[v_ni]

knotty panda, those are indeed beautiful.

unfortunately, i was referring to the "round" gem quality freshwater pearls as generally described by the vendors.

[knotty panda]

Yes, I do understand. The point I was making is that "round" is not the only gem quality shape. Your strand may show some pearls which are slightly off-round, however, they are gem quality if that is how the vendor sold them to you.

[gravityalwayswins]

Knotty - they're amazing! I gasped when I saw that pic & the Hubbie came running to make sure it wasn't something that had a price tag associated. I'm still very much an amateur but those are some of the most amazing colors and "glow" I've seen, and that's from a pic! I think they have so much more personality than rounds.

[v_ni]

hi knotty panda,

thanks for answering my question, now i understand that gem-quality fwp are not round to the eye as described.

i did eventually manage to find a few posts on the same subject and the conclusion seems to end on the same note.

Originally Posted by knotty panda

Yes, I do understand. The point I was making is that "round" is not the only gem quality shape. Your strand may show some pearls which are slightly off-round, however, they are gem quality if that is how the vendor sold them to you.

[knotty panda]

I guess what you need to consider is which quality is more important to you -- the shape or the qualities the pearl displays such as luster and orient. For instance, I specifically know of one high end retailer who sells gem quality freshwaters but will never say their freshwaters are round as perfectly round freshwaters are very rare, even gem quality. I wouldn't be surprised to find that if you took your strand outside and looked closely at the pearls which are a bit less round in the bright sunlight, that those less round pearls would become your very favorites as they tend to be the most beautiful.

I'll say one thing, you can definitely consider yourself a NCN! Who else analyzes each and every pearl in a strand! Welcome to the club!

[Caitlin]

Because CFWP do not have an internal structure(like a bead nucleus), absolute roundness is rare. This is the same for natural, wild, sea pearls- so you actually have a strand that looks very much like natural, wild, sea pearls.

I believe it was Mikimoto who first made roundess into the all important criteria, because that is what beaded akoyas look like. So roundness has become a criteria for all nucleated pearls.

There are some few round-to-the-eye natural, wild pearls which are highly desirable.The big ones are usually baroque, and smaller round ones were also highly desired, so royalty and the very,very wealthy got the biggest and the roundest.

I decided to put Cliclasp's photo of a museum piece. The first impression is roundness, but a close look reveals many off-round shapes.

[Caitlin]

I just had to add this. When I was in college a student of gestalt theory made up an experiment on perception. A series of very slightly off-round circles increasing to perfectly round were presented to the participants. Most people supplied the roundness themselves- through their perception. It had to be fairly off round for them to see it. There was a very small percentage that got almost all of them correct. I think you would be in that last group- and your husband too.

So I hope you learn to enjoy those slightly off round shapes- they tell you it is not a bead nuked necklace. Those relaxed shapes are why CFWP are my favorite cultured pearls.