Advice regarding pearl purchase..

[KarinK]

. I don't know anyone who looks back at their pearl collection and says ' oh I wish I'd bought smaller ones.."

Ehh, me I hardly ever use the 10mm+ I have - or my large ripples. Maybe I just didn't get sufficiently good quality. When I wear pearls, which is not often at the moment, they are 9mm tahitians (Kamoka) or 5 mm akoya-looking freshwater. For the record I still miss my 7-8mm golden baroque akoyas that I haven't replaced.

So as you can see, Peonyrose, you are the only one who has the answer to what will be perfect for you What a lovely riddle, though. And I agree with the one strand at the time idea plus get the best quality on the strands you really want. As was pointed out we tend to spend too little, regret, then spend a lot more. Also don't forget earrings - and bracelets!

- Karin

 

[CathyKeshi]

KarinK summed up everyone's excellent advice very well. I would second to her last comment, to save a bit of the budget for earrings and/or bracelets; it's best to get at the same time so you can coordinate or match. What a wonderful job you have ahead of you!

 

[lisa c]

And of these items, bracelets are the most fun for the visually pleasure oriented.

I find I don't get the same kick wearing necklaces as necklaces, that I get wearing necklaces on my wrist.
2nd hand PP lavender AAA 6.5-7mm CFW necklace.
(taken with iphone5s, HDR, no flash, indoors snowy overcast day)

 

[lisa c]

Whoa! Should've cropped that better; no one needs to see acres of wrinkly-wrist :-o
i don't dare mess with it now though, it took me a while to get it up there.

 

[Marianne]

Congratulations on your technology skills, Lisa! (really lovely pearls too )

 

[lisa c]

Ummmm, thanks Marianne? That was a tongue-in-cheek, right? LOL
I'm going to take the photo down, it's not really necessary to the point I was making, and really, the wrist is grossing me out! ;-)
(Now, this techno-ignoramus has to figure out how to go about it...)

 

[Peonyrose]

Well, I bought something! Will probably take at least a week to get here though. I had been eyeing off a mixed strand for a couple of weeks, a mix of gold, white south seas with some Tahitians, not too big 9-11 mm ovals. Can't wait for it to arrive now. I have always liked this style, and this way I can get an idea of different pearl tones against my skin & hair. Going to Rutherfords or Paspaley in Central Melbourne isn't really a possibility currently with my lifestyle, so I'll let some pearls come to me. Bought from a reputable site with good return policy, so if they really don't work it won't be a waste of money. Don't worry about the pic Lisa c , it's good to get a sense of pearl size and scale. In fact, that has been one of the hardest things - working out sizes!

 

[lisa c]

Congratulations on your technology skills, Lisa! (really lovely pearls too )

Marianne, dearly droll woman, :-D Actually the pearls are lovely with sharp luster (Yea!) I didn't do them justice. The camera focused on my skin, not the pearls, so the luster is blurred. I'll work on it.

Peonyrose, I can't wait to see your goodies! Once you choose, the wait is painful but worth it, to deal with a reliable vendor.

Working out sizes is tough, for me. I have some glass beads, and a strand of some kind of dark metal beads, a little graduated from 8 to 10 to 12mm. They help me a lot.
another trick is to enlarge a photo on the screen until the largest pearl is exactly the mm in real life. Well, it's hard to get it exact, but you can get really close.

 

[pattye]

Oh, pretty pinks, Lisa!

Dark pearls look somewhat smaller than the equal size in light color/white pearls, too.

Peonyrose, looking forward to your purchases, too!

 

[Marianne]

Lisa, I was serious! For the life of me, I can not figure how to attach a photo decently. As a Mac person, I'm just so used to drag and drop

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Let's see if this worked, Lisa:

 

[lisa c]

I hear an echo of GG writing something like 'Nobody complains about their hands until they take pictures of them'....
so, I'm going to leave my wrinkly-wrist up there ^, and thank God I have it (and that I won't have to figure out how to take the pic down!).

May wrinkles be my biggest problem!

 

[lisa c]

LOL, thank you PD, and I'm embarrassed to admit but you'll feel better when I tell you, Marianne - I have no idea how I did it, once I succeed. I just keep stabbing at my cell phone keyboard, at that miniature window, and re-trying until I hit the right sequence. Not very scientific.

 

[kelluvpearls]

Can't wait to see your first pearl strand purchase!

 

[Katbran]

Looking forward to the photos !!

 

[pkinnew]

Peonyrose - You received some excellent advice and I can't wait to see your mixed oval strand!!! Great choice!

lisa c - I feel the same way about my bracelet shots but there's nothing I can do about it at this point!

 

[lisa c]

Pkinnew, what a great reminder that we're focusing on pearls, not personal imperfections. When I read your post I thought "what's she talking about? She looks great." I'm not looking at pictures to find fault, I bet nobody else is either. We're our own worst critics

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Lisa,
On that, this is a hilarious book:

http://www.amazon.com/Feel-Bad-About-My-Neck/dp/0307276821

 

[lisa c]

Thank you, LOL. I love Nora Ephron!
I feel horrible. about my neck! In fact I feel sure if my X and I had stayed together, I'd have had a face-and-neck lift by now. He couldn't have borne looking at it. Sigh.

still, these wrinkly parts do their job, which is what they're meant to do. My skin just had a short-life, single-owner warrantee. ;-D

 

[baby nurse]

Peonyrose, it sounds like you made a very interesting choice for a first strand . Add me to the group of those who can't wait to see your pictures, and hear your impressions!