Help in finding multicolored Tahitian necklace

[pearlsngems]

Thanks! I wear this particular strand more than my other pearls.

My point is that both of my photos are "in real life" shots. Unless you also get direct sunlight shots, you still won't know what they look like in sunlight.

The way I see it, it doesn't matter to me. The colors come out to play indoors and in the shade.

Sunlight is a friend to metallic Tahitian keshi like these:

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems Wow, those Keshi ripple like waterfalls! Is that true for all metallic pearls, because the metallic surface reflect light?

 

[pearlsngems]

I'd say so, yes, and golden SSP really shine in sunlight!

 

[cmd2014]

I'm with Pearlsngems. I also find that Akoya pearls, white south sea pearls, and very silver Tahitians (those with a very light dove grey body colour and a silver overtone) shine in direct sunlight. Lighter body Tahitians also tend to show better overtone colour in brighter light than darker colour ones. But darker ones tend to have better luster, so there are always trade-offs. Its like how smaller Tahitians will generally have better luster and stronger colour than large ones just because of the nature of grafting.

Most vendor pictures are taken in ideal light conditions to show off the overtone colours. Ask for direct (not filtered, not shade, but direct) sunlight pictures if you want to know how they will look in bright light. Sometimes I also ask for pictures with a phone camera on someone's desk under florescent light too just to get a more realistic picture of what to expect. Most of my strands look like picture #2 in most lights. I thought they were defective for a while until I figured it out. It's only my silvers and my pastels that show their colours a bit better. The silvers look metallic while the pastels show their overtones a bit more.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@cmd2014

Thanks for the great advice re requesting photos in direct light. Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of that I won’t like the way Tahitians look in direct light because all the colors seem to leach out.

My original choice was this strand (is the first photo under filtered light, and the second photo in indirect light rather than direct light?)



But now I’m think if I should get this one instead because it’s more pastel and maybe will keep its colors in direct light better?

 

[cmd2014]

I prefer the one you have picked. The pastel one is varied mostly in overtone, not body colour, so all those rose and blue and peacock tones will wash out to a steely light grey in direct light. The darker one has some variation of body colour in addition to overtone. So while it will grey out in direct light to a certain extent as well, you will still see more light/dark patterns as well as a bit more colour difference in direct light (and yes, all of those are shot in either diffused light or filtered light - the more colourful pictures are done with a light box or something else to filter the light and the other ones are shot probably without a filter but are still in pretty diffused light to show off the colours).

If you search my username, you should find some posts that I have made showing the difference between multicoloured strands that are multicoloured by body colour vs. those that are multicoloured by overtone in both direct and diffuse light. I have one strand that has multiple body colours like the one from Cees that you have picked, and one that is uniform in body colour but has multiple overtones like the other one you are looking at. You'll see that the overtone one is MUCH more subtle in real life conditions than the strand that actually has pearls with different body colours in it.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@cmd2014

Hi, thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough explanation! I searched by name under your username and looked for posts by you but didn’t see any posts started by you that discussed this specifically? Should I search by individual posts?

I did just find this chart now on GIA.



Do you think my chosen strand has black and brown body tones with either purple, blue, green or yellow hues, and some green and blue overtones? Am I reading/interpreting the chart correctly? What’s the difference between body color and hue?

 

[pearlsngems]

@cmd2014, was this your post with the photos you referred to:

https://www.pricescope.com/communit...s-vendor-vs-irl-pictures.205879/#post-3747214

@Pinkmartini87, the best way to know what the strand will look like in sunlight is to ask for a photo of it in sunlight. Anything else is just us guessing....

 

[cmd2014]

This is more what I was thinking of. From left to right: Multi toned body colour, multi toned overtones, solid matches strand. With neck shots. The multi body colour neck shot is in florescent office light. The overtone neck shot is natural light. The multi body colour doesn’t quite look as colorful irl just as a FYI. The camera enhances it a bit.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems and @cmd2014

Thank you both for your time and help. Here’s a 16 inch strand of 8-11 mm pearls I’m looking at and I’m a bit confused by the photos sent by me by another vendor (asking around $2300–price fair?).

