Show me your Pearls!

[mellowyellowgirl]

I had the best day digging through a chaotic vendor’s stock! It was awesome!

Got these for myself, akoya bracelet and south sea pearl ring. Ever since I gave Lil Sis her pearl ring I’ve been hankering for one



Speaking of the baby sister, I can’t buy any pearls without thinking of her so I got her this:



I styled myself like this today. Pearl pendant and T shirt that I designed using iron on patches

 

[canuk-gal]

I had the best day digging through a chaotic vendor’s stock! It was awesome!

Got these for myself, akoya bracelet and south sea pearl ring. Ever since I gave Lil Sis her pearl ring I’ve been hankering for one



Speaking of the baby sister, I can’t buy any pearls without thinking of her so I got her this:



I styled myself like this today. Pearl pendant and T shirt that I designed using iron on patches

I love your new ring--profile pics pleases? And your sister necklace is really lovely!!
BTW what does "chaotic" mean--old mystery stock tucked away in drawers? LOL. Sounds like fun!!!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I love your new ring--profile pics pleases? And your sister necklace is really lovely!!
BTW what does "chaotic" mean--old mystery stock tucked away in drawers? LOL. Sounds like fun!!!

So in Japan I went to Tasaki and Mikimoto. Beautiful stuff but dropping those amounts on pearls is just not something I would ever do.

I went exploring by myself and ended up in a suburb with all these jewellery stores. Looked around and stumbled upon this ratty looking store with a polite but completely disinterested shop owner. He didn’t speak much English and would type out the prices of things on a calculator for me. Then he’d go back to chatting on the phone.

I was a bit apprehensive at first until a few Chinese customers told me to just rummage around (except for one cupboard with a red sign that contains stock that’s on consignment. I’m not to touch that cupboard) and try on anything I want.

I was super uneasy and tried to ask him if it was ok, he waved me off and said “ok ok”

So I rummaged and found that he had a lot of stock with certificates from the Pearl Science Laboratory, the same ones that I’ve seen on here.

I started off liking a pendant with a cert but then saw the pendant that I ended up buying (which didn’t have a cert). I figured pearls was something I don’t really understand so I’d just mentally calculate the gold cost, throw in a bit of labour and come up with a price that was acceptable for the pearl (treating the pearl as a write off basically). The pendant that I ended up buying was reasonable so I bought it.

I went back to the hotel and was super duper in love with the necklace so the next day I high tailed it to the same shop again this time with more confidence to rummage.

He was just as disinterested but more cheerful on my second visit. I rummaged happily and bought my two things.

I even took pictures of most of his necklaces and texted Lil Sis so she could pick the necklace she wanted.

Here’s the ring and the random stock I took pics of for Lil Sis to check. I even tried on all the necklaces she was interested in and took selfies for her to assess. He stopped his call to tell me I could use this box thingy with lights to take pictures of stuff. It was such a bizarre and completely different experience to Tasaki which had an army of sales assistants etc

Haha it would probably horrify PSers but I felt like I got exactly what I wanted, within the budget that I wanted. Plus I had so much fun!

 

[cushioncutnut]

So in Japan I went to Tasaki and Mikimoto. Beautiful stuff but dropping those amounts on pearls is just not something I would ever do.

I went exploring by myself and ended up in a suburb with all these jewellery stores. Looked around and stumbled upon this ratty looking store with a polite but completely disinterested shop owner. He didn’t speak much English and would type out the prices of things on a calculator for me. Then he’d go back to chatting on the phone.

I was a bit apprehensive at first until a few Chinese customers told me to just rummage around (except for one cupboard with a red sign that contains stock that’s on consignment. I’m not to touch that cupboard) and try on anything I want.

I was super uneasy and tried to ask him if it was ok, he waved me off and said “ok ok”

So I rummaged and found that he had a lot of stock with certificates from the Pearl Science Laboratory, the same ones that I’ve seen on here.

I started off liking a pendant with a cert but then saw the pendant that I ended up buying (which didn’t have a cert). I figured pearls was something I don’t really understand so I’d just mentally calculate the gold cost, throw in a bit of labour and come up with a price that was acceptable for the pearl (treating the pearl as a write off basically). The pendant that I ended up buying was reasonable so I bought it.

