Takahashi strands — Preview of options being shown in Kobe. Any favorites?

[NY_Resonant]

Hi All!

I was sent a preview of what will be shown to me in Kobe on my visit. Would love everyone’s input on any favorites to help me narrow down selections during visit!



Video (hope this is viewable):

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In order of top to bottom:












Video:

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[icy_jade]

When you are there, see which of the strands have better luster. It should be easy to see. But luster isn’t everything. Put the strands against your hand or neck and see which one looks the best against your skin (“pops” against your skin while others may look darker/more dull). Hopefully it’s same strand (with best luster) but chances are it may not be the same strand.

Choose one of the two that calls to you more. If it’s the one that looks best against your skin, rem to check how it’s described in the trade (in case you want similar ones next time) and also get matching studs (terribly hard to buy without the strand). Whenever I can’t decide, I’ve always asked the vendors and I find the Japanese vendors very honest.

Personally I’ve always gone for the one that looks best against my skin and that is usually the one recommended by the vendor for me.

 

[mamong]

From the picture with all 5 strands together, I personally like the 3rd and 5th strands.
You will now your personal preference when you see them IRL anyway.
Enjoy shopping, enjoy Japan

 

[Pearlescence]

The one you pick up first should be the one you chose. Don't overthink it. Let your eyes and hand make the decision.

 

[yssie]

@NY_Resonant I know we were emailing, I wanted to let you know that if you emailed me again - I'm actually locked out of my email account at the moment. Stupid long story, hopefully will be resolved later today, but might take another day... If you want to chat more offline I'm on instagram under the same handle as here, FYI (just stick a ps on the end of the name!)

 

[yssie]

My first thought is that they’re all such different colours! I mean - even though they’re all white akoya - you’ve got cool white, warm white, creamy, pink, a really diverse set of strands!

Having talked with you - I know you’re a very analytical person! For me going to Mikimoto for the first time was such an incredible learning experience, figuring out how real world differences translate into photo differences, and figuring out how to map what my eyes care about IRL to what I see in photos… I can totally see you doing the same type of thing. I can’t wait to find out what you think. And of course what you come back with

The bottom two strands in the comparison pic look more contrasty to me. Are all five the same grade?

 

[yssie]

Oh! I do have one recommendation! Wear a white or grey shirt! So that your reflection in all those pearls is neutral! One time I wore forest green to Mikimoto. Loved what I saw in-person, pictures came out interesting

 

[NY_Resonant]

Thank you everyone for the input! The strands above are:



The whole color decision is something I will wrestle with even as I pick the strands. My fiancee will be with me and I know she will want a nice pink 8-8.5 or 8.5-9mm strand — so that narrows things down a bit.

The other strand i’m buying is for my mother. I lean a bit towards getting her a more silvery white 8.5-9mm strand (Definitely do NOT want to see green and don’t want the luster drop that seems to hit at 9mm+) — this will also help me avoid a pink vs pink comparison between the two of them… haha, i’m being strategic!!

They will show me other strands beyond the ones above, I asked to see their top gem (without spots) and I’m seeing a 8.5-9mm Granpearl strand as well. Doubt i’ll go for that one unless it blows my mind given the price. It’ll be useful as a “control strand” though!

In the pictures above, going by luster alone… The 8.5-9mm tennyo and bottom two gem luster with spots do look the best to me. I really need to inspect the strands with spots because I could see some of the flaws in the picture, need to gauge how visible they are in person. It’s not a matter of mind clean for me since all strands have spots/flaws, its just a matter of degree.

I was also shown these two madama strands, the first 8.5-9mm one looked really lovely to me on the video with a beautiful pink overtone. It also has a sharper luster than the 8-8.5mm! Can’t say that one isn’t tempting!












I’m about 6hrs away from landing in Tokyo right now on the plane Wifi.

Thank you to everyone for their wisdom again!

 

[empliau]

You have some beautiful options, and the wonderful opportunity of seeing the Takahashi treasures in person! I have two pairs of earrings, and with both I asked Yy's advice for the best pair (although with WSS I gave her a budget - I imagine WSS without budget could get more expensive than I am prepared for!)

I hope you will document your trip and your shopping with pictures. I would choose gem with spots if the spots are minor, but of course that's just me. I aspire to Takahashi gem someday, and the photos I've seen of Takahashi gem are breathtakers that take the breath, as P.G. Wodehouse said.

Best wishes for a wonderful trip!

 

[yssie]

Thank you everyone for the input! The strands above are:



The whole color decision is something I will wrestle with even as I pick the strands. My fiancee will be with me and I know she will want a nice pink 8-8.5 or 8.5-9mm strand — so that narrows things down a bit.