Light box shot:


Here are two direct sunlight shots (why do these still look so great with all the colors visible and almost as good as those in indirect and indoor light; how come the colors don’t simply fade aka become less flattering like in the photos other PSers took of their Tahitian strand in direct sunlight in the thread vendor photos vs IRL?):


Outdoors indirect light aka cloudy:

 

[pearlsngems]

The multiple rectangular reflections of light in the direct sunlight shots make it seem that they were taken indoors with light coming from a window rather than outdoors...-- if not why, the rectangular shapes? And if so, there may still be some of the indoor diffuse light effect. Just saying....

I like the range of colors-- do you? But the silvery-white pearl that is 4th from center on the left has some unattractive surface characteristics, and being close to the front will be noticeable. Would you find it distracting? The cherry pearl that is 6th from the end on the right side also has visible blemishes, but being closer to the clasp won't be so noticeable, and it has a great color.

As to the price, for baroque pearls $2300 seems high, but if it came from a sustainable farm like Kamoka, that could explain it. Also, I've seen prices of Tahitians generally going up on all the pearl selling sites over the past 5 years.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems

Ahhh, you make a keen point re the window squares reflected in the pearls. Should I ask for direct sunlight outdoors? (Do you think it will make a big difference?)

I do like the colors, but more than that I really want a strand that retains its colors as best as possible even in say direct sunlight, if that is even possible.

 

[pearlsngems]

It might make a difference. I'd ask for an outdoors on a sunny day shot-- but only if you think you might want to buy this strand despite its baroque shapes, blemishes and relatively high price. (If those factors are going to be definite deal-breakers anyway, why bother the seller?)

Here is another Tahitian strand of mine. As with my other strand, one shot is direct sunlight on a bright sunny day; the other is indirect light in my living room a few feet away. You can see that while the brightest of the overtone colors are visible in bright light, they are not anything like the colors in diffuse light.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems Thanks for the photo comparison. What a gorgeous strand! And I love that length on you!

Yes, I think I will ask if there’s any flexibility on price. I don’t think I want to go higher than $2k including tax. If that is not doable, then you are right, no need to waste vendor’s time or mine in seeing more photos.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I think the baroque strand is lovely, but IMHO expensive. For example on another forum a poster posted this lovely strand from an Etsy vendor that I believe was in the $250 -$300 price range. The strand you are considering is higher quality but only you can determine if the quality justifies the cost.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@LisaRN Thank you very much for taking the time to share the link. It’s very helpful for me to have a price comparison since I’m just starting off and don’t know what is or is not current market value.

I was always under the impression that rounds are more expensive than baroques given all other things equal, and the round strand I’m considering is around $1k, so I had a hunch that $2k plus for a baroque is on the pricey side, and it’s nice to have an expert authority weigh in and confirm that.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

@Pinkmartini87 - I am no expert and have only been collecting Tahitians since January. I have collected 10 Tahitian strands and they run the gamut from preloved Pearl Paradise Tahitians, EBay, Etsy and jewelry store strands. The round strand you are considering IMHO seems to be a good price at 1k. For comparison to the price of the baroque strand I have included a pic of 5 Tahitian necklaces that I purchased and that I paid about $2300 in total. The first three (pre-loved Pearl Paradise on top) range are in the 8-10 to 9-11mm size range. The last two are 10-15mm range. Not a glamour shot- just a quick Iphone pic. Ignore the glue on the pearls on the last strand. I just restrung it and need to clean it up. I love each and every strand in this picture and prefer having variety vs. one or two higher priced top quality necklaces.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@LisaRN Love your collection and thanks for sharing; you must have so many ways to pair all the strands with different outfits!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems @cmd2014 @LisaRN

Ok, decision time, the vendor has lowered the price so that with taxes it will come out around $2100. Also kindly included a photo in the direct sun. I really like the strand (my favorite one so far) but also want to make sure I’m paying a fair price for it and am not in a hurry to buy, what do you think, is the price still too high? Should I wait for something else to come along in the next few months?

 

[pearlsngems]

Let me ask you this: In general, are you a maximizer or a satisficer?
If not familiar with this concept, take a few minutes to read: https://www.psychologistworld.com/cognitive/maximizers-satisficers-decision-making

Is it more your style to hunt and hunt until you find the perfect strand at the perfect price? And will you second guess yourself anyway after buying it?
A maximizer might do that.

Or is it more your style to buy something that pleases you (even though there may be a strand out there somewhere that conceivably might please you more), at a price that is affordable (even if possibly not the lowest possible for similar quality)? And will you be able to enjoy what you buy regardless?
This is what a satisficer might do.