I went back to the hotel and was super duper in love with the necklace so the next day I high tailed it to the same shop again this time with more confidence to rummage.

He was just as disinterested but more cheerful on my second visit. I rummaged happily and bought my two things.

I even took pictures of most of his necklaces and texted Lil Sis so she could pick the necklace she wanted.

Here’s the ring and the random stock I took pics of for Lil Sis to check. I even tried on all the necklaces she was interested in and took selfies for her to assess. He stopped his call to tell me I could use this box thingy with lights to take pictures of stuff. It was such a bizarre and completely different experience to Tasaki which had an army of sales assistants etc

Haha it would probably horrify PSers but I felt like I got exactly what I wanted, within the budget that I wanted. Plus I had so much fun!

Oh how fun! I would have no problem doing something like that! Eenie,meenie,miny, moe.......... did your sister end up getting something? They all look to be some beautiful pearls!!

 

[canuk-gal]

So in Japan I went to Tasaki and Mikimoto. Beautiful stuff but dropping those amounts on pearls is just not something I would ever do.

I went exploring by myself and ended up in a suburb with all these jewellery stores. Looked around and stumbled upon this ratty looking store with a polite but completely disinterested shop owner. He didn’t speak much English and would type out the prices of things on a calculator for me. Then he’d go back to chatting on the phone.

I was a bit apprehensive at first until a few Chinese customers told me to just rummage around (except for one cupboard with a red sign that contains stock that’s on consignment. I’m not to touch that cupboard) and try on anything I want.

I was super uneasy and tried to ask him if it was ok, he waved me off and said “ok ok”

So I rummaged and found that he had a lot of stock with certificates from the Pearl Science Laboratory, the same ones that I’ve seen on here.

I started off liking a pendant with a cert but then saw the pendant that I ended up buying (which didn’t have a cert). I figured pearls was something I don’t really understand so I’d just mentally calculate the gold cost, throw in a bit of labour and come up with a price that was acceptable for the pearl (treating the pearl as a write off basically). The pendant that I ended up buying was reasonable so I bought it.

I went back to the hotel and was super duper in love with the necklace so the next day I high tailed it to the same shop again this time with more confidence to rummage.

He was just as disinterested but more cheerful on my second visit. I rummaged happily and bought my two things.

I even took pictures of most of his necklaces and texted Lil Sis so she could pick the necklace she wanted.

Here’s the ring and the random stock I took pics of for Lil Sis to check. I even tried on all the necklaces she was interested in and took selfies for her to assess. He stopped his call to tell me I could use this box thingy with lights to take pictures of stuff. It was such a bizarre and completely different experience to Tasaki which had an army of sales assistants etc

Haha it would probably horrify PSers but I felt like I got exactly what I wanted, within the budget that I wanted. Plus I had so much fun!

I think you choose well!!! So did you "haggle"?

Fun story. Right up my alley!!!!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I think you choose well!!! So did you "haggle"?

Fun story. Right up my alley!!!!

Haha I bowed lots and said: Please give me good price

He bowed back and said: Ok I give you

Then he’d give me a discount on top of the quoted price. About 8% off the quoted price. I was going to buy the stuff anyway regardless

I bowed back to thank him.

Lots of bowing

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Oh how fun! I would have no problem doing something like that! Eenie,meenie,miny, moe.......... did your sister end up getting something? They all look to be some beautiful pearls!!

Yes! She picked this and I bought it for her.

Haha I really like it too but can’t steal it from her!



I loved this one for its simplicity but I’ve probably bought too many things already



He had this lovely pinkish akoya necklace at a super reasonable price with the PSL cert but both Lil Sis and I realised we weren’t that crazy about it. So it’s finally put to bed Lil Sis's dream of getting an akoya necklace.

This was the akoya necklace with the first pendant I tried (with PSL cert)

 

[cushioncutnut]

Yes! She picked this and I bought it for her.

Haha I really like it too but can’t steal it from her!



I loved this one for its simplicity but I’ve probably bought too many things already



He had this lovely pinkish akoya necklace at a super reasonable price with the PSL cert but both Lil Sis and I realised we weren’t that crazy about it. So it’s finally put to bed Lil Sis's dream of getting an akoya necklace.

