Here we go again, help with multicolor Tahitian strand

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems GREAT idea. I’ll have to sit down and really come up with the “must have” and “deal-breaker” list. Thanks for the helpful analogy re choosing a forever home!

@dk168 can relate to your van example as we did something similar. I personally can’t wait to see your rare blue strand one day—a good blue Tahitian is a rare blue, a strand like that will truly be one in a lifetime!

@MakingTheGrade You are indeed lucky—Tahitian prices have really gone through the roof, and the selection more limited!

@Daisys and Diamonds You are always a ray of sunshine—thank you for simply being you!

 

[LilAlex]

Ok…if you are still here for my first world sob story lol, now I’m looking at this 9-11mm strand below

Something about these images in this one post its not quite right -- overexposed and not color-balanced and maybe over-saturated. Nothing like the other photos in your thread. All that to say: I have no idea how they compare.

My credentials: limited, but we bought @yssie's "B" or, by now, "C" or "D" bracelet years ago as she was mixing and matching her way to perfection. So I share this love but do not know what to make of the color in these photos, tbh.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

Something about these images in this one post its not quite right -- overexposed and not color-balanced and maybe over-saturated. Nothing like the other photos in your thread. All that to say: I have no idea how they compare.

My credentials: limited, but we bought @yssie's "B" or, by now, "C" or "D" bracelet years ago as she was mixing and matching her way to perfection. So I share this love but do not know what to make of the color in these photos, tbh.

Agreed. I’ve messaged the vendor for more photos. So far, all quiet on the western front.

Also messaged another vendor re this keshi strand (again, this sole photo on the website is like Kim Kardashian’s airbrushed instagram photo, impossible to know how the strand (or Kim K) really looks like IRL:

 

[ShinyPleeease]

Maybe reach out to 50shadespinkpearls on IG? I’ve never bought from them before but they do seem to take custom strand orders. I saved this picture from them and often gawk at it

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[ShinyPleeease]

I also bought a multicolor Tahitian strand from Cees and really love it.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[lovedogs]

Maybe reach out to 50shadespinkpearls on IG? I’ve never bought from them before but they do seem to take custom strand orders. I saved this picture from them and often gawk at it

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I've communicated with this vendor before and they are very nice. Haven't purchased yet though. I also have that one saved!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@ShinyPleeease I especially love love the front pearls in your strand from Cee’s! Your strand is actually closest to the color palette I’m looking for (pinks and greens and yellows). Do you have any real life pictures of this strand that you can share here?

 

[ShinyPleeease]

@ShinyPleeease I especially love love the front pearls in your strand from Cee’s! Your strand is actually closest to the color palette I’m looking for (pinks and greens and yellows). Do you have any real life pictures of this strand that you can share here?

I have this fairly grainy picture someone else took of me, lol. I am very happy with the color, luster, and shape (I, like you, prefer off-round/oval) of the pearls

 

[Pinkmartini87]

I have this fairly grainy picture someone else took of me, lol. I am very happy with the color, luster, and shape (I, like you, prefer off-round/oval) of the pearls

Gorgeous!

I’m off to find Cees! (I think with a few light colored pearls interspersed, this will be a dream strand for me)

Really can’t thank you enough!

 

[katbran]

Keep in mind that custom orders are generally not refundable, especially when materials have to be bought in for the project.

One suggestion is to find a strand with most of the shapes colours you like and then remove the ones that you feel are duplicates and add in single pearls of the more unusual shades.
This might be the least expensive way to get what you want if you can't find it . buying in one pearl at a time can get pretty expensive... but you have a big budget so a strand with possibly 6 replacement pearls would be doable. The replacement pearls can always be used in a Tin Cup bracelet .

Some of those photos look too unrealistic - a problem with Glamour shots. Definitely get photos outside and inside in indirect light. Strong sunlight will wash out the colours but shade will give a good photo as will indirect light from a window.
Really it's how they look inside that probably counts as that's where most of the wear will happen.

 

[yssie]

Hi!!

I’m so late to this thread! Between work and #Life - time has run away with me. I just caught up… Thank you for inviting me to join your dream Tahitian journey!

Okay so first - $9000 is an incredible budget! You’ll have any number of options, from stock to custom!

I don’t like the Judi McCormick for you. That pricetag is insane for off-round pearls of mixed luster and surface quality. Even with Tahitians having gone up a fair bit over the past few years. There are some individual pearls that look phenomenal in that strand, don’t get me wrong, but overall not worth the cost IMO.

