- Joined
- Jan 11, 2006
- Messages
- 58,559
I was out of town yesterday so I wanted to update my progress so far. I did contact PP and they do not have any metallic Freshadamas and do not plan buying trips where they may or may not find them until maybe June and September. I spoke with a very lovely sales rep and she said that if I was going for the whitest strands, she thought regular Freshadamas might be whiter than the metallics they have had. So I asked her what they had in 7.5-8.0. She sent me some photos of two strands she selected for me as being white and well matched. But I am now not sure about that size.
I realized just this morning that I had been given a bead necklace as a gift by one of my students that happens to include some pearls (that I have never worn since I don't really wear costume jewelry). It is double and it is 40" for the longer strand and 36" for the inner strand. So it is the 4" difference that @Miki Moto recommended for wearing two (this results in a 2" gap between the necklaces)! I liked the lengths very much, but I think 38 would be fine for a single strand. So I think I made some progress there. Also, the smallest beads in the necklace are 9.8mm, and I realized that is actually not too big, especially for a single strand. That is not great news since I realize I may need to move up in size (maybe 8-8.5 at least) over what I was thinking.
Soooo, now I am still aiming to buy a trial necklace, and I am not even going for the Freshadama level at this point, because I realize that I could spend $1000+ on that and it not be 100% what I want. I feel like I may not be able to do Mikimoto if I move up in size, especially for a long strand, but I am watching for them second hand. So for now, I am looking at cheap freshwaters with little investment so as not to take away money from my main objective! If I see long imitation pearl necklaces when I am out shopping, I can try them on to get a feel for my preferences, too.
I realized just this morning that I had been given a bead necklace as a gift by one of my students that happens to include some pearls (that I have never worn since I don't really wear costume jewelry). It is double and it is 40" for the longer strand and 36" for the inner strand. So it is the 4" difference that @Miki Moto recommended for wearing two (this results in a 2" gap between the necklaces)! I liked the lengths very much, but I think 38 would be fine for a single strand. So I think I made some progress there. Also, the smallest beads in the necklace are 9.8mm, and I realized that is actually not too big, especially for a single strand. That is not great news since I realize I may need to move up in size (maybe 8-8.5 at least) over what I was thinking.
Soooo, now I am still aiming to buy a trial necklace, and I am not even going for the Freshadama level at this point, because I realize that I could spend $1000+ on that and it not be 100% what I want. I feel like I may not be able to do Mikimoto if I move up in size, especially for a long strand, but I am watching for them second hand. So for now, I am looking at cheap freshwaters with little investment so as not to take away money from my main objective! If I see long imitation pearl necklaces when I am out shopping, I can try them on to get a feel for my preferences, too.