Good thread! My wife has certainly owned pearls most of her adult life (and her mother is a true fan), but she isn't posting here. My story begins in the Cook Islands in 2006, and my first purchase (for my mother-in-law!) was the object on the left, which was at least relatively grayish upon purchase (subject of
this thread). Nonetheless, nothing to get excited about, and I merrily continued enjoying a memorable holiday.
Then we wandered into another store and saw an educational cross section showing the internal structure of a cultured pearl, and I was quite turned off (not the store's intention, obviously).
Another store, meanwhile, had a small display of the local natural pearls from Penrhyn, the so-called
poe pipi, from the tiny P. Maculata oyster. Their bright shine, and the assurance of being 100% pearl, made a strong impression despite the small size. We purchased this 7.5mm drop (very large for the species), the most I had ever spent on jewelry to that time, and simultaneously noticed the rare natural pearl necklace 'Te Poe O Te Kuki Airani'—inspiration for the research that eventually led me here…