Sarah of Kojima Pearls

[4Ranch Girl]

I first met Sarah this past spring at her studio in Oakland, California and got see her hard at work in her studio there. And again this past weekend at the Pearl Paradise 2011 Ruckus.

I asked her the preferred way to contact her with request for pearls. I have in the past said to call when you have a request but her reply was by email first. She travels a lot for business and no matter where she is she can reply in a timely manner. Also if you see something close to what you are looking for on her site reference the item number. That gives her an idea of what you are actually looking for in size and color, less guess work for her.

Now as to her web site. She does the design, stringing, photography in other words she does it all herself. Most of her stock never makes it on to the web site which I saw first hand. We talked about the number pictures she takes of each piece and the care she takes showing all aspects of the piece especially the marks on any pearl. So there won't be any surprises to the new owner.

I love meeting all the vendors written about here on Pricescope. Now if I ever get to Oz high on my list there is Catherine Cardellini.

 

[erinl]

I have one freshwater necklace from kojima and it is gorgeous, especially when considering the price!! Now I am obsessed with freshwaters!

 

[4Ranch Girl]

She has great freshwater pearls. How about posting a picture of the necklace here erinl.

 

[VapidLapid]

No sooner did my new tahitian from sarah arrive than I find myself back on the kojima website trying to justify buying a six hundred dollar pearl (thats right, one pearl). And there's another just like it so of course I'm thinking I HAVE to have the pair, what would I do with just one?

 

[4Ranch Girl]

VL is it the Sea of Cortez pearls? If it is they will be better in person than in the pictures which are pretty darn good. A double pearl necklace would be devine if they do not match like earrings.

 

[movie zombie]

i love that pendant. really a great buy on that one.

catherine is in darwin way up north and very very hot and humid not to mention the inhospital nature of the wild life and the hurricanes. however, i have told catherine that one day i'm going to come visit her!

but before i do that i need to get in and visit with sarah who is under two hours away....once i'm a bit more flush with some cash, that is.

i really appreciate your reports. a true pricescoper!

 

[Fly Girl]

Thank you for your report on Sarah, 4Ranch. I was in the Bay area last week, so I too gave Sarah a call and went for a visit. I had a lovely time, and it is great to be able to confirm your reports. She had trays and trays, and bags and bags of pearls. She said only about 5% of her stock ever makes it to the web site.

My primary goals were to see her "monster" graduated color Tahitian pearl and to view the Kasumi pearls. I happily spent a couple of hours playing with a bag of Kasumi, and ended up picking out 6 pearls that I had Sarah drill through for me. I ended up getting the large Tahitian, which is absolutely gorgeous in person, and I also picked out a golden South Sea enhancer set in sterling. That has become my new favorite casual pearl. The luster is very nice. In reality the golden color is nice and even...you can see some shadows in the photo.

My 6 Kasumi consisted of 4 darker purple/mauve pearls, an orangy-pink pearl that just glows and a nifty yellower one with interesting markings which do not show up in this photo. Other pearls in this photo are my Tahitian ring set in sterling with green zircon side stones and the large graduated color Tahitian from Sarah.

My 3-pearl pendant was inspired by a pendant on Sarah's site. It consists of a roundish baroque golden South Sea, a roundish purple Kasumi I purchased earlier this year from Sarah, and a bluish grey baroque Kamoka from Agustus on eBay.

When Sarah pulled out her first tray, I was immediately attracted to a gorgeous round purple Kasumi and it was the first pearl I pulled out. Of course, it was her most expensive Kasumi at a cost of $2,200, because it was the best color and a round shape. I put it back quickly and Sarah says she doesn't expect to sell it, but that is what it is worth. Well, another goal was to improve my eye for selecting pearls, so I must not be that horrible.

 

[4Ranch Girl]

Oh FlyGirl I am so glad you got to visit with Sarah. Isn't she wonderful? Her studio is such a bright and sunny place with that yellow/orange color on the walls and the sky light. I loved playing with all her pearls. I think you really scored!!! The 3 pearl pendent is really nice and the golden ss is great too. I really wanted a Kasumi when I visited but when I laid the purples against my skin they disapeared. You are a very lucky girl cheers to you on your special finds

Did your eyes bug out when she put bags and bags of pearls on that table for you to choose from? I think being able to visit the vendors we buy from and give a report is a very good thing. Thanks for validating my points.

Enjoy your new beauties

 

[Fly Girl]

Thank you, 4Ranch. Yes, getting to visit Sarah in her lovely shop was a special treat for me. The shop is not open to walk-in traffic, so you can be sure that you will have Sarah and the pearls to yourself.

We did discuss the items that go onto the web site. Sarah tends to select items that will look better in person for the web site, so as to lessen the chance that the purchaser will be disappointed. I think that makes sense, because as a purchaser you are not looking at the item in person, so I appreciate the care that Sarah takes to make sure you are not surprised by that which you can't see in photos.

Sarah had just returned from a buying trip to Hong Kong, so she had bunches and bunches of strands for her weekend shows. Sarah expects to have fewer Kamokas in the future, since Josh Humbert is selling these directly on the web himself. The Kasumi harvest for this coming year is due soon, so there should be more selection of these soon. Hopefully the harvest will be a good one. Still, I had a ball sorting through a couple of the less expensive bags. I was looking for a Kasumi that would be a great accent to a strand of green Tahitians, and it was good to do that in person. I think the orange-pink Kasumi I got will work great for that. I selected shapes that pleased me, and got those with great luster.

Now, to find time to play around with my new pretties and decide how to set them.