To be fair, I don't know that this particular Tahitian is absolute top quality. It was free, after all, and even a lower-grade Tahitian for free is pretty darn good! So comparing a pretty exceptional fw to a middle-grade Tahitian isn't exactly apples-to-apples. Even Kirsten got excited when she found that fw, since it had good luster and was a very good color match for the tie tack!

While I was there, Jeremy showed me a broken akoya pearl. You read about the fractions-of-a-millimeter nacre depth, but never really realize what that means exactly until you actually see a flake of nacre that is literally paper-thin. (and we're not talking heavy-duty construction paper, either) The luster was not too bad, but it's certainly true that there really isn't a whole lot of pearl there. And that was a high-quality akoya, too. Mr. Mikimoto is rolling over in his grave.