Phots of my new Gift - Golden South Sea Pearl Necklace

[melody]

Received them yesterday as one of Mother's day gifts from my husband.

I've started to be drawn to golden south sea pearl after discovering pearl guide web site about one year ago.

Here are some photos I took.


new one - 10-12 mm, Deep gold, do they look like color-treated?

an older one with light color (9-10 mm) purchased one year ago for half of the price.

 

[melody]

More Pictures of the new pearl necklace:

One of the pearl has rough surface.

Since fresh water pearl become bigger, rounder and cheaper, I was
wondering is it worth to purchase expansive south sea pearls?
Fresh water pearl 10-12 mm ( $100) vs 14 mm gold south sea pearl ring( over $1000)

 

[GemGeek]

Thanks for all the terrific photos. I think your pearls are lovely. Treatment is harder to detect these days, so you would have to send them to a lab to be sure. I say enjoy them without worrying about it.

 

[KarinK]

If you just want the general look you can get freshwater pearls. Pearls are unfortunately never an investment so as such it's never "worth it" to buy SSP. But I'd still buy SSP rather then FW Not all can be measured and counted. You can also buy some large, dyed FW rather than Tahitians... Nah... I'll pass. At least I would personally know the difference.

- Karin

 

[sinju]

for color threat you should know more about real south sea pearl, i can not give argument base on photo even we can do that but not nice i think to do that.

deep gold, i am not sure it is.

for me it is quite expensive since the size is small.
you can find also nice fresh water pearl but not cheap, do not compare to south sea...

hope you like and love to wear it

 

[melody]

Thanks for all the terrific photos. I think your pearls are lovely. Treatment is harder to detect these days, so you would have to send them to a lab to be sure. I say enjoy them without worrying about it.

Thanks, I guess that I like to look at pearls myself, but I have a very few occasion to wear,so I think even 3200 dollars for a pearl necklace is a lot, not counting they might be enhanced.

 

[pattye]

Beautiful pearls, Melody, and a lovely gift! Please don't save your pearls for special occasions. Wearing pearls makes every day more special. Golden South Sea will have thick nacre~they could be your signature necklace. I dare you to wear them to the grocery store!

 

[melody]

If you just want the general look you can get freshwater pearls. Pearls are unfortunately never an investment so as such it's never "worth it" to buy SSP. But I'd still buy SSP rather then FW Not all can be measured and counted. You can also buy some large, dyed FW rather than Tahitians... Nah... I'll pass. At least I would personally know the difference.

- Karin

Thanks Karin.
Sorry I was not able to reply sooner.
That is so right that not all can be measured and counted. I was not thinking of pearls can be passed to someone as an investment tool, more of cost per wear.

 

[melody]

for color threat you should know more about real south sea pearl, i can not give argument base on photo even we can do that but not nice i think to do that.

deep gold, i am not sure it is.

for me it is quite expensive since the size is small.
you can find also nice fresh water pearl but not cheap, do not compare to south sea...

hope you like and love to wear it

Thanks.

The price on the tag was not the price we paid for it, you know how department store works. during a sale event, you can get about 1/3 of marked price.

 

[melody]

Beautiful pearls, Melody, and a lovely gift! Please don't save your pearls for special occasions. Wearing pearls makes every day more special. Golden South Sea will have thick nacre~they could be your signature necklace. I dare you to wear them to the grocery store!

Thanks Pattye. I will try to wear them more often. also I went to your website, you have some very unique design.

 

[perlinda]

It's hard to detect treatment on golden SSP... but on the first pic, the pearls look to be color treated, but not so much on other pics. It's just a guess and I'm nowhere near expert though, so don't take my word on it. It's still lovely necklace and a nice gift, hope you'll enjoy wearing it for a long time

Whether SSP is worth to buy or not... well, it's up to personal preference. Many people still prefer and buy diamonds even though white sapphires are much cheaper and look almost the same. And so, those who enjoy SSP also would know and understand their "worth" compared to other pearls, even though they look similar.

 

[Caitlin]

Thanks Pattye. I will try to wear them more often. also I went to your website, you have some very unique design.

