Vietnamese Pearls

[Pearl Dreams]

The smallest ones, 2.5-3mm, certainly are tiny. Any thoughts on designs which would be cost effective and look good? They are full-drilled and on temporary strands right now.

Multi-strand torsades would be a good use for these tiny ones.

 

[knotty panda]

Perhaps something combining crocheted metal and the pearls. Or, an etherial lacy, freeform, collar type knotted on fishing line! There, I said it! LOL Truly, it does have its purpose.

 

[GemGeek]

The smaller pearls would make a great strand to build around a pendant.

 

[orient456]

Hi,
I want to share my experience with TPO's new Vietnamese Akoya pearls.
My modest pearl collection so far consists of freshwaters, Tahitians and SS and Akoyas really haven't been at the top of my wish list.
However, after buying a bracelet of small baroque Vietnamese Akoyas in TPO's special last year, I realised these pearls are unique.
So, with trepidation, I ordered a gem quality multicolour necklace and bracelet from Terry.
When these pearls arrived, I was gobsmacked. They are, I believe, in a world of their own.
The non-enhanced colors range from warm white, cream, rose, silver/blue, golden - and even some true golds.
I love the warm, richer colours of these thicker-nacred Akoyas as opposed to the colder "ghostly" white (in my opinion) Akoyas in the market.
They have a brilliant mirror lustre. The silver/blue pearls are extreme metallic, but the addition of the warmer creams, pinks and goldens make the whole strand just GLOW.
When I asked Terry about the lustre, he said they are so lustrous that they almost look wet and he is absolutely right.
The pearls are also perfectly round and flawless to my eyes.
I certainly hope these Vietnamese pearls are the way of the future for Akoyas!!!!

 

[Caitlin]

I am impressed. They are extraordinary pearls!

 

[Raisondetre]

I finally got the Akoyas in the mail. While they are nice, it's a little different than what I expected. I'll sit on it for a little while to let them wake up for a bit before deciding if I would return them. I think I'm the only nut who would take 33 pictures of a pearl necklace. They turned out surprisingly well considering it's a rainy day, I was using macro which means my hands were much steadier than before as they're not as blurry as my previous pictures.

 

[Raisondetre]

Shape and coloring were amazing, but luster and orient were not quite what I was expecting.

 

[Raisondetre]

 

[Raisondetre]

Comparison with my 8-9 mm lavender freshwaters that I got on the recent trip to China.

 

[Raisondetre]

 

[Raisondetre]

 

[jerin]

Hi Raisondetre,

I think the viatnamese Akoyas are lovely in their own way, especially the colouring. True, the luster is not as good as on you pretty lavenders, but think of them as a collectors item. I don?t think there will be a big rise in their production and perhaps they never really will get enough to be able to satisfy the market.

They look great together, and I love that clasp! It suits the size of the pearls very well.

 

[pearllove]

Hi Raisondetre,
Thank you for posting photos of the Vietnamese akoyas. I was interested in them and your photos were very helpful in evaluating whether or not to get a strand myself. I find customer photos much more realistic than the vendor ones.

 

[Raisondetre]

I know sometimes pearls tend to take time to wake up, so I will sit on them for a bit. Will decide after I come back from China - this time I'm going to Xiamen.

 

[The Pearl Outlet]

Hi Raisondetre,

I do have some gem-quality Vietnamese that are by request only. I?m reserving them that way because there are so few. The total numbers here in the states this year for each size are limited to single digits. Take for instance the 8.5mm gem-quality strands. There were a total of 6 this year, and we?ve already sold 2 of them. And this is the TOTAL quantity available here in the US. So you can see why we don?t just list them on the site.

The gem-quality strands have the extra luster and orient you?re probably looking for. That is what orient456 purchased when he/she said:

They have a brilliant mirror lustre. The silver/blue pearls are extreme metallic, but the addition of the warmer creams, pinks and goldens make the whole strand just GLOW.
When I asked Terry about the lustre, he said they are so lustrous that they almost look wet and he is absolutely right.?

The luster and orient are so extreme on the gem-quality strands, it is truly amazing.

 

[Raisondetre]

I briefly mentioned that I got an exchange for the gem strands (sorry guys, I got the last 8.5 mm). The colors, as expected are amazing, and the luster absolutely pops on the silver pearls. There is a variation between the different shades for luster, probably because of the contrast. I've included some pictures for comparison, and this time the luster shows up alot sharper than on the previous strand, though that one was by no means inferior - it's just a different grade of pearls. Still collector items nonetheless. I'm trying to get a better camera to do these pearls justice because they literally blind you in the sun, but lighting wasn't optimum today, and the light colors don't show up quite as well as the lavender freshwaters that I used for comparison last time. But it is amazing.

 

[Raisondetre]

 

[Raisondetre]

Sorry the clasp looks so blurry. I promise to try again when the sun/lighting permits.

 

[Raisondetre]

There's the typical freshwater glowy-type luster on the lavenders as opposed to the sharp ball-bearing type luster you see on the Akoyas. I'm presuming because the nacre is thicker than the average strand on the market the sharper luster still looks quite warm. Not too happy with the quality of the pictures because if you look at the silvery pearls on the Akoya strand it just jumps at you, but I won't get a new camera till I get back to Australia next month. Hopefully it'll happen soon.

I should add that the best way to describe the pearls is that I'm looking into a strand of different colored soap bubbles. At that size and with such a clean surface in addition to a thicker than usual nacre depth I think it's value for money. I'm guessing the smaller strands would look even more distinct as the luster would look "tighter" with less variation between the colors. But do specify gem quality if that's the effect you want. The normal strands are nice but do not have the soap bubble effect or what we know commonly as orient on this forum.

 

[Raisondetre]

Being compulsive I thought I'd try again, but comparing them to the exotic freshwaters I picked out from countless strands in Shanghai. It's not entirely fair as the exotics are quite a bit smaller and more or less uniform in color, but here goes.

I've used macro in sunlight from a tinted window, no flash. Different zooms. Luster is tighter in the smaller strand, but you can still see mirror-sharp images in the silvery pearls. As I said there is variation across the colors, but even in the exotic strand there are still difference, albeit not as obvious because of the smaller size. These pictures still do not truly capture the surrealness of the Akoyas.