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Looking for excellent quality circle Tahitian pearls

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Odyssey44

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 20, 2023
Messages
78
I think I am in the minority but I really like the look of circle Tahitian pearls (except when they have a little pointy nipple on top) and would love a long strand of them. My understanding is that circles are lesser quality. I still want a lot of luster and different colors though. I have looked at PP and PoJ. Nothing is really what I want. I don't see a lot of luster and life in their circle Tahitians. Has anyone seen what I am looking for or are circle Tahitians just always second quality to rounds in every way?
 
Cee has posted a nice circle strand on his IG recently.

20250211_094158.jpg


DK :))
 
CMW pearls also has lots of circles. I love the colours but not expert enough to judge the quality.
 
You can find beautiful luster in circle Tahitians! I think the idea that they are "second tier" is simply that people typically prize perfectly round pearls over other shapes. So in my mind it's great that you prefer non-round because you'll be able to get beautiful pearls at a great price! As mentioned, Cees frequently has very nice Tahitians, as does Takahashi and Moline.
 
I share your preference (including the hatred of the "tail"). I'd ask Cees (his IG is above), and also takahashi just posted some incredible circle pearls a few days ago
 
There are AAA circled Tahitians. Circles per se do not decrease quality-- although there can be blemishes within the circles that may do so.
As for luster, just as with all Tahitians, some have higher luster and some have lower luster. I have some high luster ones from Rikitea. They are more lustrous than my near-round ones. Also more colorful.

The market value for rounds is higher for all pearls, not just Tahitians. Round pearls are scarcer, hence more valuable. But personally I find drop, baroque and circled pearls more interesting.

Pearl Paradise may have higher quality circled Tahitians in their vault-- I'd ask.
Cees (pronounced "case") has beautiful pearls, and he will send you more photos if you need them.

When looking at vendor photos, be aware that the colors people love in Tahitians are often overtone colors, not body colors.
The most common body colors for Tahitians are light or dark gray and light or dark green, and that is what you will see in bright sunlight.

Overtone colors need diffuse light to be seen at their best--- in the shade, a cloudy sky, or indoors away from windows.
Vendors use studio lighting to bring out the overtone colors. What you see in vendor photos is the best they will look. But you can ask for photos in direct sunlight.

To illustrate this, I photographed this necklace in direct sunlight (just inside my front door) and then 2 feet back from the door, where light was diffuse. The difference is evident.

baroque Rikitea necklace in direct sunlight.jpegbaroque Rikitea necklace in diffuse indoor light PS.jpeg
 
lovedogs said:
I share your preference (including the hatred of the "tail"). I'd ask Cees (his IG is above), and also takahashi just posted some incredible circle pearls a few days ago
Click to expand...

Yup, Takahashi showed some circle Tahitians too, however I thought they were for completed projects.

Also not a fan of long tails.

DK :))
 
Kamoka also often has circle pearls.
 
Civnhasy said:
You can find beautiful luster in circle Tahitians! I think the idea that they are "second tier" is simply that people typically prize perfectly round pearls over other shapes. So in my mind it's great that you prefer non-round because you'll be able to get beautiful pearls at a great price! As mentioned, Cees frequently has very nice Tahitians, as does Takahashi and Moline.
Click to expand...

That makes sense! They typically seem like the poor stepchild from what I have seen--just included on a site to give lower price points. I'll check these vendors out!
 
pearlsngems said:
There are AAA circled Tahitians. Circles per se do not decrease quality-- although there can be blemishes within the circles that may do so.
As for luster, just as with all Tahitians, some have higher luster and some have lower luster. I have some high luster ones from Rikitea. They are more lustrous than my near-round ones. Also more colorful.

The market value for rounds is higher for all pearls, not just Tahitians. Round pearls are scarcer, hence more valuable. But personally I find drop, baroque and circled pearls more interesting.

Pearl Paradise may have higher quality circled Tahitians in their vault-- I'd ask.
Cees (pronounced "case") has beautiful pearls, and he will send you more photos if you need them.

When looking at vendor photos, be aware that the colors people love in Tahitians are often overtone colors, not body colors.
The most common body colors for Tahitians are light or dark gray and light or dark green, and that is what you will see in bright sunlight.

Overtone colors need diffuse light to be seen at their best--- in the shade, a cloudy sky, or indoors away from windows.
Vendors use studio lighting to bring out the overtone colors. What you see in vendor photos is the best they will look. But you can ask for photos in direct sunlight.

To illustrate this, I photographed this necklace in direct sunlight (just inside my front door) and then 2 feet back from the door, where light was diffuse. The difference is evident.

baroque Rikitea necklace in direct sunlight.jpegbaroque Rikitea necklace in diffuse indoor light PS.jpeg
Click to expand...

What a fabulously informative post! Thank you! While I have bought pearls before, this is my first foray into Tahitians. I have noticed the little "flea bites" that are on many of the circled pearls I have seen. Yours look marvelously clean. To check my eye, is the body color of your strand dark gray? I am shocked at how much they change depending on the lighting, wow! They are gorgeous.
 
@Odyssey44,
Yes-- the body color is very dark-- practically black. Theh so-called "black pearls of Tahiti" (I have a book by that name) are not really black, but these come close. I was looking for pearls with a nearly black body color because I wanted them to look very dark in full sunlight.

They do have some flaws but I don't notice them much.

Now, darker body color is more expensive because it's less common.
But if you are looking for colorful overtones, they tend to be more visible in lighter body color pearls than in darker ones. Of course, there will be variability anyway from pearl to pearl and from strand to strand. Some pearls just don't have strong overtones.

These are my near-round ones, which also show a distinct difference in the overtones in direct sun near my door vs. a few steps back from the door. You can see these have a somewhat lighter body color-- but still not light gray.
my Tahitians in direct sunlight at open door.jpegTahitians in diffuse light in LR.jpeg
 
I can definitely see the lighter body color in your rounds. I already realized I am drawn to the lighter body color, because I wear a lot of pastel colors and live in a subtropical climate. The darker ones, while beautiful, will be too heavy feeling for my purposes. I am happy about that--first time the cheaper option is what I would choose, independent of price! A nice bonus.
 
And there are even lighter body colors, many of which will have lovely overtones.

But there are also light body colored pearls with no real overtones, too. My Tahitian keshi look like liquid silver, but no overtones.
First photo in sun, second in shade...not much difference in color. They may have reflected whatever I was wearing.
 

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Liquid silver--pretty neat! I will have to store that for a future purchase.
 
Pearlsngems gave all the information! And the photos show the huge difference that lighting makes to the appearance of the colour. They will always be shiny if the lustre is excellent but the gorgeous colours will disappear in direct sunlight leaving you with the base colour. But seriously- don’t we spend 80% of our time indoors?

With circles ( which I love) I always look for circles that have no flaws - often found in the actual circle indentation and showing a chalky interior. So you want clean circles .

Also I know that everyone is mentioning the lower price point but keep in mind that Tahitian prices have gone up a lot in the past 3 years so they are not necessarily a bargain- and if AAA …

Also just check the Takahashi- I believe they were bracelet length. So 2x the price for a strand ( estimated 7-8” but may be less - you need to ask .)
 
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Odyssey44 said:
I think I am in the minority but I really like the look of circle Tahitian pearls (except when they have a little pointy nipple on top) and would love a long strand of them. My understanding is that circles are lesser quality. I still want a lot of luster and different colors though. I have looked at PP and PoJ. Nothing is really what I want. I don't see a lot of luster and life in their circle Tahitians. Has anyone seen what I am looking for or are circle Tahitians just always second quality to rounds in every way?
Click to expand...

are you looking to buy?
we could have so much fun with the PS Pearl Princesses helping you out
:appl: :appl: :appl: :appl: :appl: :appl: :appl: :appl: :appl:
 
katbran said:
Pearlsngems gave all the information! And the photos show the huge difference that lighting makes to the appearance of the colour. They will always be shiny if the lustre is excellent but the gorgeous colours will disappear in direct sunlight leaving you with the base colour. But seriously- don’t we spend 80% of our time indoors?

With circles ( which I love) I always look for circles that have no flaws - often found in the actual circle indentation and showing a chalky interior. So you want clean circles .

Also I know that everyone is mentioning the lower price point but keep in mind that Tahitian prices have gone up a lot in the past 3 years so they are not necessarily a bargain- and if AAA …

Also just check the Takahashi- I believe they were bracelet length. So 2x the price for a strand ( estimated 7-8” but may be less - you need to ask .)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip about the chalky circles. So far, I have not found exactly what I am looking for--to complicate matters I am looking for opera length. Takahashi did not have enough for that. Cees and Moline are looking though. Moline is really being very helpful.
 
As others have said, there is always Kamoka and Pearl Paradeise. I can speak from experience about CMW. They have some beautiful circle pearls from time to time. I bought a strand from them a few years ago and they were as advertised (top quality). The luster is beautiful and extremely clean.

I’ve seen some lovely circles at JNG gems before, too. They had a beautiful peacock set that I remember debating about.
 
Rhd3 said:
As others have said, there is always Kamoka and Pearl Paradeise. I can speak from experience about CMW. They have some beautiful circle pearls from time to time. I bought a strand from them a few years ago and they were as advertised (top quality). The luster is beautiful and extremely clean.

I’ve seen some lovely circles at JNG gems before, too. They had a beautiful peacock set that I remember debating about.
Click to expand...

this most needs pictures ,,,,,,,,,
 
This discussion inspired me to finally buy an item that's been on my Poshmark watch list for a while, an opera-length strand of Tahitian baroque/circle pearls. This is no help to you, @Odyssey44, because it was a one-off, and you wouldn't have wanted it anyway--the pearls have tails, the colors may be too subdued for you, and it was a risky buy with blurry photos. It's on its way to Poshmark's authenticators, so if it turns out not to be Tahitians at all, I should get my money back. I hope I like it when it arrives.

Seller's photo:

Screen Shot 2025-02-16 at 12.53.04 PM copy 2.jpg
 
I am glad I could give you the push you needed to get a wish list item!! I just love the versatility of the opera length, and I am tall, so I need it. I hope they are authenticated and you wear them well!
 
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