Show us your Tahitians

[Dizzie]

In another thread there was a discussionthat Tahitians are hard to buy online as it is often difficult to estimate what kind of pearls will be getting based on the 'glamour photos' from the vendors's sites. It would be great to put together some examples how different pearls look in real life together with the vendors pictures. Hopefully over the time this would help to gain a better understanding for those of us not used to online purchases.

It would be great to structure the post along some points such as:
- vendor
- sellers photos
- own ' real life' photos
- description of discrepancies, if any

 

[Dizzie]

To start this thread, I am happy to post comparison photos of my Tahitian necklace.

Purchased from local vendor. Please find below vendors photos







Own photos : https://www.pearl-guide.com/threads/my-unexpected-tahitians.6972/

Did I get the right impression from vendors photos: mostly yes. If I would be paying significant amount, they would have been too blurry to make a buying decision.
Probably the photos were photoshoped as it is less multicoloured than it looked from the photos.

As I paid just above the retail price of the gold clasp (won an Ebay auction), I did not care at all

 

[WallaceL]

Here's a pendant I bought from a local jewelry shop. it is a drop shaped tahitian pearl with 13mm diameter, set in Pt900 with a small diamond.
The rainbow effect is not as obvious as your pearls. That's why I can afford to purchase it

 

[pattye]

Dizzie, Fun seeing more pics of your gorgeous "bargain" Tahitians!

WallaceL, That is a big, beautiful pendant! Sharp reflection=high quality! Love the cap, too! Your pearl looks rather blue, which is more rare than green tones. Is it blueish in person?

 

[imanit]

My turn to show pearls that I got:
two bracelets from PP. Glamour shots and my picture of them


another gem stand, again: seller's shot and mine of strands I made from PP bracelets and this one:

my picture does not give them justice.

drops: same scenario: sellers photo and mine


For remaining: just sellers photos. Those pearls look like that in "real life"


Kamokas: I never saw then this pink. They show nice peacock in real life, Not better than the pearls in stud earrings above.


I always save seller's pictures and compare them with pearls I receive. They NEVER look as delicious as on pictures, but I NEVER yet got pearls that I did not expected.Often they are better than what I imagined they will be like. One kind of learns with time to "read" the photo and "knows" what will they look like in hand..

Enjoy...

 

[pattye]

Wow, Ivona, I always drool over your pearls, same again this afternoon! What you said, about learning to "read" the photo is certainly true. I'm wishing now I had the sellers photos, but my pearls were purchased 7 years ago or so, and I didn't think of saving them. but eventually I'll post some photos.

 

[Dizzie]

Ivona, thank you, I am pretty sure I would have "misread" the pictures. This is highly informative. And, it goes without saying, you have some exquisite pearls.

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

Cherry Tahitian strands from Pearl Paradise. Stud earrings from Kamoka Pearl farm and The Pearl Source. Additional large pearl to add into my strand, Josh at Kamoka pearl farm. My photos on the neckform at home and glamor shots from the light box at Pearl Paradise. I took the strands apart and put all the large pearls in one strand graduating to the back. The rest are a choker I sometimes wear with it.

 

[imanit]

delicious colors. I almost licked the screen...

 

[Caitlin]

I don't think a lot of vendors' photos are photoshopped, they are just taken under perfect lighting conditons. I recently saw a really cheap,cheap, cheap Chinese kasumi with a lot of diffent colors, so I got it. When they arrived, they really looked bland in every light- I almost complained, then I put them in a bright northern light and all the colors popped, just like the vendors' photo. But that light is not the usual light people see pearls under -most of the time.

I have a metallic white necklace from PP that makes me drool in any light, but when I had Angela photo it, it looked even better! Even better than the brightest akoya. My set of Pistachio Tahitians from PP looks the best by candle light or dim lights, the overtones are far less visible in sunlight, though the green body colors are. The skins are flawless, not one divot anywhere, the pearls look like 8-rollers, too. But this was one Jeremy put together as a gift for admin-ing, and I will never get over my amazement. I don't think he could sell them like that, except at Mikimoto-like astronomical prices.