The other strand i’m buying is for my mother. I lean a bit towards getting her a more silvery white 8.5-9mm strand (Definitely do NOT want to see green and don’t want the luster drop that seems to hit at 9mm+) — this will also help me avoid a pink vs pink comparison between the two of them… haha, i’m being strategic!!

They will show me other strands beyond the ones above, I asked to see their top gem (without spots) and I’m seeing a 8.5-9mm Granpearl strand as well. Doubt i’ll go for that one unless it blows my mind given the price. It’ll be useful as a “control strand” though!

In the pictures above, going by luster alone… The 8.5-9mm tennyo and bottom two gem luster with spots do look the best to me. I really need to inspect the strands with spots because I could see some of the flaws in the picture, need to gauge how visible they are in person. It’s not a matter of mind clean for me since all strands have spots/flaws, its just a matter of degree.

I was also shown these two madama strands, the first 8.5-9mm one looked really lovely to me on the video with a beautiful pink overtone. It also has a sharper luster than the 8-8.5mm! Can’t say that one isn’t tempting!












I’m about 6hrs away from landing in Tokyo right now on the plane Wifi.

Thank you to everyone for their wisdom again!

The 8.5-9 Madama

 

[yssie]

It’s not a matter of mind clean for me since all strands have spots/flaws, its just a matter of degree.

I really like this philosophy. That they all have flaws, it’s just a matter of degree. And of interpretation.

The smoothest akoya necklace I ever owned was a Tennyo strand. Not the most lustrous, for sure, but those pearls had flawlessly smooth skin - not a single wrinkle or divot or crease to be found…

But I’m a luster girl. I can overlook all sorts of things in favour of phenomenal luster.

I wonder where your fiancee will land… And if buying “priorities” end up being different for her and your mum…

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Can’t wait to see pictures and hear how it goes!
Oh man a grandpearl akoya strand

 

[Gabor]

I would get the gem luster one, especially the top one, 8-8.5mm, I don't know if is the camera or light, but that one has such a great luster!

 

[katbran]

8.5-9 Madama yum

Have fun !

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I am compulsively checking this thread for updates.

 

[NY_Resonant]

I am compulsively checking this thread for updates.

Hah! I’m still in Kyoto, next stop is Kobe tomorrow!

 

[NY_Resonant]

I stopped by Tasaki in Kyoto today. Pretty store.

They initially told me they operated under a ABC quality for pearls and showed me the following two A quality strands. Both actually very beautiful (It reminded me of AA quality mikimoto in NYC). You can see the prices attached. The 8mm one was a notch better luster than the 8.5mm in person.



They then showed me a 8mm AA quality necklace (He called it a special category). Gorgeous. It beat these two A grade visually with a a stronger pink overtone and better luster. They glowed. Seemed as good as the AAA mikimoto I saw in Nyc. Price was around 1.4m yen (Like 10.5k dollars). I wasn’t allowed to take pics of it unfortunately, had snuck in the prior two.

I then went to a nearby Mikimoto. It was a “booth” setup inside a department store!!! Made me surprised since that devalued the brand in my mind. The best they had was mikimoto premium quality (AA). It cost 1.9m yen (14.5k dollars) for a 8mm. No pics were allowed but to my eyes it was comparable to Tasaki A quality and much worse than the gorgeous AA tasaki that I was shown.

Last is a picture of AA mikimoto from my previous nyc visit. Looks close but a bit worse on reflections than this tasaki grade A photos? That matches my impressions anyhow — I know you can’t easily compare across photos though. I call that one a tie.

 

[NY_Resonant]

Finally back in NYC from my Japan trip.

On Sunday, the day before I was set to meet with Takahashi — I roamed Kobe looking for Pearl shops. Sadly a number looked to be closed on the weekend but I did stop by Kinoshita Pearls. Nice quality and good luster but pricey and un-certified.



8.5mm on top is *very* nice: If price was a bit lower and I didn’t have Takahashi appt the next morning I‘d have been very tempted.

 

[mamong]

This pearl size is super nice on her

 

[NY_Resonant]

I then rushed to Yokota Pearls (eBay seller) for my 4pm appointment on Sunday. My last stop before the takahadhi meeting on Monday morning. At this point I’m nervous since I only had 2-2,5hrs at Takahashi before needing to take a Taxi to airport…

Made a post about my Yokota visit: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/yokota-pearls-in-kobe-japan-—-ebay-seller.278230/

Here are some more photos not in the post above:







I liked the 460,000 yen more irrespective of price:





Tahitian I bought next to a VERY green Tahitian (too green for us):





Tahitian I bought next to a blue Tahitian —- very interesting color and certified PSL Lagoon too. Very pretty.

