35" or 54"?

B

BritM

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Jun 8, 2017
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I think I'm in the market for an opera or rope length strand of white FWP. (I say 'think' because I have about 1000 wishes on my wish list, but I'm leaning toward this right now).

So, any thoughts? I could loop both, the 54" three times, but does that get too bulky or lay oddly at the back of the neck? I love the look of triple strands, but not all of the time, and while I'd probably wear a 54" tripled more often than I wore it another way, not if it looked odd. Plus, I could never wear a 54" just "normal" with 1 loop. I could wear a 35" looped twice or normal. Also, I could later get a 20" single, so I could have a 3-strand look with the 35" looped. (But do I want just a random 20", probably not.)

Ooh, but I could get a 40" and have a 4-strand with the 35". Oh fooey, now let's add a 40" into the mix now.

So, 35", 40" or 54"? Does anyone have more than 1 of these and find yourself going to one more often than another?

Thanks.
 
For years I wanted a 70 to 100 inch strand to loop several times around my neck. But whenever I've played with fake strands to see how I'd like to wear them, the long strands just drove me nuts. I was constantly readjusting the lengths, or how they crossed at the back of my neck.

I love a 35-36 inch rope. It's just long enough that you can wear it as a doubled choker. And you can see it and play with it in front of you when you wear it as a single.

I really like a 20 inch length, too. 18 inches is really neither here nor there for me.

When I wear multiple strands, I do like them to be something like 16 or 17 inch, 20 inch and 36 inch.
Plus, by wearing separate strands, they nest nicely, and can be worn separately.
Also, I've restrung a lot of my strands to all have the orbit clasp. This allows me to link them together for a longer rope.

When you have a choker length triple, the spacing between the 3 strands has to be just right, or it looks wonky. If the three are very different lengths, then you don't have that problem. But if you have a double strand, then the spacing doesn't matter because there's only one gap between the strands.
 
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I see this is your first post so welcome to PG BritM.

My favorite length is 42 inches for a long strand. It seems to be my sweet spot. I can wear it long and then doubled. I like my strands to be 19 to 20 inches long so the 42 inch lays with a nice gap between when it's doubled. Here are pictures of a couple of mine.

42 inch strand
IMG_0919.jpg

IMG_0988.jpg

35 and 36 inch strand
IMG_1334.jpg

doubled the longer of the two
IMG_1360.jpg

shorter of the two is much closer to the neck
IMG_1377.jpg

I have tried the 100 inch strand and found it to be a pain in the patoot for me. I was always fussing with the placement of the strands and never happy. I had it remade into a long double strand with a matching bracelet and now I love it. My 60 inch strand I can only wear doubled or tripled not full length. Think about what's important to you before you shop. The good news is you can always have longer strands restrung to meet your needs. Shorter strands it can be hard finding matching pearls to add in. Shopping for pearls are fun so enjoy ;)
 
Gah! Newberry! I love your multicolored strand. It's like wearing soap bubbles.
 
Thank you. I've been dreaming, though for a long-time-in-the-future, one of the 100-ish inch necklaces, but I think based on what everyone is saying, I'll nix that. I'd much rather spend the money on something else.

For this current long-strand search, I think I'm now leaning to the 40" length. The 35" and 36" strands, doubled, are a little closer to my neck than I think I'd prefer, based on Newberry's photos. They look nice, but I'm not a fan of things too close to my neck, and having that weight that close would probably drive me crazy.

Thank you all. It will probably be a while, but if I can figure out how to take decent photos, I'll take some of the rope, as well as the few strands I have purchased since discovering this obsession a couple of months ago. I have a dumb phone, so while it takes photos, I can't get them off of the phone. And I tried with the camera the other day, but I need to spend more time changing the lens and getting them to look right. Thanks again.
 
Thank you, BritM, for starting this thread. I too had a long rope on my bucket list, but I think I just liked the idea of dripping in pearls. Lots of great advice, and now I will revise the bucket list to contain something like a 26" strand to rest inside my 35" strand.
 
I agree about super long strands. I have two Tahitian strands that are 44 and 50 inches, and only ever wear them doubled as they are too long to wear long. They both look beautiful as a double, but I've been left with a hankering for a 34-36 inch single to wear long. My 44 also has a bracelet I can insert for wearing as a double longer strand (it puts it to 54 inches). It's a nice look, but it's very heavy and my neck aches by end of day (maybe I just need to do neck strengthening exercises?). Weight isn't an issue with freshwater pearls though.
 
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I added some more information to my first update:

When I wear multiple strands, I do like them to be something like 16 or 17 inch, 20 inch and 36 inch.
Plus, by wearing separate strands, they nest nicely at the back of the neck, and can be worn separately.
Also, I've restrung a lot of my strands to all have the orbit clasp. This allows me to link them together for a longer rope, too.
 
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I'm under 5 foot & had a 31 inch which was a nie length. 35 would be better if you were more average height.

I would not want longer. I started with 16 inch when I was young then 18" was a wierd length.

Now I have 21 & 23 inch graduated strands
 
I will soon be the owner of a 35" blue baroque necklace. Not the white FW rope I first was talking about and which is still on my list, but what a great way to see if I like 35" or would want longer for the white FW strand. I'm so excited for it to arrive!
 
Congratulations, BritM ... you'll love those BB Akoyas I think; we all do :) And welcome to the forum!
 
Thank you. I am thinking this site's first page should read something like "Warning. Owning, discussing and viewing pearls may be addictive."
 
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