Idea for Husband's 50th Birthday Present

[zengirl]

My husband doesn't really wear any jewellery apart from his wedding ring (which he never takes off!) so I don't think I want to give him anything he can wear (he does wear cufflinks regularly though - just remembered).

Our relationship was rocky for the first eight years, but the last two years since our twin babies have become a bit older it's really settled down and I can see he is utterly content with our busy little family. My parents and friends advised me against marrying him four years ago (after six years of ups and downs), but I just knew in my heart that he was the man for me.. I know I was right. We have really settled down and have growing healthy children and almost never argue now. It's a wonderful maturity.

Anyway, I was thinking (since discovering pearls and asking for a pearl necklace for myself for my birthday), that he should own a special pearl or two of his very own.

My idea at the moment is a single, very large Tahitian pearl nestled into a gift box with a note that says, "you are my one-in-a-million."

I have yet to decide shape and colour (I quite like the idea of round green or peacock) but I wondered if anyone had any ideas? What sort of price should I roughly be looking at for a single good quality 20mm Tahitian pearl? Do they ever come in special boxes (I'm imagining a small square jewellery box with a little dip/hole in the middle and a beautiful Tahitian pearl nestled in the middle!)

I don't know if it's the done thing, but I'd love to see photos of different large single Tahitians of different colours..

 

[CLICLASP]

Hi Zengiri, welcome on the forum.
Tahiti pearl is for sure the best choice for a man. Besides 20 mm perfect pearl is something to reach over 10 000 $ as far as I know.
When you are at 16 mm, it is already a big size. IMO Baroque are more suitable for a man and moreover there is "more to look at" with the baroque ones.
Besides, it is more affordable.
There will be strickly no problem to have a beautiful jewelry box with a word of your own inside, with most brands and designers.
I happen to make important birthday presents for husbands, either as a center Tahiti pearl on a necklace or as a Tahiti pearl on a bracelet, some photos :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anna-tabakhova/7167495668/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anna-tabakhova/6646678491/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anna-tabakhova/6646666903/in/photostream/

More info in the" pearls" category on the link below signature. More pearls available upon request.
You will have great fun choosing your present.
Enjoy!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Might he possibly wear a baroque Tahitian pearls black leather bracelet? (My husband didn't used to wear jewelry either but that changed when there was something he felt was worth wearing.)

Here are several that are perfectly suitable for a man:

http://buy.kamokapearls.com/collections/kangaroo-leather-line/products/mana-bracelet

http://www.pearlparadise.com/Tahitian-Baroque-Pearl-and-Braided-Leather-Bracelet4355.aspx

 

[Amanda]

Tahitian pearl cufflinks are utterly gorgeous.

 

[Alex]

wow - that would be some present!! - but maybe 20mm is setting the bar a bit high....

play around with the drop down boxes here, and you will find a single undrilled AAA 14-15mm Tahitian for $1,095 (copper is out of stock, but peacock is there)

http://www.pearlparadise.com/Loose-Round-Tahitian-Pearl182.aspx

or here, for a pair silver of 9-10mm AAA Tahitian cufflinks for $266 (sliver and green are there)

http://www.pearlparadise.com/90100-mm-Tahitian-Round-Cufflink-Set3404.aspx

again play around with the drop down boxes, you could push the boat out and swop silver for 14K white gold for $556

Interestingly the cufflinks don't come in peacock (is that a man thing ?) - anyway, you could ask !

 

[Sea Urchin]

My husband said he does not want any pearls. Can you imagine?! Abject horror here, truly.

Hey... perhaps I, er I mean you, could wear it for him.

 

[zengirl]

Sea Urchin - yes what a horror!
However I don't think I could get away with buying him a beautiful Tahitian and then wearing it myself!! Much too obvious. :-D

Wow thank guys for your wonderful replies. I had no idea that size would be so expensive. Thus starts my Tahitian journey. I have 2.5 months to select something for him so plenty of time. I will downsize my expectations. Yes it doesn't have to be round either I suppose (I just adore round myself which is why I was thinking of one for him, but I will look at all shapes).