Can I just big ditto @pearlsngems’ list here? It’s a very good idea. Not just for your vendor’s benefit - for you, too, to really have to think about what’s most important to you and how you personally weight those priorities

You already know what your ideal is, but now you need 2 more lists, to set the parameters.
1. Must-haves-- you won't buy if the necklace lacks these qualities. Be specific. Colors, size, shapes, price, luster, surface quality (cleanliness) etc.
2. Dealbreakers-- you won't buy if the necklace possesses these negative qualities. Again, be specific.

Cees has a brilliant eye for body colour, IMO. I don’t know if that’s due to his personal preferences, or where he lives, or his market niche, or… But the couple of multicolours I got from him, both prioritized varied body colour over any overtone considerations. Which meant those colours were super “sticky” (for Tahitians!!) through various lighting environments. Which sounds like exactly what you want?

The challenge with buying from Cees (for me) has been with communicating other priorities that you might have. His definitions of “top luster” and “clean surface” fell short of other vendors’ definitions when I was buying. To be honest I never figured out how to fix that communication gap - maybe others who’ve bought from him like pearlsngems and @ShinyPleeease have recommendations? Her strand looks much cleaner than mine. I mean, I always felt I was getting a very fair price for the quality I received, I never felt I’d overpaid - it’s just that I was willing to pay more for higher quality.

Which of course goes back to pearlsngems’ list!

I do feel like Cees could be a great fit for what you’re looking for. If what you’re looking for is Varied Body Scr*w Overtones. I have these stored as well, as examples of genuinely-multicoloured-multicolours - neither are what you want but I have no doubt what you want is acquirable

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@katbran Thank you for the suggestion: yes, I’m actually doing exactly that right now, I’ve taken to troubling Cees (what a patient, lovely man he is) and have told him I’m willing to pay for multiple strands in order to cherry pick.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@yssie Lady, I’m soooo glad you are here, the party now can officially kick into high gear now you are here.

I’ve 1% of your vast pearl knowledge, so all I can dumbly say is that what I aspire to is @dmz’s amazing strand for his wife because that strand really speaks to my likes: the varied light and dark pattern, the slightly oval shape, the ringed colors on many of those pearl, the color palette.

What makes this hard is that I’m not looking for trade ideal (ie if I were just going for the blemish free, perfectly round pearls, i could as my husband says “throw some money at it and make the problem go away”. First world problems I know.

So I need to go custom as others have already astutely pointed out. Problem is I have no idea who to work with and I’m afraid I haven’t the eye/expertise to rapidly guide vendors to narrowing down the selection.

I’ve contacted PP many times over the last few years to no avail (they put together several that don’t even come close, very weak body color. To be fair, I’ve only worked with the reps, never with Hisano although I’m not sure I’m important enough to deserve that honor!).

I love Andrew Moline (I think he has very exacting standards) but I don’t think he deals usually in Tahitians.

Cees has kindly offered to look for me so I will keep this thread updated.

Thus I’ve randomly also started looking at instagram and hence chanced upon Judi. My two cents on that strand: I don’t mind the oval shape, I just worry the color is mostly in overtones and not true body color, I’ve included some more photos below of that strand. 1) what do you think strictly in terms of color? Do you think the colors will stick? 2) what do you about the range of colors? Do you think it’s possible to get a strand with even more range of colors? If so can you show me an example?






And you have any suggestions who else I can work with or where to buy a nice strand and then eventually swap out some pearls over time, please let me know!
Or a pearl realtor? I’m happy to pay commission! Obv you would be my top choice but I know you have waaay too much on your plate!

(So sorry this is so long! Years of hunting still for the strand has made this into a Moby Dick sort of grievance/self pity party!)

 

[yssie]

I hear you. I would start with a few lists - get as specific as you possibly can!

- What are your must-be-bigger-than and must-be-smaller-than sizes? What about your I’d-prefer-bigger-and-smaller-than? Also remember that non-rounds are sized by width, so pearl length (along the drill hole) could be significantly longer than the number! What about size graduation?

- How long do you need the strand to be? How long would you prefer?

- What shapes are must-haves? You said non-round but would you be open to rounds if the colours are right? The Judi is very clean ovals… What about drops? Circles? Keshi? A mix of shapes?

- Do you want a high dynamic range within the strand? (If you turned the photo black and white there would be a mix of very light and very dark pearls). Or do you prefer pearls that are more similar in tone (if you turned the photo black and white they’d all be about the same shade of grey) but have different colours? Or maybe you don’t feel strongly!

- Do you want only Tahitians? Or some white/gold south sea as well?

- Knowing that you prefer the colour to not come strictly from overtone will be a super helpful note!

 

[yssie]

Now I’m looking at multicolours too. Have to post these somewhere LOL.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

@yssie Lady, I’m soooo glad you are here, the party now can officially kick into high gear now you are here.

I’ve 1% of your vast pearl knowledge, so all I can dumbly say is that what I aspire to is @dmz’s amazing strand for his wife because that strand really speaks to my likes: the varied light and dark pattern, the slightly oval shape, the ringed colors on many of those pearl, the color palette.

