Baroque Freshwater

If you are really considering Kasumis you better jump on them now. That industry has gone the way of the Biwa and in another year or so you will not be able to find them at all...
 
I'm just not sure because the freshwaters are better value for money, and I'm not truly a collector with my finances being what they are. Kasumis are still bead-nucleated which is probably the main deterring factor. Granted Care Ehret does have some nice pieces ... if I get a true pink free form baroque off Jeremy I might get that pink Kasumi bracelet I've been eying, but it'll have to wait till next month. Matching earrings would be nice too. Sigh.

Then there are the Sea of Cortez pearls. Maybe next year.
 
Casey.R said:
Raisondetre, The strand I got, which was called lavender but looked more like an in between pink/lavender color is very much a cotton candy pink in person.


Casey,:)

could You post a picture of it, thank You? your description of the colour sounds very interesting and inviting....
 
Free Form freshwater pearls - Kasumigaura

Free Form freshwater pearls - Kasumigaura

Raisondetre,

I do understand Your addiction to pearls in general - but I would forget about the original Kasumis - they just cost a lot more than other freshwater pearls and they are bead-nucleated!!!! How could anyone prefer such pearls over fine tissue nucleated ones?

Think of the money You will be able to save for another fine strand of Jeremys pearls - no categories since he has everything one needs...

Even though Boo?s Kasumis do look nice and go very well together with the by now famous "101" baroques, I think You will be able to find something cheaper in a better quality for less money.

It is strictly for collectors that is of any importance at all to own "real" Kasumis or whatever. It is a pity though that very soon nothing more is coming from that lake because of pollution!

To all the member that bought baroque strands I will say "Congratulations" for real collector?s strands as they are untreated and limited. I bought myself 2 strands as well, could not resist the orient in them......

Greetings from a real addict to pearls...:eek: I do not regret it however....
 
Raisondetre, I am torn over how to answer your question. Comparing the Kasumis and FW baroques is a bit like apples and oranges for me. I think the luster on the Kasumis may be as nice as the freeforms, but since the skin is wrinkled, they don't quite reflect the light as cleanly. The surface texturing is why I finally decided to drop the money on the Kasumis - I have one of the big FW faux Kasumi strands that were discussed elsewhere and really like the wrinkled skin. Also, the colors on this pair were so pretty (and in retrospect, they were the perfect pair to purchase!). They were purchased as loose pearls and I made the earrings myself, which brought the price down just a bit ($209 for the pair). However, as others have pointed out, they are rather overpriced, and they are bead nucleated. Of course, I am drooling over Jeremy's natural baroque Akoyas, so my bias against bead nucleation is perhaps not as strong as some.

I really like the bracelet you are referring to - however, once Care's prices get much over a few hundred dollars, they get a bit out of my league as far as price. If you can afford it, I don't think you would be disappointed. She always selects such lovely pearls, and the colors in that bracelet are just beautiful. Of all the Kasumi pieces she has listed now, that is my favorite by far. I almost spent my money on a pair of earrings she had listed with off-white Kasumis paired with druzy fossil coral, but I didn't like the contrast of the bright-white sugary fossil coral with the softer muted pearls, even though they were just about the prettiest Kasumi I have seen. So, I went for the loose ones instead, and was happy with the purchase.

I certainly don't consider myself a "pearl collector" (a pearl pack-rat, yes, but not a collector in the investment sense). I just buy what I want to wear.
 
Hi All,

I hope you don't mind me jumping in here about the Kasumis. I have a fair number from Carolyn Ehret, DruzyDesign, and a lesser number from Jennifer Dow at wats2luv. I absolutely would not say I prefer them over the untreated cfwp.

They are priced more like Tahitians and SS pearls, as individual pearls, in that sense, because of their rarity. Still, as Boo says, that is not a huge price for a pair of earrings, by the way, nicely done, Boo!

Recently asked Care about nacre thickness on the Kasumis. She sez the most successful size for nuclei is 8.1mm. That means if the pearl is in the 10-11mm range, there is approximately 1mm+ of nacre all around.
The issue for me generally with bead nucleated pearls, is that it is only possible to estimate nacre thickness from the lustre of the pearl, and with akoya (except for Jeremy's) it can be very thin. So given that thickness of nacre, most likely there is good wearability. Just as there would be in high quality SS and Tahitians.

The color range of Kasumi pearls and the colors and iridescence on a single high quality pearl is pretty amazing, the best photo cannot, in my mind, truly capture it all. Some are very wrinkly, others are smoother.