I am now going to explore all those links you gave.

 

[zengirl]

P.S. I have had a few bad experiences with buying items from America (eg a keyboard and something else I can't remember) and although I thought it was a good price and reasonable shipping costs, I had to pay import duty or something like that which bumped the price up by a lot. Should I try to only buy in UK or are taxes or import duties sometimes paid already by the sellers or will I always just have to add that to the price of things I buy in America?

 

[pearlescence]

Import duty is due on any item imported into any member state of the EU from anywhere else in the world. Once within the EU goods can circulate freely but duty is due on any item as it crosses the border.

 

[zengirl]

P.P.S. Looking at the links I think my husband would prefer a lose pearl to treasure or cufflinks.

And how do you pronounce Tahitian? Is it TahiSHAN or Tahiti-an??

Now I want to know all about shapes. As far as I know at the moment there are: rounds, drops, baroques (do all baroques have lines/circles on them or just some?) Are there any other shapes? Maybe there are potatoes and weird asymmetrical random-types shapes?

 

[Amanda]

I'd say Ta-HE-shun

 

[pattye]

Wendy has some lovely cufflink and tietack sets in black, white, gray http://www.pearlescence.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/3335here:

She does lots of fine custom work also! I think a thoughtful, wearable gift would be preferable to something expensive that only sits there and looks pretty~

 

[Alex]

if you are in th UK - then you need to factor in VAT at 20% on US purchases (did I say 20%..... ouch, but that's what it is now....)

just figure out what you want, where it is, and do the maths!

if you want to buy in UK, Wendy would be a good bet !!

 

[pearlescence]

<blush>
Not just purchases from USA ..from anywhere except europe 20% and the duty is also on finished items
I'm not sure about the duty levied as I have only ever brought in temp strands etc which doesn't have duty but it seems to vary between another 5% and 20%
http://www.dutycalculator.com/Hscodes/hs-code-for-pearl-necklace/
plus you will have to pay the shipping company charge for customs processing and collection of the VAT and duty

 

[Amanda]

I've bought stuff from Wendy, and it's absolutely great. And no nasty surprises in the VAT / customs department.

 

[waimeamomi]

If you are in the UK then Wendy for sure! (pearlescence)

 

[zengirl]

Thank you everyone. Maybe Wendy and I can find something together for my husband's 50th birthday present.

 

[dmj]

we all like the idea of a round single 20 mm peacock pearl large pearls rarely come in good colors because they rarely make amazing colors above 16 mm a grey tahitian in large size s will not be extreem hard to find but a large peacock one is what every pearl lover wants

at the moment i have some pearls in london with as largest round a 17,6 mm and thats huge already

is it a pearl just to be in a box or also to get a pendant or something made out of ?

otherwise a natural abalone pearl horn or something weird interesting is always nice. i never really have guys here that love pearls and sometimes i show them abalone horns and they are amazed its a pearl and the colors in it

a nice box for a pearl should not be a problem most sellers will be able to fix something nice for that i think ( i would when i sell a 20 mm ) haha

im a guy so i know most pearls look super gay on guys haha there are some ways to make them look good though

when its just as a symbol of the pearl a large pinctada shell with a mabe or blister pearl still attached to it will be nice to have i have those things around my house and guys love these things

and in price also wayyyy nicer than a 20 mm pearl

the vat etc people talk about is there only most people send pearls with no price on the package as the package will get stolen otherwise

good luck

 

[zengirl]

Oooooh look at that 17.5mm grey!!!!!! How much? Hahaha. ;-)

P.S. My husband is fantastic in that he's not the slightest bit worried if anyone ever thinks he might be gay. Although he's a total Alpha Male he's not sexually threatened by anything that's not decreed to be hetro by society. However, he just doesn't wear jewellery much.

 

[pearlescence]

Hi DMJ
We debated about putting correct values on customs declarations in another thread - https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5463&highlight=ethics
I guess you missed that.
What would happen if you shipped a high value item and it went missing?
There is, of course, no problem with customs between EU member states