Drop or circled baroque tahitian pearl strand?

[Hanaleimom]

Hi Hanaleimom,

This is my first post to the pearl-guide, but I have been following your quest for Tahitians. I have also been looking at circled baroques and Natalie from PP has sent me pictures of a couple of strands since the one I had selected from the website sold before I could get my order submitted. I would love your advice regarding color and size. I initially thought I would like the darker colors (similar to #277 that you returned) but after reading your comments I am no longer convinced. I am also trying to decide between a strand that has 37 pearls (9-10mm) and one with 47 (8-9 mm). I have fair to medium complexion, am over 50 and do not have a slender neck. Do you or other PGers have recommendations?

Hi,
I am really a novice myself too, Phantompep. I think choosing a Tahitian strand depends on your style, the clothes you plan to wear your pearls with. I am also attracted to darker Tahitians, especially peacock. As I mentioned, it was very hard for me to make a decision. I would have purchased both. But I am also holding out for Mother's Day. It was hard for me to send #277 back. The darker body strand, in my opinion, will show much better on your skin or medium & light-colored tops. Shape is also a preference. Are you more attracted to oval or round shape? Most of the strands PP offer has shape description of drop/circle. It's the best of both worlds. You get the pretty, multicolored rings on the circle. Then there are more oval-shaped pearls (drops) with circled rings around them. They are both pretty. My strand actually has both of those 2 shapes. Regarding size, have you tried some strands at a department store to get a feel of which size is better? I am 5'4" and I think 9-10mm doesn't look overwhelming on me. But I have a chicken neck. I am sure you will get lots more advice here from the experts.

 

[Hanaleimom]

Great choice hanaleimon, I too chose a lighter tahitian strand TANOO 281. It was described as pewter silver with a peacock overtone. There is some green/ pink but I see mainly aqua and silver. I love it! Love the drop/ circled pearls. So organic and interesting.
It looks better than these pictures.

Ah ha, so you're the owner. I was eyeing that one too. I want TAN276 (gray with peacock) but someone bought it. It did not last long either. I saw some rose on yours. It's the lighting. Here is Jeremy's quote regarding Tahitians: "different light, different pearls!".

 

[Phantompep]

Hanaleimom and Robin - your pearls are lovely! But they appear darker in your photos than the PP website. Which photos are closer to the actual color. I am looking at strand 291, but it may be too dark.

 

[robinmce]

Hi Phantompep,
The pearls are lighter than my photos. I will show you these afternoon light shots as they are truer to color. My pearls are 9 to 11 mm, and as I said before 20". I feel since I am a bigger person... bigger and longer is good. But.. I also love the closer to the neck look and will get some 18" sometime soon! When I figure out how to take a picture of them on... and have me more than half in the photo I will post ..
Here they are

 

[Hanaleimom]

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Yes, my pictures appear darker than real life too. The first set of pics were taken on a very cloudy day. The 2nd set was in the shade (backyard table was covered by the roof of the house). It is more silvery/gray in real life.

Have you tried the chat feature with PP or call them? They can pull the actual strand out of the vault and discuss it with you.

 

[robinmce]

Ah ha, so you're the owner. I was eyeing that one too. I want TAN276 (gray with peacock) but someone bought it. It did not last long either. I saw some rose on yours. It's the lighting. Here is Jeremy's quote regarding Tahitians: "different light, different pearls!".

So True. They change a lot. Different pearls from day to evening!... should help my budget!!. I was contemplating your lighter strand so we must have similar tastes.

 

[Hanaleimom]

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Robinmce,
I see your new pictures and the pewter tint is there, which was on PP's picture. I'd say they are chameleons.

 

[airdancer]

Love the pictures Hanaleimom and Robinmce!

 

[jerin]

Hi Hanaleimom,

This is my first post to the pearl-guide, but I have been following your quest for Tahitians. I have also been looking at circled baroques and Natalie from PP has sent me pictures of a couple of strands since the one I had selected from the website sold before I could get my order submitted. I would love your advice regarding color and size. I initially thought I would like the darker colors (similar to #277 that you returned) but after reading your comments I am no longer convinced. I am also trying to decide between a strand that has 37 pearls (9-10mm) and one with 47 (8-9 mm). I have fair to medium complexion, am over 50 and do not have a slender neck. Do you or other PGers have recommendations?

WELCOME TO THE FORUM, PHANTOMPEP!

I am over 50 too (actually closer to 60,) so I do understand quite well what you might be looking for.
Tahitians are such lovely pearls with so many lovely colours, question is: do you like pearls with circles or not? Because the circled ones have many overtones, especially the dark ones (green bodycolour). If you on the other hand like drops or rounds, there are the silver ones to be considered. They look very elegant with pastel coloured tops or blouses, they often have aqua overtones. I have 2 silver strands, one is AAA-grade and both are drop-shaped. One is darksilver, the AAA-grade is light silver. They have almost no rose overtones, mostly it is a very light green/blue (aqua) overtone but they look very nice at any age, I think. The size is 9 - 10 mm, which is a really good one in my opinion. Not too small, not too large! However, make sure you get a length of 18" or longer, that will ensure it sits nice on your neck and not too tight. In summer I think a 16" is more impractical in case you get sweatty. Otherwise, if one can afford it, there is nothing lovelier than a perfect round strand of darkgreen Tahitians with nice cherry overtones!

The one colour I do not like is the pewter one (brownish) looking, but taste is very personal.... Dark as in dark grey is lovely too, my strand does look more green than grey and it has peacock overtones (very weak rose, mostly it is kind of green on darkgrey/green), almost round - they are very nice but a bit more expensive than the drops but they are larger then the drops.

My only circled one has small pearls (8-10 mm), it has 47 pearls, is green with rose/green overtones. This one goes best with casual wear.

Not easy to choose..... Good luck!

 

[Hanaleimom]

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Phantompep,
Even within each color, there is a wide spectrum in that color too, i.e. light peacock and dark peacock. I have some earrings and a ring (not from PP and the certificates state they have medium gray body with green overtone and they're not dark at all). I don't think anything with gray body will be dark, it all depends on where the colors fall in the spectrum. One of Jerin's reply to me was that the rounder shape is "young" looking. Whereas the drops are more elegant. I think they draw the attention vertically. Purchasing Tahitians online is harder than purchasing white pearls, IMHO. That's why the online vendors have such a great return policy. Please call/chat or email PP. Kirsten can send you pics if you specify your criteria. They may have more strands in stock that are not loaded on the website at this time.

I am attaching here one of Jeremy's picture from an older thread to show different blue hues. The 3 in front are red tones to show contrast. Here is the link to the thread with more pics of "blue": https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2050

 

[Phantompep]

Thanks so much for the great advice. Jerin - at least from the pics on line, I really am drawn to the circles. Now all I need to do is to decide on the color. I wear more "jeweled" colors than pastels - so it sounds like the darker colors are what I am looking for. I will call PP next week and talk more with Natalie or Kirsten.

Donna