I guess I would consider myself a collector, I buy what I like, want at least one of everything!!!!no, make that 2 or 3, and at my age (66) have stopped worrying much about what is gonna "look good" on me!!! Just want it long enough to fit!!! Have to admit I don't really consider my Pearly Treasures an "investment." Of course I will take good care that someday, a very very very long time from now, my dtrs-in-law and 2 granddaughters will enjoy my collection.

It is so wonderful to be able to have all the fabulous freshwaters, and to be able to take advantage of such great values, now Jeremy, can't you do something to help rescue the hyriopsis schlegelii???

IMO,
Pattye
so many pearls, so little time
 
Hope these upload okay. They look different with various types of light and camera settings. For some reason I get a yellow in some of the pics. I gues it's because there are many different colors in the layers of the pearls. The first photo is very pretty, the third is next to my toddlers stuffed pink bunny ( it was the best pink thing I could find in the house for a color comparison). It's not a perfect match in color but similar.
 

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They're beautiful!!! It does look totally pink. I've asked Jeremy to hunt down some true pinks in the remaining strands but it's likely I'll just buy those two that I asked him to keep for me till next month anyways even if it's not true pink. How often do you see untreated freshwaters? Tissue-nucleated no less. I don't think it's an impulse buy, though mom won't see it the same way.

I think I might have to dig into my savings for Care's bracelet. I think it will match at least one of the freshwater strands and I do like the granulated gold. But only if it's still available next month. That will show that I have got some restraint. Only for the rarity factor.
 
Casey, they're beautiful. Makes me sorry I didn't go for a pink strand as well. :p The problem I have is that it's difficult for me to determine the color of pinks from a photo. The pinker ones look fabulous on me, the more peachy ones look ghastly (my skintone leans toward sallow). Yours look very sweet, especially posing next to the bunny!
 
Well sunday came around and out came the surprise.
At first she didn't think they were real :eek:
But I think she likes then, well she's Asian so it's not always
easy to know :D

I took a quick picture outside so you can see how the look on her skin.

Alain

pearls6.jpg
 
Alain, I know exactly how you feel. My husband is Japanese and it can be hard for me to tell. Sometimes it seems like slight variations of a perfectly straight face. But I am getting better at it. :D

The pearls look lovely on her and seem to pick out more gold tones in her skin. Lovely...



Aycee said:
Well sunday came around and out came the surprise.
At first she didn't think they were real :eek:
But I think she likes then, well she's Asian so it's not always
easy to know :D

I took a quick picture outside so you can see how the look on her skin.

Alain
 
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Hi Alain-

Those look stunning on your wife! I am certain she will get lots of compliments when wearing them! Congratulations on your great choice--

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time
 
What a difference it makes seeing the pearls on skin and in daylight.

Susan
 
Susan is right - it is so much nicer to see them "in the wild." :D Those look very pretty on her, Alain. They were a good choice for her coloring - I love the mix of colors.
 
I agree. that color is perfect against her skin.
Glad to hear she liked them!
 
Boo: You are SO RIGHT! I ordered the white Mother's Day special too. I have a niece graduating in a matter of weeks and I thought, hey, she'd like these. I got mine on the temporary unknotted strands so I could put them together any way I wanted. But when you said they were graduated which wasn't in the ad, my heart skipped a beat! Graduated pearls! I've wanted a strand of good graduated pearls since I was, well, let's just say, for a long time. The mirror is unbelieveable. I've never seen orient before, so I can't swear to it, but I think I do see some. And beautiful flashes of pink. If this is AA quality, I can't begin to imagine was Freshadamas are. Needless to say, Kim is probably going to get cash for graduation. She can have the pearls when I'm gone! LOL
 
I got the Mother's Day special too - What a steal! The freshwaters are really great. I have a strand of Mikomotos that I'm trying to preserve by not wearing daily, and the freshwaters are a really fun substitute. Thanks Jeremy!

It's too bad I couldn't partake in the big freshwaters, but these will do for now. :)
 
I just wanted to thank everyone for the nice comments about the freeform pearls I bought for my wife.
I'm still not really sure if she likes them but since she put them on to go to work today I assume she does :)
I'm also real happy you folks like my pictures and if I can help anyone just let me know.
I also got 2 of the Mother's Day Special strands and they are really nice but are being dwarfed by the freeform. :)
I'm afraid I'm bitten by the pearl bug and I need to own them ALL now ;)

I've already started the Akoya piggy bank if those are to become available.

Alain
 
My lavender Baroques

My lavender Baroques

I nearly didn't post these at all, as:

My photography sucks

The pearls are much nicer than my photos suggest

My neck isn't that pink!

....but I did because they are actually quite, quite fabulous (a silver lavender with gold overtones) and because I wanted yet another opportunity to nag Jeremy for the matching earrings, which he must surely appreciate by now are not a want, but a necessity.


Susan
 

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