Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Pearls for Redhead

Kaede

Kaede

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Messages
39
Hey you all,
My daughter just earned her PhD. I want to get her a really nice strand of pearls. 10K or above. Im wondering what color pearls would look best on her. She has red hair (https://www.hadviser.com/copper-hair-color/29/) copper golden shade. Her eyes are light gray, her skin is milk white (she use to sunburn in January in Maryland) She is short, maybe 5"2". She is built like Marilyn Monroe. I am leaning toward Southsea golden. Do you all have any ideas? She was a scholarship student, her degree is fully paid off.
 
Golden south sea pearls are wonderful!

Golden SSP have golden, rose or green overtones, or a combination of them. Is there any way she can try some on to know which overtones look best on her?

My skin has cool undertones. The first GSS strand I tried on (at Betteridge, in Greenwich, CT) looked hideous on me. It was a medium gold shade, with greenish overtones. Even the SA said bluntly, "That isn't your color."

For several years after that, I thought GSS would not work for me. But then I found a strand with gold to rose overtones, and it looks wonderful on my skin.

Is her skin pinkish at all? Is so, gold to green overtones may work for her.
 
Congrats to your daughter! Not knowing her or her preferences at all - there is something to me that is just so classic and professional and symbolic ("you've arrived, Dr So-and-So") about a strand of Akoyas. It's timeless and can be worn with anything. With the right overtone it could look so lovely with her skin and hair. Given that she is petite it might also be nice to go with a smaller type of pearl since GSS can be overpowering, IMO.

That said, I understand why GSS comes to mind - they also could be absolutely beautiful with her hair/skin. And it's different! Agreed with being mindful of skin tone here in particular - my friend and I recently tried on the same GSS necklace and it looked good on me but it made her look sallow. Especially for a strand with larger pearls, I think it will be important to get the right match. A good sales associate can definitely help (and I'm sure the folks with very discerning eyes here will have great advice also!).

You didn't mention if you have a vendor in mind, but that plays a role too in terms of whether you can look in person or via photo/video. At that price point I think the most important thing is to make sure it matches her taste and is something she will wear and treasure forever. How fun!
 
pearlsngems said:
Golden south sea pearls are wonderful!

Golden SSP have golden, rose or green overtones, or a combination of them. Is there any way she can try some on to know which overtones look best on her?

My skin has cool undertones. The first GSS strand I tried on (at Betteridge, in Greenwich, CT) looked hideous on me. It was a medium gold shade, with greenish overtones. Even the SA said bluntly, "That isn't your color."

For several years after that, I thought GSS would not work for me. But then I found a strand with gold to rose overtones, and it looks wonderful on my skin.

Is her skin pinkish at all? Is so, gold to green overtones may work for her.
Click to expand...

She is very pink. Think King Charles skin tone. A funny story: We were at a public playground, my neighbor, a lovely young woman from Bangladesh, took a long look at my daughter; who was going pink from running around playing with their daughter. The mom (Aaheli) leaned over to me and asked, "Why does she change color?" then after a moment she added "What do you do to make her hair come out of her head that color?" She had never seen a Scots toddler before.
 
Civnhasy said:
Congrats to your daughter! Not knowing her or her preferences at all - there is something to me that is just so classic and professional and symbolic ("you've arrived, Dr So-and-So") about a strand of Akoyas. It's timeless and can be worn with anything. With the right overtone it could look so lovely with her skin and hair. Given that she is petite it might also be nice to go with a smaller type of pearl since GSS can be overpowering, IMO.

That said, I understand why GSS comes to mind - they also could be absolutely beautiful with her hair/skin. And it's different! Agreed with being mindful of skin tone here in particular - my friend and I recently tried on the same GSS necklace and it looked good on me but it made her look sallow. Especially for a strand with larger pearls, I think it will be important to get the right match. A good sales associate can definitely help (and I'm sure the folks with very discerning eyes here will have great advice also!).

You didn't mention if you have a vendor in mind, but that plays a role too in terms of whether you can look in person or via photo/video. At that price point I think the most important thing is to make sure it matches her taste and is something she will wear and treasure forever. How fun!
Click to expand...

No vender in mind yet. She will be hooded (she has to go on stage, kneel, and get hooded by the some big wig) in December. I want to give her the pearls then.
 
Kaede said:
She is very pink. Think King Charles skin tone. A funny story: We were at a public playground, my neighbor, a lovely young woman from Bangladesh, took a long look at my daughter; who was going pink from running around playing with their daughter. The mom (Aaheli) leaned over to me and asked, "Why does she change color?" then after a moment she added "What do you do to make her hair come out of her head that color?" She had never seen a Scots toddler before.
Click to expand...

In that case I think gold to green overtones could suit her.
 
