Studly

[Lulu]

My favorite everyday earrings are studs around 8.5 mm to 9.0 mm and I've started a bit of a collection of them. For the life of me, I do not know how Alex gets such vibrant colors or is able to capture the orient and colorplay on his pearls. They must just be much more colorful pearls than mine. And not because of any faulty technique on my part

I hope that these pictures will be helpful for those looking at the range in which pearls can come in.... I couldn't find many IRL pictures of dyed black fwp, so ordered a pair from Pearl Paradise recently. These are described as having "peacock" colors and I was curious as to how much they would resemble Tahitians. These are AAA, about 8.5 mm and are very very blue (i.e., don't look much like Tahitians). The center has a flash of emerald green and has an aura of royal violet purple. Very striking and pretty, but definitely don't look like anything that a mollusk would have produced.



I also recently got a pair of natural-colored chocolate Tahitians from Kojima Pearl. *Faints* They are not a deep, rich milk chocolate, but a rich deep taupe with rose and peacock flashes of color. I love these. I would wear these everyday.



Finally, I got two pairs of the metallic Freshadamas from Pearl Paradise to go with the double-strand necklace I purchased recently. One pair is described as white with silver overtones. These are incredibly shiny and luscious. There is a tiny little bit of blemish on one, but I still think these are keepers. The other pair is light lavender with silver overtones.





And here they are all lined up, and with my peach Freshadamas for comparison:





And it turns out my cat is just as interested in the pearls as I am....

 

[Amanda]

Those are all utterly lovely!

 

[pattye]

what a great selection!

 

[Amrita]

Beautiful collection, and lovely pictures!

 

[Adeline Leigh]

From one earring devotee to another:
Lulu, (in a chiding voice), you are out and out obsessed! Lol.

You've assembled a spectrum of rainbow colours on those studs alone. Amazing.

And I take it the chocolate tahitians from Sarah are your faves then? Interesting, I've always wondered about that colour on our skin tone...

 

[Lulu]

Thanks, everyone.

Adeline -- I don't collect many things, but within the narrow universe of things that I like, I do like to be comprehensive ;-) A complementary pair of studs for each of my suits, is the thinking. But I especially wanted to get the IRL pictures of the dyed freshwater pearls out there, because there don't seem to be that many photos of "black" fwp apart from what the sellers provide.

I think the chocolate is actually very flattering against the skin. Then again, I like wearing greens and oranges a lot (not a huge fan of red or yellow). I don't know if I have "normal" coloring or not.

And yes, those chocolate Tahitians are my absolute favorite. I have my eye on a pair on the Kamoka website, but that will have to wait for a birthday or something. Unfortunately, my husband has already flat-out told me that he will never buy me pearls for a present. Apparently from looking over my shoulder on my various pearl adventures and browsing in the stores, he's come to the conclusion that he would never obtain the level of expertise that I have (as little as it might be) to buy pearls that I would like with a good deal. I did suggest that I just send him a "wish list" from some favorite sellers, but he wasn't thrilled with the idea. Oh well. I guess this is an implicit license for me to pick out what I want for myself.

 

[Adeline Leigh]

A complementary pair of studs for each of my suits, is the thinking.

Unfortunately, my husband has already flat-out told me that he will never buy me pearls for a present. Apparently from looking over my shoulder on my various pearl adventures and browsing in the stores, he's come to the conclusion that he would never obtain the level of expertise that I have (as little as it might be) to buy pearls that I would like with a good deal. I did suggest that I just send him a "wish list" from some favorite sellers, but he wasn't thrilled with the idea. Oh well. I guess this is an implicit license for me to pick out what I want for myself.

To your first point on a pearl stud for each suit, I laugh. I so agree. Sometimes I tend to go a tad further then it becomes a pair to match a scarf or bag.... it goes on.

As for husbands, he crossed over into the big 40 recently and we have unanimously decided in this decade we know ourselves best. So romantic gestures get replaced by utilitarian ones. We individually browse (he prefers brick-and-mortar, I prefer online - oh the savings!), seek concurrence and buy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MYSELF!

We laugh about it now, but a few years ago when I was very stressed at work and he on the other hand, was on gardening leave, I completely forgot his birthday, so the rascal of the husband bought a cake for himself and had those very words iced onto it. Thank God the kids were too young to actually read words then! And nope, no pictures exist of that cake (shame-faced wife.)

 

[Lulu]

Adeline - ROFL! I'm the pragmatic one in the family and my husband is the romantic. I'm perfectly happy to shop off of wishlists while he prefers to believe in serendipity. Which means I occasionally get food processors for my birthday instead of pearls. After that birthday, I think I should get a free pass if I were to forget his birthday sometime in the future

BTW - I am very curious and am not familiar with the terminology -- but what is "gardening leave"? That sounds charming and I would like to have one! ;-)

 

[Amanda]

BTW - I am very curious and am not familiar with the terminology -- but what is "gardening leave"? That sounds charming and I would like to have one! ;-)

In the UK it means where you have a notice period for a job, and either you've given them notice, or they've given you notice, but for whatever reason (confidentiality, etc) they don't want you to work your paid notice period.

So you are being paid, and theoretically still employed by your soon-to-be-ex employer, but you aren't actually working - hence leave to work in your garden (-:

 

[Adeline Leigh]

Yup, Amanda! I never get to have one of those charming sorts of leave too, Lulu (sulk).

 

[Isabelle35]

You have great taste Lulu! You know were to get the good stuff! I really like the chocolates. I even see pink hues in them. lovely lovely collection!

 

[GemGeek]

Gorgeous pearls and great photos. I love them all!