This was the akoya necklace with the first pendant I tried (with PSL cert)

Oh lovely! I thought you picked that for you! I apologize for not reading through all of the post. My bad!!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Making sure my little bracelet doesn’t feel left out:

 

[cushioncutnut]

Making sure my little bracelet doesn’t feel left out:

Oh pretty! I love the diamond cutting!!

 

[wanamaker]

The pearl bug bit me hard the last few months, some are still on their way...

 

[Pomelo]

The pearl bug bit me hard the last few months, some are still on their way...

Lovely! Modelling pics please!

Also, is that a strand of silvery Tahitian keshi with baby akoya?

 

[wanamaker]

Lovely! Modelling pics please!

Also, is that a strand of silvery Tahitian keshi with baby akoya?

Thank you and good eyes! That's indeed silvery Tahitian keshi with baby akoya, it goes with everything.

Wearing the green/purple necklace today.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

So in Japan I went to Tasaki and Mikimoto. Beautiful stuff but dropping those amounts on pearls is just not something I would ever do.

I went exploring by myself and ended up in a suburb with all these jewellery stores. Looked around and stumbled upon this ratty looking store with a polite but completely disinterested shop owner. He didn’t speak much English and would type out the prices of things on a calculator for me. Then he’d go back to chatting on the phone.

I was a bit apprehensive at first until a few Chinese customers told me to just rummage around (except for one cupboard with a red sign that contains stock that’s on consignment. I’m not to touch that cupboard) and try on anything I want.

I was super uneasy and tried to ask him if it was ok, he waved me off and said “ok ok”

So I rummaged and found that he had a lot of stock with certificates from the Pearl Science Laboratory, the same ones that I’ve seen on here.

I started off liking a pendant with a cert but then saw the pendant that I ended up buying (which didn’t have a cert). I figured pearls was something I don’t really understand so I’d just mentally calculate the gold cost, throw in a bit of labour and come up with a price that was acceptable for the pearl (treating the pearl as a write off basically). The pendant that I ended up buying was reasonable so I bought it.

I went back to the hotel and was super duper in love with the necklace so the next day I high tailed it to the same shop again this time with more confidence to rummage.

He was just as disinterested but more cheerful on my second visit. I rummaged happily and bought my two things.

I even took pictures of most of his necklaces and texted Lil Sis so she could pick the necklace she wanted.

Here’s the ring and the random stock I took pics of for Lil Sis to check. I even tried on all the necklaces she was interested in and took selfies for her to assess. He stopped his call to tell me I could use this box thingy with lights to take pictures of stuff. It was such a bizarre and completely different experience to Tasaki which had an army of sales assistants etc

Haha it would probably horrify PSers but I felt like I got exactly what I wanted, within the budget that I wanted. Plus I had so much fun!

i so enjoyed reading your post
your sister is very fortunate you are her sister

The pearl bug bit me hard the last few months, some are still on their way...

making up for lost time

beautiful choices

 

[cushioncutnut]

Lovely! Modelling pics please!

Also, is that a strand of silvery Tahitian keshi with baby akoya?

What a beautiful collection and the necklace is gorgeous on you!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Received several messages daily from Lil Sis, the menace, telling me that she can’t stop thinking about an akoya necklace. Since I’m not even in that part of the country anymore, I opted to get creative and realised I was near a place with several resale shops! Found her this second hand Tasaki which will hopefully cure her akoya problems. It’s the one on the left. I have no idea if it’s any good. Nothing chipped off and looks pinkish. I’m living under the most yellow bulbs right now so all my photos are looking yellow. She’s over the moon so an akoya necklace is ticked off the bucket list!!!

Brief explanation: Some of you are probably curious as to why I buy her so much stuff. We had a super rough childhood and there’s an 8 year difference between us. I raised her, changed her nappies, baked her birthday cakes, helped her with homework, went to all her parent teacher meetings etc. I have a child of my own now and would give anything for her childhood to be different but obviously I can’t turn back the clock. So I spoil her a bit because she was/is my original baby.




Also bought these for myself. South sea studs and an Akoya bracelet. I’m such a menace. No idea what I’m doing!

