Show me your Pearls!

[Begonia]

So pretty! I bet its hard to choose which one to wear!

Thanks

Many of them were my Mom's, and I don't wear them sadly. I've been house cleaning and had some fun trying them on. Hard to photograph the lustre and overtones on them.

 

[Jadeite_101]

Hi I design jewelry as a hobby (not professionally) and put them in my collection. I don’t wear them but I do loan or gift them to my mom for her to wear as she pleases. Here’s some which feature South Sea Pearls.

13.1mm White South Sea Pearls on a graduated rose cut diamond


South Sea Pearl Bracelet 13mm each. Golden, Champagne and White tones.


The drops in these 2 are each 17mm Golden South Sea Pearls. Used to be earrings before I seperated them into different designs.


Hope you enjoy them.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

@Jadeite_101, Gorgeous pieces! Made even more special that you designed these beautiful creations.

I love metallic pearls most of all. Two recent strands- a pink baroque bead nucleated 11-14.5 mm strand and an all nacre 9-10.5 mm strand.

 

[CMN]

xxxxxooooo

@Jadeite_101, Gorgeous pieces! Made even more special that you designed these beautiful creations.

I love metallic pearls most of all. Two recent strands- a pink baroque bead nucleated 11-14.5 mm strand and an all nacre 9-10.5 mm strand.

LisaRN do you mind sharing who you purchased those two strands from?

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

LisaRN do you mind sharing who you purchased those two strands from?

The baroque pearls were purchased from Northwest Designs on Etsy. I asked for them to be sent unstrung so I could check the nacre thickness. Nacre is thick without dull spots.

Second strand is from Wen Pearls on Etsy. For this strand I bought her high grade earring pearls to make the strand. I have done this to create Tahitian, South Sea and metallic freshwater necklaces from her. Here are some of my Wen Pearl necklace creations. The metallic FW is a different necklace then the one pictured in my previous post.

The wrinkly skinned baroque Tahitian strand is probably one of my favorite necklaces. My Iphone can't capture how pretty it is in real life.

 

[Jadeite_101]

Custom designs I call “My Reds” because of the South Sea Pearl - Red Colored Stone Combination...


White South Sea Pearls with Diamonds, Rubellites and Goshenites carved as flowers.


Golden South Sea Pearls with Diamonds and Heart Cut Rubies


Peacock Black South Sea Pearls with diamonds and 8.6ctw of Round Cut Rubies

 

[Jadeite_101]

I call these the Butterfly Lovers from a famous Chinese tale... Grey South Sea Pearls with Diamonds...

 

[Jadeite_101]

Pearl drops on a multicolored stone briolette accents and diamonds

 

[OdetteOdile]

The baroque pearls were purchased from Northwest Designs on Etsy. I asked for them to be sent unstrung so I could check the nacre thickness. Nacre is thick without dull spots.

Second strand is from Wen Pearls on Etsy. For this strand I bought her high grade earring pearls to make the strand. I have done this to create Tahitian, South Sea and metallic freshwater necklaces from her. Here are some of my Wen Pearl necklace creations. The metallic FW is a different necklace then the one pictured in my previous post.

The wrinkly skinned baroque Tahitian strand is probably one of my favorite necklaces. My Iphone can't capture how pretty it is in real life.

These are really beautiful LisaRN! I just looked at the etsy shop WenPearls and they have some gorgeous options - almost overwhelming for me how many different kinds of pearls they have! How did you get started stringing your own pearls? Do you make a lot of jewelry? I would never think to do that - so I am very impressed.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

These are really beautiful LisaRN! I just looked at the etsy shop WenPearls and they have some gorgeous options - almost overwhelming for me how many different kinds of pearls they have! How did you get started stringing your own pearls? Do you make a lot of jewelry? I would never think to do that - so I am very impressed.

Thank you @OdetteOdile - that is very nice of you to say.

