Japan Kasumi Pearls

[kojimapearl]

The last week or so I have been having an interesting although somewhat confused back and forth email ride with someone who showed me a photo of a strand of what may possibly be Japan Kasumi pearls purchased at Gump's (a high end retail department store in San Francisco). I have not seen the invoice but it was purchased in "circa" 1982. The strand does bare resemblance to some vintage Japanese freshwater strands we have in our archive, and of course the date purchased would mean that they definitely not Chinese fresh water pearls.

This is a photo of their strand.



I did my best to educate the inquirer about Japan Kasumi pearls and gave my best assessment.
During the course of the emails it became clear that the owner did not consider the characteristic rippled surface of Japan Kasumi pearls to be an indication of a valuable item. (understandable).. They also seemed to consider the deeper colors to be garish and I suppose what they meant was that the deep colors of Japan Kasumi pearls are not white and thus not "pearl color".

They "challenged" me to come up with a strand that surpassed the quality of theirs.
As we do not stock many of the round or near round Japan Kasumi pearls ... they do not have the rich deep colors and rainbow overtones that their wrinkled counterparts display... I made a huge mess of the table, and put a strand together with the best loose Japan Kasumi pearls we generally reserve for special one of a kind jewelry, and designer requests.
Even though I was a bit charged by the "challenge"... I SO enjoyed laying out this strand.

Since this is a very rare thing for me to do... In fact I don't remember putting together such a round strand of Japan Kasumi pearls EVER. (mind you, this is simply a lay out, not a finished piece).

The 16" strand of natural color Japan Kasumi near round pearls ranging in size from 14.3 - 10mm. These pearls were purchased by us at Lake Kasumi ga Ura over the course of the last ten years. (I know because Fuji is a master record keeper



So.... in case anyone here (besides the pearl experts and uber educated among you) was wondering.. YES Japan Kasumi pearls can be ROUND! They may not have rainbow overtones.. but they sure made my heart sing.
All best to all you pearls.. with Spring warmth from San Rafael!

 

[GemGeek]

Such beauty! Great job!

 

[pattye]

Another Work of Art from you, Sarah! Love me some non-pearl-color pearls!!

 

[Simply adorned]

Sarah, you not only accepted their challenge, but surpassed it! You layout ‘strand’ is gorgeous...and I am usually much more of a fan of unique shapes and rainbow colours, but one has to recognize beauty in all its forms, and that strand has it!
I should send you a photo of a pearl necklace my mother claims are Biwa pearls from the mid to late 70’s, but I won’t make any challenges

 

[jeg]

Oh, that is sooooo beautiful!!!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

That is remarkable!

 

[Marianne]

Your "Decade" strand is just amazing. You win!!!

 

[Pareltje]

It's really a great strand, even better than the one from Gump's.
But I'm for the rippled Kasumi pearls because of their vast array of colors.

 

[MSC]

WOW Sarah, I challenge met and exceeded. Did a conversion take place once eyes were set upon this beauty by the mystery emailer? That Gumps strand is also gorgeous... and what an interesting clasp system on it.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Sarah, that is indeed a gorgeous strand!

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

Absolutely beautiful Sarah. Thank you for photographing it for the forum members to oggle.

 

[BWeaves]

Soooo, not in my budget, but what would your necklace cost Sarah? Just so we have a feel for value.

 

[kojimapearl]

Thank you ladies!

Pattye : yes, "non-pearl" colors insert laughing crying face here !

Marianne : Yes the "decade" strand I love it!

Simply Adorned: That was my take too... when it was all laid out, even though it was so different than the baroques, I found it beautiful and that's what this was all about. I wonder if there is a word that means "the feeling you get looking at beautiful pearls" ?

MSC: I believe it was once a ball clasp and when the string broke on the "tongue" side, a home made fix was done to keep it wearable. Definitely an eyesore, but the pearls are quite nice considering their age, and it is quite a rare strand (granted it's provenance is true).

BWeaves: Ahhh thanks. I have NO idea what the price of this layout would be, honestly. I can say that the center pearl would retail for approximately $1800. I didn't make it with a sale in mind. There was a fair amount of "mansplaining" going on in that email train, and putting this together was a sort of meditation/challenge accepted kind of activity. Channeling annoyance into beauty is the essence of a pearl!

 

[MSC]

There was a fair amount of "mansplaining" going on in that email train, and putting this together was a sort of meditation/challenge accepted kind of activity. Channeling annoyance into beauty is the essence of a pearl!

Perfect response IMO

 

[BWeaves]

Oh, I know you put it together to see if you could, rather than for sale. I figured that each pearl is probably destined for a pendant or earring pair and not for a strand. Matching them up like this only ups the price even more. It's stunning.

 

[CathyKeshi]

Oh, this thread ... heart smiles on so many levels I can almost hear that email train in my head; only our dear Sarah could convert "mansplaining" annoyance into beauty LOL. You've created a gorgeous, lovely dream of a strand, Sarah; really a remarkable 10 year history record of Fuji's collecting beauty. For me the "word" that describes "the feeling you get when looking at beautiful pearls" would most often describe folds, ripples, baroque shapes, circles, deeply rich colors and rainbow overtones ... beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. I too blame Sarah, Jeremy for this ... and Douglas, JerseyPearl and Justin and Josh, Celeste, Pattye, Mikeyy ... and ... and ... all the artists who've invited us into their worlds. We are blessed and lucky

 

[Naan]

Wow! Amazing story!

 

[BWeaves]

Haha, Cathy, yes, I blame them, too. But it was Sarah and Jeremy who first introduced me to blue pearls and I fell in love, HARD. And ripples and pondslime and all these weird shapes and colors I never knew existed.

 

[CathyKeshi]

First on my list is Hisano who created my champagne keshi neckace studded with diamonds. Keshi were my "not-traditional, WHAT are they???" moment, shortly followed by Blue V. and multi-colored akoyas

 

[nnguye20]

I can understand the wrinkles not very favorable (in "traditional" standard), but deep color is garish?!!!