white" pearls. Results I must say is rather interesting to me, and makes me realize just how much variables there are in pearl buying. I think I'd rather do this in person in the future...

POJ FWP vs. PP Freshadama, vs. Hanadama.

There's no question, POJ is SUPER WHITE! I mean this is the "white" pearl necklace I had imagine in my head before all this started. The thing is, after seeing so many different types, POJ now appeared TOO WHITE, almost looking fake. I might've still went for it because the white color is still very attractive to me, except as you can see it lacks in luster in comparison to PP Freshadama. Some pearls looked better than others, but overall they looked flat/opaque. So POJ is out of the running.

As I was looking through all the previous photos though, I noticed how the photo of Freshadama looked so flat. So I took out my original PP FWP and was surprised by what I saw.

PP Freshadama vs. PP FWP, vs. PP Hanadama


I was surprised to find that regular FWP had better luster than Freshadama! Of course Freshadama looks whiter but it falls flat when it comes to luster. In this context, the original FWP isn't bad at all, especially considering the price difference. "Whiteness" is still important to me, but after all this I realized there's a reason why most people consider luster to be the most important factor in pearls because it really has an impact on the overall look.

So that's where I am so far. I don't have a final decision yet but finally I do feel like I have all the pieces to make my decision. All the unknowns and "what ifs" were driving me nuts, and I admit I went totally crazy ordering ALL these strands to compare, but I feel like I learned quite a bit by seeing them side by side like this and learned about my personal preferences too since I'm a pearl newbie.

For sure, my favorite is Hanadama. It truly is beautiful with its high luster, and it's the one I "love". I'm just debating whether or not it's worth the price tag based and what I "need" based on my lifestyle.

 

[KristinTech]

Great pictures! I have to do reality checks, too. My day-to-day is very casual. What will I wear and enjoy? The hanadamas—my goodness—there’s just no comparison. But for me, I’ll probaby get some studs in the future and stick with a lower price point. I just can’t see myself spending that much on the size of pearl I want! But everyone’s budgets are different. Those white-white ones are what @diamondseeker2006 is after!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Those are great comparison pictures! The only thing is, you had the POJ AAA freshwaters and not their top ones which are Gem Grade, but that may be because they were about out of the white Gem Grade. You probably saw those on my thread, and they are also white, but with better luster than the AAA. I certainly wouldn't mind having the luster of the Hanadamas, but I was specifically looking for white to wear with summer clothes (and a long strand is going to be on top of clothes), and neither the Freshadamas nor the Hanadamas are really white compared to the POJ Gem Grade. So for my purposes, there's no way I'd pay 4 times the price for Hanadamas when they are not white, and even the Freshadamas cost more than the POJ Gem Grade yet they still are not as white. So you have actually helped me see that the POJ Gem Grade is realistically my only option between PP and POJ for white pearls! Then if I ever want white top quality akoyas, then American Pearl would have to be the solution for that. I will be interested to see what you decide!

 

[Babyblue033]

@diamondseeker2006, I went back and checked my order and actually these are Gem Grade not AAA. With all different types I've ordered, I got them confused

Regardless tho, I think you're absolutely right that for your purpose, POJ is pretty much the only option unless you really pay big money because nothing compared when it comes to the "whiteness". I was actually thinking how stunning these would look as a rope, even tho my particular set didn't seem to have the greatest luster. After looking at all the "white" pearls that aren't truly "white", opening POJ was a refreshing surprise, and I might just try them again in the morning because the color really is quite nice.

The thing is, I don't think my photo shows it but SOME of the pearls had much better luster, and had I received a strand full of those, I would've been thoroughly impressed. Freshadama also included some pearls better than others, so I think it all depends on which selection you end up with.

I'm feeling less sensible at the moment (which is what happens when you're up at 3am feeding the baby ) so I'm leaning towards the Hanadama, but I'll relook at everything in the morning after I had my coffee and feeling more "normal"

 

[diamondseeker2006]

It's a difficult decision. I think you have to decide what you'll wear the most. Freshwater strands are clearly more casual, and Hanadama level and up are more dressy, especially in a short strand. Ideally, I guess it's good to have both. So just decide how you'd like to start out!

 

[icy_jade]

I have a problem with “white enough” pearls so I totally empathize. Anyway after buying and looking at tonnes of pearls, the ones that work for me are (in order of preference):
- silvery white ssps
- natural white akoyas (I had compared them against pinked ones - maybe hanadama I can’t rem and huge diff)
- white metallic Edison’s/fwp (must be very metallic)
- white fwp but then I went through hundreds to find one strand that was white enough.

FWIW the white pearl earrings I wear regularly are ssps. The rest don’t come close.

So... will you consider ssps? Maybe baby ones if you are not into big pearls.

And good luck with baby! Totally understand the sleep deprived and crazy feeling.