BidewellBuffalo
Member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2012
- Messages
- 5
I am hoping this could be a good summery of what to expect/see in Mikimoto products for newbies looking for their first pearls.
My history: I have been bouncing back and forth from Pearl Paradise and the Mikimoto website. It took a while, as I am new, to figure out the grades of each company and how they match up. You'll need to compare their charts, though it seems PP had a wider range of products and grades, which would meet more budgets and uses, including quality comparable to Miki's. I will probably go with an on-line order with PP, but still wanted to try on different sizes and understand a bit more.
I went to the Miki store in NYC and was interested in the 7mm and 8 mm size.
I asked to understand the sizes and grades...very interesting, though the light is poor in the store. They put the 6mm, 7mm, 8mm and 9mm next to each other. Very obvious difference. The staff are very helpful and were rather nice.
Then I got to see the difference between the A1, A, A+ and AA. The blemish difference was easy to see, there was little. All pearls had slight waves in them and the A1, A, A+, and AA had this slight disco-ball effect on the surface almost like light hand hammered metal spheres. Of the five or so strands on the table in the A1 and A lines, inspecting the pearls opposite the clasp (most seen pearls) we found one very noticeable blemish (a pit the size of a pin head), on one pearl and it happen to be on the center front pearl.
Because my eyes are not great at processing light, the luster was hard for me to distinguish when looking at the difference between say a A1 and an A. Though, the grade-A1 (or possibly A) set of Royal Blue Label pearls were amazing. In fact, looking in the mirror from five feet away was interesting and reveals more variation in luster for me than comparing them one foot away. The Royal Blue Label A1 beamed the light back to me, while the standard grade-A1 was beautiful and very reflective, they didn't have that moon like effect. Though, this is relative as I honestly think the average person who likes pearls would be happy with any of the Mikimoto grades. And the Royal Blue line was oddly reflective and bobble-like, as I would feel odd waring them to anything less than to a dinner party. I however was looking for pearls that could span from for work to holidays.
If I had it I would of bought the Blue Label on the spot...they looked like little moons landed around my neck.
But what I found the most interesting...was the major variance within a grade. I was shocked at the difference in luster (blemish, size, etc was consistent.) There was one strand of cloudy-er A1 with little reflection relative to the others, (but better than department stores).... I was surprised was grouped with the rest of the A1s which had this wide reflection.
Anyway, I wrote this for the newbies like me who are looking at buying their first set of pearls and are not sure where to start. I would look at 3+ companies for understanding the range of what's available, then pick two companies you feel comfortable with and start understanding the grading system, as this tactic yielded a lot of information.
My history: I have been bouncing back and forth from Pearl Paradise and the Mikimoto website. It took a while, as I am new, to figure out the grades of each company and how they match up. You'll need to compare their charts, though it seems PP had a wider range of products and grades, which would meet more budgets and uses, including quality comparable to Miki's. I will probably go with an on-line order with PP, but still wanted to try on different sizes and understand a bit more.
I went to the Miki store in NYC and was interested in the 7mm and 8 mm size.
I asked to understand the sizes and grades...very interesting, though the light is poor in the store. They put the 6mm, 7mm, 8mm and 9mm next to each other. Very obvious difference. The staff are very helpful and were rather nice.
Then I got to see the difference between the A1, A, A+ and AA. The blemish difference was easy to see, there was little. All pearls had slight waves in them and the A1, A, A+, and AA had this slight disco-ball effect on the surface almost like light hand hammered metal spheres. Of the five or so strands on the table in the A1 and A lines, inspecting the pearls opposite the clasp (most seen pearls) we found one very noticeable blemish (a pit the size of a pin head), on one pearl and it happen to be on the center front pearl.
Because my eyes are not great at processing light, the luster was hard for me to distinguish when looking at the difference between say a A1 and an A. Though, the grade-A1 (or possibly A) set of Royal Blue Label pearls were amazing. In fact, looking in the mirror from five feet away was interesting and reveals more variation in luster for me than comparing them one foot away. The Royal Blue Label A1 beamed the light back to me, while the standard grade-A1 was beautiful and very reflective, they didn't have that moon like effect. Though, this is relative as I honestly think the average person who likes pearls would be happy with any of the Mikimoto grades. And the Royal Blue line was oddly reflective and bobble-like, as I would feel odd waring them to anything less than to a dinner party. I however was looking for pearls that could span from for work to holidays.
If I had it I would of bought the Blue Label on the spot...they looked like little moons landed around my neck.
But what I found the most interesting...was the major variance within a grade. I was shocked at the difference in luster (blemish, size, etc was consistent.) There was one strand of cloudy-er A1 with little reflection relative to the others, (but better than department stores).... I was surprised was grouped with the rest of the A1s which had this wide reflection.
Anyway, I wrote this for the newbies like me who are looking at buying their first set of pearls and are not sure where to start. I would look at 3+ companies for understanding the range of what's available, then pick two companies you feel comfortable with and start understanding the grading system, as this tactic yielded a lot of information.