Kaede said:
She is very pink. Think King Charles skin tone. A funny story: We were at a public playground, my neighbor, a lovely young woman from Bangladesh, took a long look at my daughter; who was going pink from running around playing with their daughter. The mom (Aaheli) leaned over to me and asked, "Why does she change color?" then after a moment she added "What do you do to make her hair come out of her head that color?" She had never seen a Scots toddler before.
Click to expand...

my friend's dad taught high school in Singapore when NZ used to have a military base there, he was a red head and turned red like a cooked crayfish in the heat/sun
the local otherwise well behaved school kids used to laugh at him

@Kaede congradulation to your daughter, all her hard work has paid off
have lots of fun buying her pearls
 
I am not based in the US. However if you are looking for a special golden south sea strand try Jewelmer. I understand they have a boutique in Florida.
 
Kaede said:
Hey you all,
My daughter just earned her PhD. I want to get her a really nice strand of pearls. 10K or above. Im wondering what color pearls would look best on her. She has red hair (https://www.hadviser.com/copper-hair-color/29/) copper golden shade. Her eyes are light gray, her skin is milk white (she use to sunburn in January in Maryland) She is short, maybe 5"2". She is built like Marilyn Monroe. I am leaning toward Southsea golden. Do you all have any ideas? She was a scholarship student, her degree is fully paid off.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on this momentous occasion. I’m not familiar with pearls but am familiar with being a redhead. Lol.

I suggest that you figure out what the best type of Pearl to buy, and where, then involve your daughter in the process. OR consult a color expert with photos.

I say this because there are no simple rules in redhead land. The color of our skin and hair, and then lips and eyes are all different. Pearls that are white wash out on me, but gray blue look wonderful. I for example have pink with a yellow undertone skin, but a blue tone to my lips and my eyes are blue gray with yellow brown centers. I can’t find any lipstick to not turn Orange or muddy purple, and pink looks terrible on me. Apparently I’m a Winter. My pink skinned sister also looks great in Winter colors.

Also, the anaesthesia issue is definitely a thing and please wear sun protective clothes and hat starting young.

Congratulations and good luck.
 
Last edited:
Huge congrats to your daughter! And, of course to her mother too. :)

Do you have a budget in mind?

Pearl Paradise is always a good place to start imo. They have a huge inventory and are very good with returns. They would email you pics of a few strands to compare and help with any questions.

Also, you might want to consider Tahitian pearls, too. I recall discussions here and on the pearl forum where people said they wore their black pearls more than any other colors.

www.pearlparadise.com

Tahitian Pearls

The finest, natural-color Tahitian pearl jewelry on the Internet. Top quality pearls at 80% off retail prices. Visit Pearl Paradise Today!
www.pearlparadise.com www.pearlparadise.com
 
Kaede said:
Hey you all,
My daughter just earned her PhD. I want to get her a really nice strand of pearls. 10K or above. Im wondering what color pearls would look best on her. She has red hair (https://www.hadviser.com/copper-hair-color/29/) copper golden shade. Her eyes are light gray, her skin is milk white (she use to sunburn in January in Maryland) She is short, maybe 5"2". She is built like Marilyn Monroe. I am leaning toward Southsea golden. Do you all have any ideas? She was a scholarship student, her degree is fully paid off.
Click to expand...

GSS are tough since they vary significantly (Light champagne and deep 22k+ gold color tones)... My Chinese wife can't wear GSS (She has tried various in stores), it just does not work for her skin tone. My mother on the other hand looks great in the dark 22k+ gold GSS earrings that I got her (Brazilian, tanned Caucasian skin tone).

GSS can also be quite large in size, so be careful with not going too large if it's a necklace on someone that is only 5'2".

This is not a low dollar purchase you are planning, I would highly urge you to take your daughter to visit a Mikimoto store and have her try on various types of pearls (GSS, WSS, Tahitian, Akoya and blue/grey akoya if they have any) to learn her preference first...

Or just do a mother/daughter trip to Japan where you buy the strand with her in Kobe as a special trip. You'll also save a lot on the strand (or much better quality for same price).
 
NY_Resonant said:
GSS are tough since they vary significantly (Light champagne and deep 22k+ gold color tones)... My Chinese wife can't wear GSS (She has tried various in stores), it just does not work for her skin tone. My mother on the other hand looks great in the dark 22k+ gold GSS earrings that I got her (Brazilian, tanned Caucasian skin tone).

GSS can also be quite large in size, so be careful with not going too large if it's a necklace on someone that is only 5'2".

This is not a low dollar purchase you are planning, I would highly urge you to take your daughter to visit a Mikimoto store and have her try on various types of pearls (GSS, WSS, Tahitian, Akoya and blue/grey akoya if they have any) to learn her preference first...

Or just do a mother/daughter trip to Japan where you buy the strand with her in Kobe as a special trip. You'll also save a lot on the strand (or much better quality for same price).
Click to expand...

Great ideas, I especially like the mother daughter trip to Japan. And I second the ideas that how a Pearl looks on skin tone really is hard to gauge except in-person.
 
H:

Is this her first strand of pearls?

cheers--Sharon
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top