I got started stringing pearls after joining a popular pearl forum. The members there had posted threads with links to pearl stringing tutorials and one member has an Etsy store that sells inexpensive pearl stringing thread, gimp and needles. It is super easy to string pearls and once I got started I couldn't stop. Lol. You can also search Youtube and find a few different ways to string pearls and gemstone beads.There are also videos on how to wire wrap pearls and gemstone beads to make tin cup necklaces and earrings.

A tip for buying from Wenpearls is to buy her AAA or AAA+ grade pearls, look at the pictures closely (save the photos and enlarge them) and ask for more pictures if you are not sure. If you are buying Tahitians from her I have found that she puts more value on the roundness of the pearl vs. the luster. So make sure you are looking closely on how lustrous the pearls are. I also avoid her grey Tahitians and choose those she lists as peacock, purple, or green for the most part.

Here are is my new yummy FW purple baroque bead nucleated strand.

 

[OdetteOdile]

Thank you @OdetteOdile - that is very nice of you to say.

I got started stringing pearls after joining a popular pearl forum. The members there had posted threads with links to pearl stringing tutorials and one member has an Etsy store that sells inexpensive pearl stringing thread, gimp and needles. It is super easy to string pearls and once I got started I couldn't stop. Lol. You can also search Youtube and find a few different ways to string pearls and gemstone beads.There are also videos on how to wire wrap pearls and gemstone beads to make tin cup necklaces and earrings.

A tip for buying from Wenpearls is to buy her AAA or AAA+ grade pearls, look at the pictures closely (save the photos and enlarge them) and ask for more pictures if you are not sure. If you are buying Tahitians from her I have found that she puts more value on the roundness of the pearl vs. the luster. So make sure you are looking closely on how lustrous the pearls are. I also avoid her grey Tahitians and choose those she lists as peacock, purple, or green for the most part.

Here are is my new yummy FW purple baroque bead nucleated strand.

Wow - thank you for all the information! I am now intrigued with the thought of making my own pearl bracelet. I am going to try to watch the pearl stringing videos. Thank you for the tips in regards to Wen Pearls too! Your purple baroque strand is absolutely gorgeous!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

New blue Tahitian studs. Loose pearls from Cees, setting furnished by my local jeweler.

Wearing them with the diamond tip pointed down, although curious to hear if any of you ladies wear similar studs with the diamond tip pointed up?

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@LisaRN Really love the purple strand! Would love to see some neck shots!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

@LisaRN Really love the purple strand! Would love to see some neck shots!

@Pinkmartini87 - I will try to get some for you. Li sent me some new strands that are even prettier than these. I think I will start a thread when my latest strand arrives. Here is a preview - one of the new strands which I love, love, love!!!!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@LisaRN The color is incredible!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

@Pinkmartini87 - Not the greatest photo (My IPhone hates pearls) but here is the strand you asked about. This strand is the lightest purple of my newest strands.

When I compare these strands to my all nacre lavender strands there is just no comparison. The Edisons beat out the all nacre strands in regards to intensity of color. But there is something special about all nacre FW lavenders and I still love them.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@LisaRN Just gorgeous!!

I just think it’s such an amazing and unusual shade of color and the size looks great on you as well, goes well with nice day wear or a fancy evening ensemble. Enjoy it and wear it in good health!

 

[Polabowla]

@Pinkmartini87 gorgeous!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

@Pinkmartini87 - Not the greatest photo (My IPhone hates pearls) but here is the strand you asked about. This strand is the lightest purple of my newest strands.

When I compare these strands to my all nacre lavender strands there is just no comparison. The Edisons beat out the all nacre strands in regards to intensity of color. But there is something special about all nacre FW lavenders and I still love them.

wow
they are gorgeous
May i ask what size they are please?

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

wow
they are gorgeous
May i ask what size they are please?

Thank You! 10.5 to the largest pearl which is 13mm. On the colorful strand some of the pearls are bi-colored. One pearl is lavender on one side fading to gold, another is lavender on one side and rose on the other.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Dark lavender with green overtone Chinese bead nucleated FW pearls. These are not believed to be dyed or irradiated so the question is how are they producing these pearls with such intense lavender shades? A mystery for now.