I just want to second that remark about Pattye's work. She is so modest and never mentions it herself, so thanks for the plug, she deserves it. I love her stuff and buy from her as often as I can. I really want some more of those purple/blue (dyed, but exquisite color) ginormous pearls she has. I got one strand and it was SO gorgeous I gave it to my son's mother-in-law. I tell ya, pearls is the way to get to a mom-in-law!!!

 

[pattye]

Melody and Caitlin,

Thank you both for the lovely comments! My daughters-in-law appreciate pearly gifts, too, from the MIL!

 

[KarinK]

Thanks Karin.
Sorry I was not able to reply sooner.
That is so right that not all can be measured and counted. I was not thinking of pearls can be passed to someone as an investment tool, more of cost per wear.

Well, most FW are not nucleated. So they can't wear out. You can't beat that But as I understand, SSP have a substanciel layer of nacre compared to akoya (the kind that may not be fit to pass on if you wear them daily). Looking purely at cost pr. wear, you'd want to get good quality FW. But is that the pearls you really want? Because if you buy something less than makes you swoon, you'll end up buying the expensive option as well and then cost pr. wear is rather poor as far as the FW strand goes. Forget logic when you are talking about pearls.

- Karin

 

[GemGeek]

Oooh, Pattye, we must have the same taste, because I love EVERYTHING in your store!

 

[pattye]

Thank you so much, GemGeek! I hope someday you'll get your shop opened again, yes, I go over there and check every so often~oh, you thought I didn't know about it?? Tee Hee I want to see what happens to those luscious bags of Tahitians~

 

[melody]

Well, most FW are not nucleated. So they can't wear out. You can't beat that But as I understand, SSP have a substanciel layer of nacre compared to akoya (the kind that may not be fit to pass on if you wear them daily). Looking purely at cost pr. wear, you'd want to get good quality FW. But is that the pearls you really want? Because if you buy something less than makes you swoon, you'll end up buying the expensive option as well and then cost pr. wear is rather poor as far as the FW strand goes. Forget logic when you are talking about pearls.

- Karin

Thanks,
I don't understand the relationship between nucleated and wear-out.
I agree with your comment about buying the expensive item you can afford to avoid future upgrade.

When I first started photography, one of my friend suggested me to buy an high end one instead of an entry level camera, so I won't need to worry about getting the better one years later , that acutely saving a lots of money.

 

[Katbran]

I think they are gorgeous...I can't wear that colour so I'm jealous! Wear them with everything! And I too agree that Pattye has a wonderful store!

 

[KarinK]

Thanks,
I don't understand the relationship between nucleated and wear-out.
I agree with your comment about buying the expensive item you can afford to avoid future upgrade.

When I first started photography, one of my friend suggested me to buy an high end one instead of an entry level camera, so I won't need to worry about getting the better one years later , that acutely saving a lots of money.

Sorry Melody, I missed your reply. If a pearl is nucleated with a bead there is a limit to the nacre layer. As you use the pearls, little by little the layer of nacre will disappear. If you treat them well you probably won't notice. But if you have modern day akoya with a thin layer of nacre, eventually the implanted bead will show. Then the pearl is worn down and is only fit to be thrown away. Fresh water pearls often (not always) are not bead nuclated so the nacre layer is much thicker and there is no implanted bead to end up showing.

The process of the nacre wearing slowly away is the main reason why I call pearls a commodity. I compare it to new cars. They cost money to buy, you never get the money back, and eventually they are worn down. But who doesn't want a great looking car?

I did exactly that with my first DSLR camera last year. Great advice!

- Kaarin

 

[melody]

Sorry Melody, I missed your reply. If a pearl is nucleated with a bead there is a limit to the nacre layer. As you use the pearls, little by little the layer of nacre will disappear. If you treat them well you probably won't notice. But if you have modern day akoya with a thin layer of nacre, eventually the implanted bead will show. Then the pearl is worn down and is only fit to be thrown away. Fresh water pearls often (not always) are not bead nuclated so the nacre layer is much thicker and there is no implanted bead to end up showing.

The process of the nacre wearing slowly away is the main reason why I call pearls a commodity. I compare it to new cars. They cost money to buy, you never get the money back, and eventually they are worn down. But who doesn't want a great looking car?

I did exactly that with my first DSLR camera last year. Great advice!

- Kaarin

Thanks so much for the detailed explanation. I wonder how long to take a Akoya pearl to fade. 10 years or 20 years?