Originally Posted by Sueki

I've been wearing them all day, and while out this afternoon everyone I met was smiling and polite - even other drivers on our crowded roads.
Maybe it had something to do with it being a beautiful day, but I like to think it was those pearls......

I'd 'blame' the pearls too... no surprise there: they are perfect!

Originally Posted by imanit

I love those three strands together !!!
I tried to buy one from PP, but I had too many requests ...

Dunno what's up with the largish freshwater baroques , especially the ones with plump, classic shape as opposed to thinner, twisted 'reborn'/'ke(i)shi' forms... They tend to have small, nagging issues and getting a no-excuse strand is anything but obvious . These tend to turn up quite a bit above the prices of the PP specials: about .9-1.5k for similar size (i.e., thanks, just looking). Larger than this, I only managed to find pearls priced separately or used as part of a slightly graduated strand - going up to 15 x 12mm or so, larger than I would be looking for en masse.

Now, I am used to see one season's freshwater 'heroes' and novelties becoming bread & butter for the next. Which makes the higher prices for a piece of classic, enduring style unappealing. Who knows...

[Caitlin]

Hi Sueki

I think three strands of freshwater baroques is the new one strand of classic rounds that our mother's/grandmothers wore.

You carry it off beautifully...

[Sueki]

Hi Ivona,
My only requests to Mia were that I would like large, snow-whiteness and high lustre. And three strands that match reasonably well together.
Originally, all three arrived together, and Mia had chosen very well indeed. But I didn't like one of the strands.
It was beautiful, just not as beautiful as the other two. Thankfully, it was a standard 18 inch necklace, and so I was able to return it.
This return I swapped - and paid the extra, because I now needed two strands - for the 21 inch necklace and a bracelet made from the remaining pearls.
The 21 inch was chosen by Elia I believe.

What a beautiful look! How's the weight of the necklaces? I get dull headaches when I wear too-heavy necklaces.

[Sueki]

Oh, thanks for your comment Caitlin,
I think you're right.
My grandmother had a two row akoya necklace, and these baroque freshwaters are, to my mind, the modern version of the classic.
They seem to have a younger, more up-beat look. And, as I said, they are the only way I will ever be able to afford huge pearls !

[Sueki]

Hi Xeresana,
They don't feel too heavy on my neck - they are still around my neck as I type - obviously, I can feel the weight, but it is comfortable.
I'll weigh them and get back later - must go cook dinner or I'll be in the dog house.....

Sueki - they are beautiful!! I didn't think I would care for the white, but now I am regretting not having some of those as well. So many lovely pearls out there!

[knotty panda]

Well, Sueki, you've got the bestest set of wonder pearls. They do look wonderful. I'm not crazy about flat sides either, but I wouldn't dream of having someone search through strands and strands to find me the perfect pearls. Consequently, I didn't order any as they all looked as though they had flat sides. However, seeing them on you I see NO flat sides. Nada! They are indeed, perfect.

Originally Posted by pattye

...anyone would know you are wearing "Real Pearls" that look like $10,000+

Could be the other way around too... someone wishing that their 10k spent on pearl would have bought the look

[Sueki]

Just before I go to bed, I've weighed each necklace.
17 inch weighs 56.4 grams.
19 inch weighs 60.4 grams.
21 inch weighs 75.9 grams.

Boo and Knotty, thank you for your comments.
All the credit must go to Mia and Elia at P.P. though.
And this forum, as I would never have known how beautiful freshwater pearls are, and still be stuck on my akoyas, if I hadn't stumbled across this site.
Knotty - there are one or two less lustrous sides to a couple of the pearls, but these are on the shortest edges, not the fronts or backs of the pearls, if you get what I mean. And I stress only one or two. Considering these are untreated, well, who would have thought it ? And for the price, I think overall they are a great buy.
Even after I paid the import taxes ....
Over here, costume jewelry can cost three times the price of these pearls for rhodium plated base metal and glass. More in a certain "top peoples store" in London.


And both Mia and Elia implied that they enjoyed searching the strands and making the choices.
Although they may well have been being polite, I hope that they did, indeed, enjoy the challenge.
Now I really must go.
Thanks again everyone for your kind comments.