 

[cushioncutnut]

Received several messages daily from Lil Sis, the menace, telling me that she can’t stop thinking about an akoya necklace. Since I’m not even in that part of the country anymore, I opted to get creative and realised I was near a place with several resale shops! Found her this second hand Tasaki which will hopefully cure her akoya problems. It’s the one on the left. I have no idea if it’s any good. Nothing chipped off and looks pinkish. I’m living under the most yellow bulbs right now so all my photos are looking yellow. She’s over the moon so an akoya necklace is ticked off the bucket list!!!

Brief explanation: Some of you are probably curious as to why I buy her so much stuff. We had a super rough childhood and there’s an 8 year difference between us. I raised her, changed her nappies, baked her birthday cakes, helped her with homework, went to all her parent teacher meetings etc. I have a child of my own now and would give anything for her childhood to be different but obviously I can’t turn back the clock. So I spoil her a bit because she was/is my original baby.




Also bought these for myself. South sea studs and an Akoya bracelet. I’m such a menace. No idea what I’m doing!

Those are gorgeous but that RING!!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Received several messages daily from Lil Sis, the menace, telling me that she can’t stop thinking about an akoya necklace. Since I’m not even in that part of the country anymore, I opted to get creative and realised I was near a place with several resale shops! Found her this second hand Tasaki which will hopefully cure her akoya problems. It’s the one on the left. I have no idea if it’s any good. Nothing chipped off and looks pinkish. I’m living under the most yellow bulbs right now so all my photos are looking yellow. She’s over the moon so an akoya necklace is ticked off the bucket list!!!

Brief explanation: Some of you are probably curious as to why I buy her so much stuff. We had a super rough childhood and there’s an 8 year difference between us. I raised her, changed her nappies, baked her birthday cakes, helped her with homework, went to all her parent teacher meetings etc. I have a child of my own now and would give anything for her childhood to be different but obviously I can’t turn back the clock. So I spoil her a bit because she was/is my original baby.




Also bought these for myself. South sea studs and an Akoya bracelet. I’m such a menace. No idea what I’m doing!

on so many levels

 

[RRfromR]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and to pearls. My 1st real necklace, antique

sure

 

[empliau]

Nice pearls (not that I am a judge, I just think they're pretty), and AMAZING box!

 

[newtojewels]

Just got a very cute little Mikimoto ring from TRR and it came with the box! They so rarely do and this was a surprise. I had been thinking about the Chaumet Josephine pearl ring but it's like $6k and that just seemed like too much for something that would be delicate. Takahashi has a sweet little baby Akoya ring too but I need a much bigger ring size for my middle/index finger where I imagined this going so kind of dithered for a while, until this sweet Mikimoto ring showed up on TRR for under $500! Score!

Please ignore the messy nail polish, I'm heading to a bachelorette tonight and my partner suggested that I paint them in black in the bride-to-be's honor (she basically only wears black) and I couldn't find my cleanup brush to fix my wobbles

 

[RRfromR]

Just got a very cute little Mikimoto ring from TRR and it came with the box! They so rarely do and this was a surprise. I had been thinking about the Chaumet Josephine pearl ring but it's like $6k and that just seemed like too much for something that would be delicate. Takahashi has a sweet little baby Akoya ring too but I need a much bigger ring size for my middle/index finger where I imagined this going so kind of dithered for a while, until this sweet Mikimoto ring showed up on TRR for under $500! Score!

Please ignore the messy nail polish, I'm heading to a bachelorette tonight and my partner suggested that I paint them in black in the bride-to-be's honor (she basically only wears black) and I couldn't find my cleanup brush to fix my wobbles

You have such nice hands and fingers. Mine are short sausages :/

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

You have such nice hands and fingers. Mine are short sausages :/

nothing wrong with short sausages

 

[CSpan]

Received several messages daily from Lil Sis, the menace, telling me that she can’t stop thinking about an akoya necklace. Since I’m not even in that part of the country anymore, I opted to get creative and realised I was near a place with several resale shops! Found her this second hand Tasaki which will hopefully cure her akoya problems. It’s the one on the left. I have no idea if it’s any good. Nothing chipped off and looks pinkish. I’m living under the most yellow bulbs right now so all my photos are looking yellow. She’s over the moon so an akoya necklace is ticked off the bucket list!!!

