TPO gem grade necklace & grey pearl earrings

[fafa]

I couldn''t resist the Pearl Outlet''s June sale. I ordered a pair of 7mm AAA grey freshwater pearl earrings and a gem grade 8.5-9mm necklace. I am very please with the quailty of those earrings. The pearls are very round, very clean and has very good luster. To my surprise, the AAA grey pearls are more lustrous than the gem grade pearls. Am I missing something here? I assumed gem grade is better than AAA. Anyway, maybe my expectation of gem grade is not realistic. I''m a bit disappointed about the cleaness and the luster but am pleased with the roundness and the size. Overall, it''s still a good value for a strand with this quality. I took a lot of pictures to share with you all. The baby size pearl necklace in some pictures is a mikimoto. It''s either A or A1.

Here are the earrings.

 

[fafa]

A bathroom shot. The lighting is not ideal for the pearls.

 

[fafa]

This pic was taken right next to the west facing sliding door. The pearls look much better here.

 

[fafa]

A close up of my baby size mikimoto and the 8.5-9mm necklaces.

 

[fafa]

This is how they look from an arm length distant.

 

[fafa]

Group pic

 

[Mrs_Darcy]

WOW!

Those look huge around your neck. I love them! Beautiful, beautiful. Congrats!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/23/2009 9:39:17 PM
Author: fafa
A close up of my baby size mikimoto and the 8.5-9mm necklaces.

OMG, I think I am going to faint; the size is amazing!!!

are the mikimotos akoyas? akoyas are suppose to have more luster than freshwater.

I ordered the earrings too and they are amazing!!!

 

[fafa]

Date: 6/23/2009 10:45:26 PM
Author: summertime
WOW!

Those look huge around your neck. I love them! Beautiful, beautiful. Congrats!

Thank you, summer. I am super petite and these pearls look huge on me. I''m not sure if they are too much for a tiny person like myself.

 

[fafa]

Date: 6/23/2009 10:48:35 PM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 6/23/2009 9:39:17 PM
Author: fafa
A close up of my baby size mikimoto and the 8.5-9mm necklaces.

OMG, I think I am going to faint; the size is amazing!!!

are the mikimotos akoyas? akoyas are suppose to have more luster than freshwater.

I ordered the earrings too and they are amazing!!!

Thank you Skippy. Yes, the Miki''s are akoyas. I have heard about the luster comment about akoyas and FWPs but I secretely hope that a gem grade will outshine the A or A1 akoya. Not in this case though. The Miki''s still win a tad bit.

 

[jmtomaui]

Fafa, this strand of pearls is beautiful and certainly NOT too big on you! They look fantastic! Especially w/ the Mikimotos! As do the earrings.

I don''t think you are the first one to question the luster of the gem quality vs the AAA? I believe someone else may have mentioned this also but I would need to go back and read other threads to be sure.

 

[starshine]

Very pretty!

 

[Indylady]

Just gorgeous!

The gem grade strand really is very round! And the grey studs are just beautiful as well.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Ohhh, rather marvellous!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[fafa]

Thank you jmtomaui, starshine, szh07, and Sharon for your sweet comments.

jmtomaui, if you found the link of the discussion of gem quality and AAA, could you please post it here? Thanks.

 

[starshine]

I think this is the link she was referring to, Fafa.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/aaa-vs-gem-grade-freshadama-presidential.117175/

 

[fafa]

Starshine, thanks for the link.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/25/2009 5:41:34 PM
Author: fafa
Thank you jmtomaui, starshine, szh07, and Sharon for your sweet comments.

jmtomaui, if you found the link of the discussion of gem quality and AAA, could you please post it here? Thanks.

Fafa, I bought AAA's like yours to match the necklace, Freshadamas and I actually was swooning over the size of these pearls you posted so I bit the bullet and bought them too. They are super close to the Freshadamas in luster but a tiny bit less luster but a bit more round. Both I think are beautiful. I love your pearls!!!