When it comes to pearls, I am somewhere in between. I will buy pearls that I like well enough for the price and then I modify the strand (rearrange or substitute out pearls) until I've got it just the way I like it. That is an advantage to being able to do your own stringing.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems Oh gosh, what a thought provoking question. I think I’m a maximizer, is that bad? Does that mean I’ll never be pleased? Does that mean I should not buy this strand? Give up the search?

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems I also think I’m a bit afraid when it comes to pearls because I know so little. I think I’m open to buying something I like enough if it’s a fair enough price, and likely will be pleased. But I feel very out of my element with pearls; I’m starting to figure out what I like (more organic, natural shapes, less uniform shapes, color, contrast), but have no idea what price range is fair or not fair for what I like.

 

[pearlsngems]

It's not an inexpensive strand, but "fair" isn't really the issue. Who is to be the judge of what is fair? Do you know what the seller's overhead is? Maybe that is what they have to charge to survive. If another seller lists something similar for less, it's because they can afford to.

No, the only question is whether you are willing to pay that price for that object. That's it. I don't know about you, but I don't buy my jewelry with an eye to selling it someday; it's not an investment. Pearls don't hold their value on resale. So it doesn't actually matter what I pay for them. As long as I love them and am willing to pay the price, I buy them.

Tahitian pearls are also not like an object that you can price compare. You may try to get the best price for a certain book title, or a brand of washing machine, because it's the same book or washer no matter who sells it. But every Tahitian strand is unique, so you can't find the identical strand elsewhere anyway.

• Are you satisfied with how this strand looks in sunlight? There is no right or wrong answer, just your own taste.

• Can you return them if you don't like them in person? It's riskier if they are not returnable, but even in this matter, studies have shown that people tend to be happier with non-returnable items because to be dissatisfied would cause cognitive dissonance.

 

[pearlsngems]

Also, unless you mean this to be the one and only Tahitian strand you ever buy, it doesn't have to be perfect in every way. I have an assortment of strands. They are all different but I like them all.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems Thank you as always for your sound advice and your candor, and the voice of reason. Beauty and worth is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

With that said however, $2k is not an insubstantial amount of money for me and thus I find myself needing to be extra cautious; and although you are correct in that no one can tell me the true value of a strand and that I must decide for myself, I nonetheless find this forum and opinions from folks like you to be invaluable that if a strand seems waaaaaay overpriced that perhaps someone would speak up and steer me away. Seems like that is not the case here?

Just curious—Do you have a favorite strand, even though you like them all?

 

[pearlsngems]

Also! We are what we are. It's not inherently good or bad to be a maximizer or satisficer. But it's good to be aware of one's own tendencies and to factor that into our decisions.

Generally I'm a satisficer, but when we were looking at houses, and my husband (who was getting weary of the search) asked me, "How much do you have to like it?" I answered, "I have to like it a whole lot!!!"

We did find one not long afterward, and it wasn't perfect, but for our budget it was the best one that was then on the market in our preferred area. We've been in the house 25 years now and it still isn't perfect but we have managed, and even improved it a bit as our wallet allowed.

 

[pearlsngems]

Just from looking at various sellers' goods, I am sure you have seen that you can find baroque strands for less than that.

My overall favorite Tahitian strand is the shorter one I posted a photo of in different light.

 

[icy_jade]

@Pinkmartini87

My Tahitian strands that pretty much looks good in any lighting are:
- the intense peacocks, and by intense I mean super intense. Not the pale ones that are usually sold online
- a wave strand with hardly any overtone but very diverse body colors
These are my favorites for the Tahitians that I own.

I will use the wave strand pics to illustrate...

Intense LED light:


Taken in balcony - tropical sunlight


Office lighting:


Diffused indoor with a pale peacock strand:


Probably at its best:


HTHs... I know it’s not easy. If you are unsure, get one from a vendor with a good return policy... and return if you feel mixed about it. I used to feel bad about returning and now have stuff that I don’t wear.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems I hear ya re the house—now THAT’S a big decision! Glad to hear it was the right one for you and your family!

I think I’m overthinking things. Jewelry is supposed to be fun, right? That’s why we all got into it in the first place. Overthinking makes it not so fun. I’m going to take a break from pearls for a while I think and regroup when it’s fun for me again.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@icy_jade Wow, I see what you mean, that’s a gorgeous strand for sure under any light conditions. Thank you for sharing and for offering up some kind advice re my state of indecision, I appreciate it!