Latest Purchase

[lizard]

Spurred on by the Mother's Day sale, I added three new items to my collection over the last month. First came a dyed black freshwater AAA strand - just to mix it up a bit with the white strands. Second, some silver tahitian earrings from Kamoko, which will be a very versatile/go to. I haven't photographed either of these yet, but my favourite arrived today and was so pleasing that I photographed them in the last of the daylight so I could put them up here... these creamy South Sea dangles with shell crystal. The photos still don't do them justice.

I'd come back to these several times on the Kojima web-site and was only put off because the blemish on one pearl appeared quite marked in the photos, as well as wondering if the shell crystal might be rather heavy. It's taken several months before I actually placed the order. However, on receiving them, they've exceeded expectations. The blemish shows in the photos far more than in life. The lustre is incredible and the size is impressive. Plus, they sit nicely on the ear and the weight is not overly noticeable. I couldn't be more pleased!

 

[suchi]

Lovely earrings. Please post your other purchases too. I also splurged on a pair of golden pink studs & a pair of keshi dangles from Kamoka during this sale.

 

[Katbran]

Lovely earrings !!! I'm not familiar with 'shell crystal' but it's very pretty !

 

[pattye]

Oh, you look terrific in these earrings! Probably "shell crystal" is actually a doublet, with mother of pearl on the botton and faceted rock crystql quartz on the top, a lovely combo! Yes! to leverback earrings, too!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Is "shell crystal" a doublet -- crystal over MOP?

edit: Pattye beat me to it.

 

[lizard]

Yes, that is what it is - there are a few more pairs on the Kojima web-site that describe it.

I will try and get some more pictures in daylight over the weekend.

 

[Sanippy]

Pretty earrings! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your pieces!

 

[GemGeek]

And they look great on you! Congratulations!

 

[amti]

Lovely! Please share your photos of your other purchases too!

 

[Katbran]

Well that's a new one on me ! Shell Crystal ! Thank you knowledgeable pearly peeps !

 

[lizard]

I managed to squeeze in photos of my other purchases today. First the dyed black freshwaters:

I was wondering what to buy in the sales and where the gaps were in my collection... and I have a bit of a price limit which hinges around sales tax thresholds and exchange rates. Now, out of snobbery, I've generally avoided dyed pearls - I do have a couple of cheap dyed strands I purchased some years back, but never wear. But, actually, there's a lot of good-looking in some high lustre dyed freshwaters, so I decided to get a get strand.

While I love the colours and lustre, the size was slightly smaller than I'd anticipated, mostly because I'd figured that a 7.5-8.0mm would be similar to my 7.0 - 8.0mm metallic strand from PP. However, in reality, the new dyed strand must come in at the lower end and the older metallic whites at the higher end, as there was a noticeable size difference - not sure if it shows up below, but may give the idea:

What I do love though is that they layer perfectly with this strand of bead-nucleated freshwaters that I bought locally - I like the size of these, but the colour is a fraction on the grey side of white and they have the odd slightly chalky patch. Adding the dyed strand really works with them.

 

[lizard]

Lastly, a photo of the little Kamoko silver tahitians;



These are going to get a lot of use with my silver PP tahitian strand and a matching tahitian ring. Unfortunately, the light available wasn't the best today, but will still give the idea.

 

[suchi]

Love the kamokas. The black fw is pretty too.

 

[asurazzy]

Ouuuuuu love the earrings
Btw what is crystal shell??

 

[SunSeeker]

Lizard, lovely new pearls. Congrats, they look beautiful on you!

 

[pattye]

Asurazzy, crystal shell is rock crystal quartz fused to mother of pearl on the bottom, called a doublet. It's then treated as a single gemstone!

 

[pattye]

Lizard, your new necklace layers perfectly! No prejudice against dyed pearls and pretty much the only way to get those deep blue-purple tones.

Great huggie style on the Kamokas! Bet you'll be getting lots of compliments on them!