 

[NY_Resonant]

This pearl size is super nice on her

Thank you She initially liked a 7-7.5mm at mikimoto but I’ve been working on her and now I got her into wanting 8.5-9mm

 

[NY_Resonant]

On Monday morning, I took a taxi to Takahashi’s offices with all my luggage. The 4-5 story building had the company sign outside and I took the elevator to the 3rd floor. A much bigger operation than Yokota Pearls which makes sense for an established whole-seller doing shows around the world.

I met with Kan Seki upon arrival and he led me to a initial room where we spoke for a few minutes:





He then told us the lighting was not ideal in that room to view pearls and we moved to another space with sunlight from a window. I believe this might be one of the rooms we see when we get the pictures sent to us from Takahashi:



Here is Kan!!! A great guy.

 

[NY_Resonant]

Now onwards to the Takahashi pearls!

I saw some gorgeous 8.5-9mm madama. I did not buy any because this would have been for my mother and she is already getting a Madama Bracket (Yysie’s old Pearl paradise one and Madama studs). One had a gorgeous pink overtone which Kan said is a step below what he would call gem. He then brought out one he called gem (Not top gem like the one he sold Yysie earlier this year but close) which had slightly better luster but didn’t have as obvious a pink color — I honestly could not decide which one I liked more. I just have 3 pictures on the neck of the one he called gem:







First, I wanted to get one of their Tahitians for my boss (I think for his daughter). I actually didn’t take any pictures of it in Japan because I was so rushed that morning. Here are neck shots of it next to the one I purchased at Yokota Pearls. This is Peacock certified — Kan said it would have been Lagoon if it had a few less flaws. I did not notice the flaws in person and definitely not on the neck. It was darker and a bit more lustrous than the Yokota Tahitian to my eyes (Also smaller even if the “range” of size of necklace was similarly).

Takahashi’s is the one on top:

 

[NY_Resonant]

Now the Takahashi‘s white Akoya section!!!

First off, here is the Granpearl Strand. At 15k, it was outside my budget but I wanted to have it for comparison. It was very lustrous and very beautiful but also had a little bit more of a green tone than I’d prefer. Not sure that will show in photos.







Here are the top five 8.5-9mm strands that I saw. I would say another 5+ did not make this picture. Please note that the sunlight in room played a big impact on pearls looking a bit different depending on position! You’ll see when looking at left and right side of the same strand.

The strands are as follows:
1) Granpearl Strand
2) Natural White Gem Strand (I purchased this one, I love this strand. I picked it on my Fiancée’s neck as my favorite on blind tests against the Granpearl twice in a row for what that’s worth). Almost 2x the price of gem luster with minor flaws. Would have bought 2 but sadly not available.
3) Gem Luster with minor flaw
4) Gem Luster with minor flaw (I believe this is the other one bought but not sure).
5) Tennyo Strand (Worst luster)



Notice Fingers!












Granpearl on outside with my natural white strand:



Granpearl on inside:



Granpearl on left:

 

[NY_Resonant]

Granpearl with my 2 purchases. Gem luster with flaws in middle, natural white bottom, Granpearl on top:

 

[Calla-lilies]

Love! These pearls are stunning! I don't know how you can pick.

 

[empliau]

What a wonderful tale, and beautiful pearls! I've loved my interactions with Takahashi and they've been confined to Instagram. Good to see Kan and hear lovely stories, and see even lovelier pearls!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Really enjoying this thread!

 

[NY_Resonant]

Love! These pearls are stunning! I don't know how you can pick.

It’s a lot easier to pick in person. Putting it on your neck, seeing what pops most on your skin tone, etc. At times we had two necklaces on the neck at same time and that made the choice clearer.

Biggest issue that I had was they didn’t have a 2nd strand that looked *quite* as beautiful as the natural white strand. The natural white strand glows just a tiny bit more, looking at it side by side with the other strand shows light sources reflected a tiny bit brighter.

I was worried at the fiancée vs mother reaction, who would get the nicer one?!? Haha, more of a mind clean issue but I wanted to avoid any potential drama. That’s why I split it “nicer” strand vs great necklace plus Tahitian necklace (chuckle). My fiancée still can’t decide which of the two choices to pick so I think I’m safe (hah!).

 

[yssie]

OH MY GOD.

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH FOR SHARING ALL OF THESE WITH US!!!!!!!!!

I cannot WAIT to look at these properly after work today. OMG.