Brief explanation: Some of you are probably curious as to why I buy her so much stuff. We had a super rough childhood and there’s an 8 year difference between us. I raised her, changed her nappies, baked her birthday cakes, helped her with homework, went to all her parent teacher meetings etc. I have a child of my own now and would give anything for her childhood to be different but obviously I can’t turn back the clock. So I spoil her a bit because she was/is my original baby.




Also bought these for myself. South sea studs and an Akoya bracelet. I’m such a menace. No idea what I’m doing!

Omg I love this about you. Be a menace! Be ungovernable. Rummage through a grumpy store owner's cabinets like you are looking for aspirin at 2am. I am loving this imagery.

Would you share the stores or area in Tokyo? We are perpetually planning a trip there.

 

[empliau]

Just got a very cute little Mikimoto ring from TRR and it came with the box! They so rarely do and this was a surprise. I had been thinking about the Chaumet Josephine pearl ring but it's like $6k and that just seemed like too much for something that would be delicate. Takahashi has a sweet little baby Akoya ring too but I need a much bigger ring size for my middle/index finger where I imagined this going so kind of dithered for a while, until this sweet Mikimoto ring showed up on TRR for under $500! Score!

Please ignore the messy nail polish, I'm heading to a bachelorette tonight and my partner suggested that I paint them in black in the bride-to-be's honor (she basically only wears black) and I couldn't find my cleanup brush to fix my wobbles

Simply gorgeous. Well spotted!

 

[newtojewels]

You have such nice hands and fingers. Mine are short sausages :/

Thank you! But nothing wrong with short fingers, as @Daisys and Diamonds says!

Simply gorgeous. Well spotted!

Thank you! I thought it was sweet and it's a good size for my index and middle fingers on both hands so I think I'll wear it a lot!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Omg I love this about you. Be a menace! Be ungovernable. Rummage through a grumpy store owner's cabinets like you are looking for aspirin at 2am. I am loving this imagery.

Would you share the stores or area in Tokyo? We are perpetually planning a trip there.

Of course!

This was the first store where I bought the pedant necklaces and ring

真珠専門店リュウホウ
+81 3-6877-0677

Japan, 〒110-0005 Tokyo, Taito City, Ueno, 5 Chome−25−2 1F

This suburb is full of jewellery stores! It’s so much fun to browse the entire suburb. There’s a jewellery store on every corner.

My sister’s akoya necklace was a second hand Tasaki bought from Brand Off

Pomelo has started an excellent thread on pre loved shops in Japan

Thread 'Japan - resale shops'

Sep 24, 2024

I just came back from a short trip to Japan, dubbed my pearls and jewels trip. In this thread, I’ll focus on resale stores in Japan - hopefully you find this helpful if you travel to this wonderful country and fancy a spot of shopping!

Japan is well known for being strict on counterfeits but you should still exercise caution and do your own due diligence! There are many reputable stores that sell pre-owned luxury jewelry and watches (a list is below).

This is a long post split into sections:

1. Top tips
2. List of resale stores
3. Examples of what I bought and from where...

• Pomelo
• Replies: 15
• Forum: Show Me the Bling! (Rings, Earrings, Jewelry)

• 
• 

I bought my second bracelet from Komehyo at one of the branches. It was so so so much fun!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Aren’t these so pretty on her????!!!

Super proud of myself! They don’t look too shabby!



And the other necklace which I’m kinda coveting right now but such is life with baby sisters!



She’s so hilarious! She kept me company while I unpacked for a bit and then as soon as I went to take a nap she high tailed it out of my house taking her pearls for a spin in the city.

Came back later in the evening to spend more time with me but just had to go out with those pearls.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Aren’t these so pretty on her????!!!

Super proud of myself! They don’t look too shabby!



And the other necklace which I’m kinda coveting right now but such is life with baby sisters!



She’s so hilarious! She kept me company while I unpacked for a bit and then as soon as I went to take a nap she high tailed it out of my house taking her pearls for a spin in the city.

Came back later in the evening to spend more time with me but just had to go out with those pearls.

the pearls look beautiful on her, its like they were sitting in that shop just waiting for you to buy them for her so they can have a fab new life in 'Oz

 

[wanamaker]

Impulse purchase from a local jewlrey show today: