My Tahitian Pearl Collection... the beginning of an obsession

[K9]

Nearly 2 years ago I decided I wanted a tahitian pearl pendant. I had never really been into pearls, but there was something alluring to me about tahitians... dark, mysterious, just plain yummy looking! So, I ended up finding the "right" pearl for my pendant project and had it set with an heirloom transitional cut diamond. Original thread here: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/heirloom-diamond-pendant.91386/

Though I loved it, I felt it could be better. I acquired a .60ct stone and had Pete from Quest reset my pearl with the new diamond in a simple bezel this last summer. The result is amazing and find I love the pendant even more!

What I didn''t realize was that this would spark an obsession to have more! I have since acquired a lovely tahitian pearl enhancer that I wear as a pendant, a vintage tahitian pin that can be worn as a pendant and just after Christmas I bought myself a baroque strand from Elana!

So, I thought I''d share some pics with all of you! Thanks for looking!

 

[K9]

Pendant Reset

 

[K9]

Pendant Neckshot

 

[K9]

14k 8mm Grey and Peacock Tahitian Enhancer

 

[K9]

Enhancer Neckshot

 

[K9]

14k 10mm Baroque Peacock Tahitian

 

[K9]

Pin worn as a necklace

 

[K9]

Glamour groupshot

 

[innerkitten]

Wow! What pretty pearls. I love the one that looks like cherries

 

[K9]

And.... last but not least... my new strand from Elana!

10 x 12.7mm Aubergine Peacock Baroque

 

[K9]

Purple overtones

 

[K9]

 

[K9]

This shot really captures the overtones nicely.

 

[K9]

Finally, the obligatory neckshots...

 

[K9]

Worn with my bezel solitaire...

 

[K9]

If you''ve made it this far - thanks for looking!!!

 

[K9]

innerkitten - you''re right! The enhancer DOES look like cherries! I hadn''t noticed it - thanks!

 

[Lovinggems]

Your pearl pieces are gorgeous, you have good taste.

 

[yssie]

Beautiful pieces!!



I especially like the peacock pin - such a unique design!

 

[DiaDiva]

Beautiful collection, K9! Your strand from Elana is just absolutely fabulous!!!

 

[DiaDiva]

And I adore the way you wore your pin as a pendant. Totally cool.

 

[Honey228]

Gorgeous strand from Elana. I love the aubergine color.

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 1/16/2010 2:23:28 PM
Author: k9muttlover
Pendant Neckshot

hi k9muttlover

i LOVE your pendant with diamond. i'm turning 50 this year and pearls are my birthstone. i'm looking to have a pair of earrings made more or less exactly like your pendant, but attached to shepherd hooks. i LOVE the proportions of yours, and i was wondering if you'd mind telling me the size of this pearl, and also the weight of the diamond?

gorgeous collection - YUM!

thanks in advance...

ETA sorry k9 - just saw the diamond weight. and i went through your thread on its original setting, which is probably closer to what i'm considering (.25ct diamonds). but it all depends on the pearl size. i was considering 13mm pearls and would love to know how that compares, size-wise to yours....

because i think your pendant proportions are...

 

[K9]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I can't stop myself it seems!

yssie/DiaDiva - I splurged on that pin. Couldn't quite resist the versatility!

Honey - thank you! I too LOVE the aubergine. I originally thought peacock, but the greens don't look as great on my coloring.

And, DiaDiva - thanks for turning me onto Elana (even if you didn't know you did

). I couldn't be happier with it and it was exactly in my budget!

Whitby - I too want to do exactly what you're thinking of for earrings (a la paspaley drops like Nicole Kidman wore in Australia, only with tahitians).

The diamond with the bezel has a measurement of 6.08mm and my pearl is 13mm. My original setting had a .25ct diamond in a larger stock bezel with the same 13mm pearl. The diameter of that bezel was 7.95 (which I thought was too big).

I have a matching .25ct diamond, so that's why I'm thinking earrings. I'm leaning closer to 10mm on the pearls to keep the proportions similar... seeing as the diameter of the current bezel is just a smidge less than half the size of my pearl.

That's the method to my madness anyway.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[y2kitty]

Beautiful. Just stunning stuff.

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 1/18/2010 12:16:21 PM
Author: k9muttlover

Whitby - I too want to do exactly what you''re thinking of for earrings (a la paspaley drops like Nicole Kidman wore in Australia, only with tahitians).


The diamond with the bezel has a measurement of 6.08mm and my pearl is 13mm. My original setting had a .25ct diamond in a larger stock bezel with the same 13mm pearl. The diameter of that bezel was 7.95 (which I thought was too big).


I have a matching .25ct diamond, so that''s why I''m thinking earrings. I''m leaning closer to 10mm on the pearls to keep the proportions similar... seeing as the diameter of the current bezel is just a smidge less than half the size of my pearl.


That''s the method to my madness anyway.

Hope this helps!!!

oh man.... i wanted to get away with .25 stones - or at biggest, a pair of .31 stones i have! .6''s are gonna set me way back....

i''m *so* pleased i saw this, tho. it''s so helpful to see exactly the same sized pearl it''s HUGE! I didn''t realize it''d be so big - i originally wanted 15mm - and i can see now - that would have been a mistake.)

the other thing i''m thinking is doing 3 x .17 stones in a triangle shape, directly sitting on each pearl, then the shepherd''s hook coming out of that. so each earring would then have a half carat above it - 1 ct in total. i once saw a mikimoto pair of south sea pearls set like that....

and they were breathtaking.

i''ve also thought about forgoing diamonds on them altogether and just having pearls with yellow gold lever backs...

any thoughts?

 

[K9]

Date: 1/18/2010 12:33:23 PM
Author: whitby_2773

oh man.... i wanted to get away with .25 stones - or at biggest, a pair of .31 stones i have! .6''s are gonna set me way back....

i''m *so* pleased i saw this, tho. it''s so helpful to see exactly the same sized pearl it''s HUGE! I didn''t realize it''d be so big - i originally wanted 15mm - and i can see now - that would have been a mistake.)


the other thing i''m thinking is doing 3 x .17 stones in a triangle shape, directly sitting on each pearl, then the shepherd''s hook coming out of that. so each earring would then have a half carat above it - 1 ct in total. i once saw a mikimoto pair of south sea pearls set like that....


and they were breathtaking.


i''ve also thought about forgoing diamonds on them altogether and just having pearls with yellow gold lever backs...


any thoughts?

13mm is much bigger than you''d think, that''s for sure. I think you could easily do .25''s, you''d just maybe need a smaller pearl. If you do a simple bezel, it would be stunning. Then again, the Paspaley drops I''m talking about have 10point diamonds with a 14mm drop pearl and those are stunning too! I''ll attach a photo for you.

I think your idea of doing a clover style with .17''s is also fantastic - you could for sure go larger on the pearl then. I guess the proportions are a personal preference.

Do you have studs? You could also do jackets like Phoenix and DiaDiva. I thought about that as well... but I like the idea of leverbacks for a different look.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

K9-those are gorgeous!!!

Whitby-Can''t wait to see your project!

 

[gardengloves]

K9,

That strand is gorgeous. I love the aubergine color. Congratulations.

I also looked at Elana''s website from one of DiaDiva''s posts, so glad you got it. I had my eye on it too... Its is beautiful and I love your pendant.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 1/16/2010 2:39:20 PM
Author: innerkitten
Wow! What pretty pearls. I love the one that looks like cherries

me, too!

mz