PP photo:

 

[Lindaphillipsbong]

Caitlin! Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! Have you another photo or neck shot of that strand?
Linda.

 

[Lindaphillipsbong]

Photo comparison

Photo comparison



I like this idea of photo comparisons. I agree that usually the vendor photo looks a little more colourful than the real thing, but I also agree that vendors usually are the most skilled pearl photographers, and I also agree that eventually you learn to compensate for that a bit, and then when you receive your pearls you are happy. Here is my strand; three photos. The earrings are from Sarah at KojimaPearl. They are very green, and yet near the strand they do not look very different, which means my strand has a lot of green in it. This is what I love about pearls; in different lights, I have a seemingly different strand.

 

[Lindaphillipsbong]

Little fuzz socks, Dizzie, Ivona, Wallace; thank you all for your pictures too. They are all beautiful pearls. Those cherry pearls of yours Fuzzy, they are quite exceptional. Whew!

 

[wild onion]

I've experienced both the disappointment of ordering Tahitians online and not getting the colors I expected, and the joy of receiving pearls that were even better than the photos. Regarding the former, I can't find the vendor picture right now, but will continue looking (my picture of the strand is below). Here are pictures of one of my favorite pieces of jewelry, a lariat necklace. I was lucky enough to get to pick the pearls for the project, and they are even more colorful than these pictures show (the larger pearl has some bright blue that you get a hint of in the vendor pic).

 

[DerekJ]

As an amateur photographer. It's actually quite easy to make the pearls look like the professional photographs. You simply need a photobox. The photobox I use brings out all of the colours in the Tahitian pearls. The photobox eliminates a lot of the shadowing, and illuminates the pearls from all angles.

 

[dkan 168]

I did not keep a copy of the vendor photo of my baroque Tahitians I got from PP about 6 years ago.

DK

 

[WallaceL]

Dizzie, Fun seeing more pics of your gorgeous "bargain" Tahitians!

WallaceL, That is a big, beautiful pendant! Sharp reflection=high quality! Love the cap, too! Your pearl looks rather blue, which is more rare than green tones. Is it blueish in person?

Thanks! I feel that the appearance and iridescent of this pearl is affected by the lighting and surrounding color (as mentioned by Caitlin). Attached is another picture of this pearl, showing more greenish luster. Nevertheless, when turning the pearl around, the front part seems to showcase more bluish tone than the back of the pearl under daylight.

I am mesmerized by the pearl collections of fellow members here!

 

[pattye]

WallaceL, we are ALL mesmerized by each others pearl collections! And Tahitians have such variety and character! Looks like your pendant is an enhancer also! Bonus!

LFS, Your cherries are some of the most amazing Tahitians, so glad I got to see them in person!

LindaPB, Love the colors and shapes of your strand!

WildOnion, Wow, two pearls can really make a statement, and your ringed Tahitians are lovely!

DK, We'd love to see a photo of your Tahitians too. I don't have vendor photos of mine either, but I'll put them up anyway.

DerekJ, Agree, the photo cube does bring out the overtones in pearls. Some of us here on the west coast don't have much choice but to use one. Also I find when light hits the pearls from 2 directions the same effect happens. Pearls placed near large windows facing north and east in my living room look amazing, but grids in the windows cast shadows.

 

[waimeamomi]

I have a very difficult time photographing Tahitians. I don't have a fancy set up, and the truth is that they look different in different light. Unless they are flat colors and then it doesn't matter, but I don't sell those kind! When I was at the outdoor market, I always kept them in the shade as they seemed at their best under indirect light. I adjust my photos and what I try to do is make the pearls look as much like what I am seeing as I can. I want the pics to look like the pearls. I worry, worry, worry about it. I wish I could do glamour shots for some of my pieces, but not for the Tahitians.

 

[Naan]

Ivona! Please tell me a single pearl on your photo which seller? gorgeous earrings!