What makes this hard is that I’m not looking for trade ideal (ie if I were just going for the blemish free, perfectly round pearls, i could as my husband says “throw some money at it and make the problem go away”. First world problems I know.

So I need to go custom as others have already astutely pointed out. Problem is I have no idea who to work with and I’m afraid I haven’t the eye/expertise to rapidly guide vendors to narrowing down the selection.

I’ve contacted PP many times over the last few years to no avail (they put together several that don’t even come close, very weak body color. To be fair, I’ve only worked with the reps, never with Hisano although I’m not sure I’m important enough to deserve that honor!).

I love Andrew Moline (I think he has very exacting standards) but I don’t think he deals usually in Tahitians.

Cees has kindly offered to look for me so I will keep this thread updated.

Thus I’ve randomly also started looking at instagram and hence chanced upon Judi. My two cents on that strand: I don’t mind the oval shape, I just worry the color is mostly in overtones and not true body color, I’ve included some more photos below of that strand. 1) what do you think strictly in terms of color? Do you think the colors will stick? 2) what do you about the range of colors? Do you think it’s possible to get a strand with even more range of colors? If so can you show me an example?






And you have any suggestions who else I can work with or where to buy a nice strand and then eventually swap out some pearls over time, please let me know!
Or a pearl realtor? I’m happy to pay commission! Obv you would be my top choice but I know you have waaay too much on your plate!

(So sorry this is so long! Years of hunting still for the strand has made this into a Moby Dick sort of grievance/self pity party!)

oh thats pretty but i like some of the pictures more than others and i know i cant trust my screen
im very much looking forward to going along for the ride on this one

 

[lovedogs]

Oooo that kamoka strand!!! Honestly I'd do something like buy both the kamoka and cmn bracelets and see if they can be combined and re-arrainged to make the necklace of your dreams

 

[lovedogs]

Ps. This bracelet is ~6k, so very pricey but OMG the colors

 

[ShinyPleeease]

Hi!!

I’m so late to this thread! Between work and #Life - time has run away with me. I just caught up… Thank you for inviting me to join your dream Tahitian journey!

Okay so first - $9000 is an incredible budget! You’ll have any number of options, from stock to custom!

I don’t like the Judi McCormick for you. That pricetag is insane for off-round pearls of mixed luster and surface quality. Even with Tahitians having gone up a fair bit over the past few years. There are some individual pearls that look phenomenal in that strand, don’t get me wrong, but overall not worth the cost IMO.

Can I just big ditto @pearlsngems’ list here? It’s a very good idea. Not just for your vendor’s benefit - for you, too, to really have to think about what’s most important to you and how you personally weight those priorities


Cees has a brilliant eye for body colour, IMO. I don’t know if that’s due to his personal preferences, or where he lives, or his market niche, or… But the couple of multicolours I got from him, both prioritized varied body colour over any overtone considerations. Which meant those colours were super “sticky” (for Tahitians!!) through various lighting environments. Which sounds like exactly what you want?

The challenge with buying from Cees (for me) has been with communicating other priorities that you might have. His definitions of “top luster” and “clean surface” fell short of other vendors’ definitions when I was buying. To be honest I never figured out how to fix that communication gap - maybe others who’ve bought from him like pearlsngems and @ShinyPleeease have recommendations? Her strand looks much cleaner than mine. I mean, I always felt I was getting a very fair price for the quality I received, I never felt I’d overpaid - it’s just that I was willing to pay more for higher quality.

Which of course goes back to pearlsngems’ list!

I do feel like Cees could be a great fit for what you’re looking for. If what you’re looking for is Varied Body Scr*w Overtones. I have these stored as well, as examples of genuinely-multicoloured-multicolours - neither are what you want but I have no doubt what you want is acquirable

So I actually bought a pair of the Takahashi circle pearls you posted! It’s the pair in the upper left corner. I think overall my Takahashi pearls are cleaner than the ones from Cees, but I definitely lucked out with my multicolor strand since it’s overall pretty great. My Tahitian multicolor strand was a serendipitous purchase since I wasn’t looking for one - I was just browsing IG one night, saw them, really like them and kind of “impulse” purchased. I didn’t have experience purchasing from Cees prior to that. It’s one of the few times where impulse purchasing worked out for me!

Attaching some comparison pictures since we all like pics, right??

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@yssie

Thank you: Here's my must have and dealbreaker list putting it all together:

Must haves in order of descending priority:
1) color, color, color:
-Variety of color, the more the better
-Stickiness of color: body color preferred over overtone color
-Pattern of light/dark alternating colors to make the colors pop even more as suggested once upon at time by my pearl teacher @pearlsngems
-High dynamic range

2) Shape:
-Ovals or drops: either matched in size or graduated.

