Greenhills Tour

[perlas]

Thanks, everyone!

Here's the rest of the loot!

The Studs. Placed the 11.32mm width Jewelmer advocacy bracelet for size reference.



Earshots of 15mm dark lavender Edisons, Orange peach 14.5mm Edisons, and 16mm button Golden South Seas.

 

[perlas]

The Stuffs.



The golden SSPs with onyx spacers.



Up close.

 

[pattye]

Perlas, what a fabulous shopping excursion; thank you so much for sharing! You bought some gorgeous jewelry; enjoy!!

 

[newberry]

The Stuffs.

View attachment 42170

The golden SSPs with onyx spacers.

View attachment 42171

Up close.

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What a wonderful pearl haul!!! Lots of new pieces to have fun with and enjoy. Thank you for sharing them with us.

 

[lmgarden]

Perlas, WOW... thanks for sharing!! Love all your gorgeous pieces - what fabulous finds!!

 

[Tucs]

Very nice! Loving the GSS strand with the onyx.

 

[CathyKeshi]

So much fun, Perlas ... thanks for taking us along. Love that little golden tassel!

 

[Katbran]

WOW What fun !! ! I'm so excited to see what Greenhills looks like ! Having heard about it for years it's wonderful to see pictures. And boy did you ever get a great haul of pearls ...wonderful ! It's fascinating that the booths carry such a wide range of materials . Thank you so much for your Greenhills travelogue ...really really enjoyed it . More photos if you have them !!! Please !!

 

[Icyjade]

I'm thinking of buying an oval natural colored deep golden south sea strand in Greenhills or a baroque strand at Jewelmer but I'm still trying to hold back because I've already bought a lot!

Buy... Because the prices for ssps keep going up... And it's hard to meet pearls that you LOVE. But only if you truly LOVE them you know what I mean?

Thanks for the pics! Brings back wonderful memories of my trips to Greenhills. It (and Jewelmer stores) are places that I always make time for on my trips to Manila.

 

[Marianne]

Thank you for taking us along on your pearl adventure! Your new pieces are really beautiful!!!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

perlas, a question for you: Can you always detect which GSS are dyed?
Are there always dye concentrations? And if not, what else gives them away as being dyed?

 

[perlas]

perlas, a question for you: Can you always detect which GSS are dyed?
Are there always dye concentrations? And if not, what else gives them away as being dyed?

One is the color. Some dyed GSS have colors that doesn't seem right. And you are correct. If the pearl have pits, there can be dye concentrations.

However, there are now GSS pearls that are irradiated, according to the sellers. Pearl experts here, you are more than welcome to give us info! If the pearl is perfect, it is difficult to detect since there are no pits to give them out and also irradiation have no concentrations. They look like naturals. Thus, I am very wary with the deep goldens. In fact there are beaded FWPs that are irradiated golden and they do look like GSSPs. Even if you look at the bead hole, the irradiation goes deep into the pearl and it doesn't help. Moreso, the enhanced ones are light yellows or ugly shade of yellows so the inside of the beadhole will also look yellow so it's hard to tell.

I am very cautious I only buy pearls from my trusted sellers who disclose to me what is enhanced and what is not and who I know has supply coming from Mindanao or Palawan. Anything that is bought in Hongkong and Japan has a risk of being enhanced, although the natural colored quality GSSPs are sold at the Hongkong trade shows. Pearls from the Philippines and processed outside the country. I only take ones the have not gone out of the country because so far, the Philippines does not have the capability to enhance GSSP without trace of enhancements because there is no local technology for that.

Note that natural color GSSPs are not really common, so if one is buying loose, one can check the entire lot, it will be mixed with champagnes and a couple or so will have darker colors with some bicolored with whites. That is from a natural local lot.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

That was so informative-- thank you!

 

[perlas]

I cannot find articles that says light yellow turning deep gold thru irradiation. I know light ones can turn grey though. The enhancements might either be thru a new irradiation technology or a very good dyeing process.

 

[perlas]

Buy... Because the prices for ssps keep going up... And it's hard to meet pearls that you LOVE. But only if you truly LOVE them you know what I mean?

Thanks for the pics! Brings back wonderful memories of my trips to Greenhills. It (and Jewelmer stores) are places that I always make time for on my trips to Manila.

Icyjade, the price of GSS is indeed going up....apparently the oysters are affected by climate change. this is according to the Jewelmer salesperson.

 

[Katbran]

Really interesting information ! Thanks for taking the time to answer so fully !

 

[Pearl Dreams]

In addition to the climate change, I've read about fishermen using explosives and cyanide to stun fish, making them easier to catch. Even a small amount of cyanide in the water kills a vast expanse of coral. All of these things are harmful to the pearl oysters.

It's so irresponsible and short-sighted.

 

[perlas]

I'm glad many found the "tour" interesting.

Anyway, here's an article about GSSP treatment.

The thing is, a lot of GSSPs are dyed before drilling so UV instruments are needed to detect treatment. So far, treatment is by heat or dye. More so, those dyed after drilling are bleached to lighten dye concentrations. No mention of irradiation although the article was written 2012.

http://www.giathai.net/pdf/Update-on-the-Identification-of-Dye-Treatment-in-Yellow-or-Golden-Cultured-Pearls%20(2).pdf

 

[JerseyPearl]

Thank you for posting all of this extremely helpful information! One of the reasons why I love PG so much...every day is an opportunity to learn something new!

 

[MSC]

Yes, thank you Perlas!