 

[yssie]

@LisaRN The colour on those is STUNNING So rich!!

Your rumination made me think... I've been seeing some really colourful FWs on Kojima's IG lately, too. Whatever these farms are doing - they've hit on something, for sure...

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

@LisaRN The colour on those is STUNNING So rich!!

Your rumination made me think... I've been seeing some really colourful FWs on Kojima's IG lately, too. Whatever these farms are doing - they've hit on something, for sure...

I remember reading this 2015 blog post from Pearls of Joy.


"12-13mm bead nucleated drops with crazy dark colors, not just one color, but multiple bands of color. I've seen this sort of banding on the odd pearl before, but never quite this intense or on this many pearls. After seeing these I have to think that true natural "black" freshwater pearls may be coming down the pipe. Maybe not dark Tahitian greens, but dark reds and purples seem inevitable."

Here is another strand with pretty, deep lavender colors (I've been very, very bad lately).

 

[yssie]

Naturally coloured blacks would be glorious I guess we're still waiting on those though!

Oh you're just doing your part to boost the economy - it's good, really

 

[katbran]

Yes, all freshwater Blacks are dyed. Colour enhancement is an issue with many pearls as they often don't disclose. I'm very careful where I buy my Tahitians and Gold South Sea as many of the less expensive ones have had treatment. In pearls as in many things, you do get what you pay for.. the good thing is though if you don't pay much then you can consider it the same as a piece of costume jewellery. I've seen plastic bead bracelets from designers that sold for 350$ so ... no harm no foul

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Yes, all freshwater Blacks are dyed. Colour enhancement is an issue with many pearls as they often don't disclose. I'm very careful where I buy my Tahitians and Gold South Sea as many of the less expensive ones have had treatment. In pearls as in many things, you do get what you pay for.. the good thing is though if you don't pay much then you can consider it the same as a piece of costume jewellery. I've seen plastic bead bracelets from designers that sold for 350$ so ... no harm no foul

Hi Katbran. Very interesting. Are treated Tahitians prevalent? What type of treatments are being done? Thanks!

 

[katbran]

There are quite a few treatments out there. Irradiation will darken pearls . It's an expensive process so many farms don't use it on inexpensive pearls, it's mainly to enhance more expensive Salt Water pearls. The gamma rays have an effect on the Manganese in Freshwater pearls, the nucleus used in Salt Water Pearl cultivation is a bead from a Freshwater mussel. The Gamma rays effect this bead and darken it , mostly creating grey or silver but not really black. It's not the nacre that's effected it's the bead and the bead reflects through a thinner nacre , like Akoya and the more inexpensive Tahitians. The Tahitian pearl farmers are not regulated anymore as to nacre depth. So pearls that might have sat for a couple of years might be out in 8 months now , this means a thinner nacre that can be effected by the creation of a darker nucleus .

There are also heat and dye treatments to enhance Gold pearls and to create Gold coloured pearls from White or Cream pearls. Or a darker gold from Champagne coloured SS.

Of course there are different treatments that artificially enhance Lustre as well by tightening the surface which creates higher lustre. Buffing and light polishing is common but sometimes compounds are added that will coat the surface that will fade over time. Combinations of heat and chemicals can also cause the surface platelets to swell which reduces the space between them, this creates the tighter nacre and enhances lustre. Again, over time these treatments will fade as will the lustre.

That's why you need to choose your seller carefully. These large on line buy in bulk generally at the low end. For higher end products you need to buy from reputable companies... or the people who buy from them and on sell .

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

@katbran - Great information!

 

[elizat]

Little H Edison pearl Ruby spiral earrings:

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thanks

Many of them were my Mom's, and I don't wear them sadly. I've been house cleaning and had some fun trying them on. Hard to photograph the lustre and overtones on them.

Why don't you wear them ?
This post is a few months old
maybe you had fun with them in the lockdown ?