[Heidi]

@ Nerida -

This is very interesting, thanks for mentioning the cultivation technique; I'll have to poke around for Jeremy's article. I have been wondering where the fireball aesthetic came from and if it is deliberate/accidental or a combination.

PS - I finally saw the fireball necklace on my browser at home...for some reason the one at work tossed me into other parts of the catalog. So my comments above pertain to other pearl jewelery there.

[Pearl_dreams]

Ross-Simons is one of the stores I visited here in CT before ordering my Freshadamas-- I wanted to see what I could get locally first. All the CFWP in their showcase had lower luster and were unappealing. Worse than the CFWP in other mall stores, even. They looked significantly duller than their Akoyas (which were also not so great.)

Their catalogs (available in the store) always make their pearls look lustrous; however seeing them in person, I was not tempted.

[pearlescence]

Ah..your fireballs are my comets . Yes, I have been having lots of fun playing with them - lots of different sizes, (up to 25mm long..wow) and colours available. Mostly with quite a broad tail, but one of my suppliers just mailed me photos of some with a good round shape and only a short, thin tail, so they are indeed getting close. They must be putting more than one nucleus in at a time as they do arrive with the beads grown together into some amazing and huge shapes
Am I understanding it correctly - these pearls are a second/subsequent harvest from the same mussel?
wendy
(on a learning curve)

[JWei]

If the pearls have only 5-7 mm in diameter. They are small. Generally, the beads have a diameter from 6 to12mm. The trend is 9-12.5mm. One oyster has only one or two beads.

[Ashley]

North American Freshwater bead nuclei in that size are not only hard to obtain, but expensive! I would expect the retail pricing to reflect that...

Jeremy, do you know if all Fireballs are nucleated with the saltwater clam shell (T. gigas), or are they using bironite too? I can't imagine any other materials being employed available in the large sizes described- well, except for a composite (yuck).

If it is clam shell, I would be wary about purchasing such a strand- those pearls will crack eventually.

[GemGeek]

Originally Posted by Pearl_dreams

Ross-Simons is one of the stores I visited here in CT before ordering my Freshadamas-- I wanted to see what I could get locally first. All the CFWP in their showcase had lower luster and were unappealing. Worse than the CFWP in other mall stores, even. They looked significantly duller than their Akoyas (which were also not so great.)

Their catalogs (available in the store) always make their pearls look lustrous; however seeing them in person, I was not tempted.

Bummer! They aren't a pearl store, that's for sure.

[john675]

Thanks for all the replies. Ross Simons has has an interesting pearl ring that somebody posted on PG (with channel set small freshwater pearls), so that's why I ended up looking at the site when the coupon arrived in my email. I didn't plan on actually buying them, but thought it interesting that they actually had nucleated freshwater pearls - they aren't something you see on jewelry stores for the general market (at least not that I have seen). New trends a comin'...

John

[GemGeek]

Originally Posted by john675

Thanks for all the replies. Ross Simons has has an interesting pearl ring that somebody posted on PG (with channel set small freshwater pearls), so that's why I ended up looking at the site when the coupon arrived in my email. I didn't plan on actually buying them, but thought it interesting that they actually had nucleated freshwater pearls - they aren't something you see on jewelry stores for the general market (at least not that I have seen). New trends a comin'...

John

John, would that be the pea-pod looking ring set in rose gold? That was darn fine. Of course, I still have my eye on the crown ring made of pearls. After I posted it, it started showing up in banner ads all over the net. I'll bet they sell a lot of the featured items.

[john675]

That's the one! I thought the design was very clever. You can get it for 20% off now ;-)

[julianner]

I had fun at the last September fair in Hong Kong going through trays and trays of fireballs. They had heaps of trays with "pairs" matched up, and other big containers full of these delights. I bought a few pairs and have sold all but one pair. I thought I was going to do all sorts of unusual things with them, like dangle them on long chains etc, but my customers just wanted them set with plain ole' gold studs so that nothing interferes with the beauty of the pearls. They wanted to feel them dangling just beneath their earlobes!