3) Luster:
-Will need to "push" Cees a little perhaps, but something like @ShinyPleeease's strand luster or better (I'm not sure how to grade the luster in her strand to describe to potential vendors? Any help here @yssie?)

4) Size: Prob prefer </= 8-11 mm range (they tend to have better colors usually too, no?) since I'm only 5'2.

5) Length: Not too particular, prob the classic 16-18 inch is fine. Ok if a bit longer than that. Don't really care for opera length.


Deal breakers:
1) Shape: Don't like all rounds. Also don't like a bunch of mismatched shapes and/or sizes (ie don't like 'harvest strand" types)

2) Other non-Tahitian pearls mixed in

Anything else I should be specific about?

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@Daisys and Diamonds Come along, although it may be a loooong ride!

@lovedogs Oh yes, I definitely thought about purchasing two kamoka strands and combining them, trouble is, I really want to either match sizes or do a very smooth graduating size, so I think maybe too hard for me to do by just buying two strands (what i need is like a hundred pearls to sort through lol! I don't think I have the budget to buy that many pearls from Kamoka!). I like the rainbow bracelet you posted--would snap it up in a heartbeat if they were non-rounds!

@ShinyPleeease This is SO helpful, thank you for taking the time--every time I get the opportunity to see the same strand in various conditions I get a little better at being able to judge color based on internet vendor photos. Your strand is gorgeous! I told Cees if he had another one like it I'd snap it up! The earrings go well with it too, so colorful! How funny it was an impulse buy for you--you definitely have a good eye for color!

 

[pearlsngems]

Are some circlé pearls ok, or minimally circled, or no circles at all?
Circlé pearls are often very colorful.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

Some circlé pearls ok, or no circles, no matter how minimally circled?
Circlé pearls are often very colorful.

Yes, I love the effect even if I'm not too crazy about their more irregular shape.

In fact, I like how some of dmz's pearls has a band of different color across some of the pearls even though they are mostly drops/ovals, I don't know what the name for this effect is? (If there's a name for it, I'll prob add it to my must have list):

 

[pearlsngems]

That may be the peacock overtones there. Not sure how much that would show up in direct sunlight.
I don't think I've seen a photo of that strand in direct sunlight.

 

[pearlsngems]

Here is a strand I have that has vivid peacock overtones in indoor/diffuse light.
And how it looks in direct sunlight (still indoors, but right in front of my door with sunlight on it.)

 

[yssie]

So the Judi is definitively out of the running - those are light SS in that strand. It's not all Tahitians. (It's also poorly strung, with a generic clasp, and from a vendor who doesn't specialize in pearls, so I'm sure it's not malicious - I'm confident the vendor doesn't realize the description is wrong).
That does raise the reality that high dynamic range is going to be harder to achieve without mixing SS and Tahitians. Not impossible but definitely harder.

Ditto pearlsngems, those bands of colour are all in the overtone...

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Here is a strand I have that has vivid peacock overtones in indoor/diffuse light.
And how it looks in direct sunlight (still indoors, but right in front of my door with sunlight on it.)

that's me in Micheal Hill freshwaters

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@pearlsngems Gorgeous! Your strand certainly “struts” its colors proudly! (Sorry, bad peacock pun)

@yssie Oh wow, I can’t believe I missed that re the white SS! Soooo glad you caught that! Yes, the “white” Tahitians I’ve seen are not pure white like SS. Now that I look more closely, I wonder if the bright yellow ones are SS also in that strand. Boy, I’ve lots to learn still! Rookie making rookie mistakes!

 

[pearlsngems]

We all like to post photos of our pearls at their best, in the most flattering light, but it is instructive to see what they look like in suboptimal lighting also. It's a reality check.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@yssie & @pearlsngems

If I may revise my “dealbreaker” to not include Tahitians only. I think it may be hard for me to get the high body contrast relying on Tahitians alone. I think some South Sea pearls are welcome to join the mix.

Case in point, Judi has kindly sent me one more neck shot (@Begonia), and I do like how many body contrast the strand has.

Judi’s strand At 9k USD I just need to think about if I should hold out for something “better” (in terms of my preference list of must haves).

1. I don’t know if I can hope to have more varied body color than Judi’s strand with my budget? Ie should I hold out for Cees?
2. And will Judi’s strand look similar to dmz’s strand (I know hard to compare given diff light conditions, dmz’s is more flattering given the diffused overcast light bringing out overtones, but Judi’s does not seem to have a lot of overtones if I’m reading the pictures correctly? Ie I “think” I’m seeing pretty sticky body colors for Judi’s?)

Judi’s strand:


Dmz’s strand: