[Spherical Flower]

My fiance and I are looking for a high-quality strand of japanese akoya pearls for me to wear on our wedding day. We went looking at pearl strands at several different malls. We looked in all different kinds of stores. We seen alot of Sea magic, by mikimoto, which didn't look that nice, and were wayyy too overpriced. We also seen some genuine mikimotos at a Ben Bridge store, that were a little bit nicer but even more overpriced. We started browsing online and have seen alot of nice strands of Hanadama quality for rather reasonable prices. We also found some advertised as 1mm nacre. There are two strands I am interested in. One is 6.5 x 7 mm pearls, AAAA Quality, 1mm Nacre, Choose White Body Color, Choose Rose Overtone, Choose 17 inch Princess Length, Choose Platinum Clasp, Total: $1,794.00 .The other is 6.5 x 7 mm pearls, AAA+ Quality, Hanadama .6 mm Nacre, Pink body color only, Rose Overtone only, Choose 17 inch Princess Length, Choose Platinum Clasp, Total: $1.688.00. I was wondering what you guys think about the prices for the quality. Please feel free to comment or ask any questions. Thanks.

[knotty panda]

In that size, Pearl Oasis is running a sale on hanadama's for about half that price. Go to their website, it's cheaper than what they are charging on e-bay.

[GemGeek]

If you want Hanadama quality, you need to be sure that the pearls are certified as Hanadama quality by the Pearl Science Laboratory of Japan. That is the only lab that does Hanadama certification. They are either Hanadama, or they are not - technically there isn't an AAAA grade.

Did they say that they come with a numbered certificate? Is there a good return policy? If you post the names of the vendors, people here can give you an idea of their track record.

I think it's wonderful that you want some fine pearls for your wedding. There are a lot of good pearls to be had from online purchases, but there are some stinkers out there. Stick around and read more about pearls here before you make a decision. If you aren't set on Hanadamas, there are several superb sellers of excellent quality freshwater pearls, which will never wear out.

Here is a photo of "freshadama" pearl earrings I purchased from www.pearlparadise.com



Good Luck in your quest!

[danachit]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
I make a lot of bride and bridesmaid pearls and my own two cents would be to go with the freshadamas at pearlparadise. They offer the necklace at 16 inches...which hands down....is the choice the brides make when I'm designing their necklace. Is your gown strapless? Check out these gorgeous pearls for a fraction of the price:

http://www.pearlparadise.com/detail.aspx?ID=746

You would get an absolutely stunning strand of pearls that would rival the best akoya and forget about the depth of nacre...these are freshwater so you have just about solid nacre and amazing gleam.

Also, you're paying a pretty premium for that platinum clasp. I'd rather save a little $$, have a gold clasp, and buy some stunning earrings. Pearl paradise and also Pearlsofjoy and pearl oasis all have great earrings at great prices.

Hahahaha.....looks like somebody up above was thinking along the same lines as me!

[Pearl_dreams]

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon to suggest the Freshadamas (freshwater) at PearlParadise.com.

I recently got the 7-8 mm size strand. I took it to compare with Mikimotos and the luster of my strand rivaled the A1 Mikimoto akoya strand at the store-- at about 1/8th the cost.

[Spherical Flower]

Thank you to all. Wow the freshadamas are beautiful. I know that they consist of solid nacre, which is something I really like because I plan to hand down my pearls. I might have to consider them. I am in love with a rose overtone. Do the freshadamas come in a rose overtone? I also prefer very high luster. The freshwater pearls I have seen must be low quality because I haven't seen any with extremely high luster. Anyway, I prefer platinum over gold, due to weight and the quality feel of the metal. My wedding set is made out of platinum and so are my diamond studs. (yes I know, im spoiled)

So to try and answer everyone here, I went to pearl oasis and saw there selection of hanadamas. The strands here come with the original certs. They are cheaper in price but also the nacre is thinner 0.4 to 0.5 Also there strand lengths are 18 inches after the clasps are attached, and I am looking for a 17 inch length.

The pearl strands I was talking about in my first post are from American Pearl. They offer 16 inches, 17 inches and 18 inches. 17 inches works the best for my neckline. Yes the Hanadamas here are certified, and the 1mm Nacre strands come with a split pearl to prove quality and nacre thickness. They also have very nice looking and heavy looking clasps, gosh I hate cheap clasps!

I donot want to buy a set because the necklaces are usually lower in quality when in a set. I donot really want pearl earrings. I have a pair of diamond studs I plan to wear with my strand of pearls.

So where do I learn more about Freshadamas?

Thanks again to everyone!

[Valeria101]

Recently there was some discussion about AP 'Hanadama' vs. others with an authentic certificate vs. other fine Akoya...

Now, there is a bit of a story with those nacre thickness numbers:

1. without an independent report, you are taking the sellers' word for it. Also, there is sometimes confusion between that number taken on the radius or the diameter.

2. the Hanadama certificates guarantee nacre thickness of [u]at least[/i] .5mm (radial) not .5 exactly.

3. ... this is a debate about .1mm after all. And .5mm is not terribly thick among cultured pearls, to put it mildly.


[looking for that recent thread...]

[Spherical Flower]

Picture of the Hanadama strand from American Pearl.

http://www.americanpearl.com/657hanadama.html

[Valeria101]

Aha! here's one of those threads LINK

There are more realistic pictures taken by a buyer there... I'm never sure what to make of the stock photos used on seller's websites. Perhaps I am biased a bit: for some reason, pearls seem awfully hard to catch in pictures and minute important details (small blemishes, orient - often) get lost.

Over and out on Akoya. Should admit right here that am a bit of a all-nacre fan... be that cultured or not cultured. Not that those glowing round pearls look any worse to me for that matter

[Raisondetre]

Everything boils down to personal preference, and a wedding is a once in a lifetime thing. If you like mirror-like luster, go for the Hanadamas. It's not value for money or considered "real" pearls by many connoisseurs including those on this board, but it is pretty. At least for the first ten years or so. Freshadamas are high luster but they do not look like ball bearings. The shine comes from within, and they have an iridiscent quality we usually name orient here, though it's not an industry certified term. And yes, they most certainly come with a rose overtone but it's not a strong pink color like the one shown on AP.

To be honest, the AP picture looks too pink. Akoyas are often "pinked" so I'm not surprised, but that picture is way exaggerated. Rose is an overtone, not a body color. You might as well get pink Freshadamas if you want pink pearls - at least those occur naturally. Color is not a grading factor for Hanadama. It's not on the certificate as a grading criteria. It's complete rubbish about the "collection" quality. If it is lab certified to be Hanadama, that is Hanadama. There is nothing better than Hanadama by definition even if the nacre thickness varies on the certificate. I dare anyone to look at a pearl visually and guess the nacre thickness. High quality pearls are most abundant in the smaller sizes anyways. 0.5 mm refers to radial nacre thickness, not diameter. The lab does not certify anything less than that 0.4 mm radial as far as I know, so anything anyone tells you to the contrary is false. For a pearl to have a 0.4 mm nacre thickness overall, it is only 0.2 mm radial and that is not Hanadama quality. In pearls that are not certified, noone can tell you about the nacre thickness, so I don't quite know what AP is on about. If they have a measurement I want to see it on paper. I don't know what the split pearl adds - it merely shows the nacre thickness for the pearl that is split, and seriously, if you can't trust the lab cert you can't trust anything. Relatively speaking, a 1 mm nacre thickness all round is quite thick for an Akoya especially for the small sizes, not so much for the bigger sizes but that's as good as it gets.

I would not give my money to someone who misrepresents their product. Period. Value for money, Freshadamas are as good as it gets. For the money you're plonking on the Hanadamas you can get a whole set of even 8-9 mm Freshadamas, or just a 9-10 mm strand (well, it's out of stock, just for comparison's sake) with money to spare for a platinum clasp. But if you prefer the transient metallic luster, go for the Akoyas, but be prepared to fork out another sum of money for an upgrade by the time you want to pass it down. A 6.5-7 mm strand is an everyday size (I find even 7-8 mm small for everyday wear once I got into pearls), it'd be a pity to buy it and keep it away for fear of wearing it down. None of the reputable vendors use "cheap" clasps, so to speak. You can specify the clasp you want. They may not have platinum, but at what, $27 a gram it may be just half the price of platinum, but it's not cheap per se. I prefer platinum myself, but I am not as fussy about clasps as I am about rings as I don't touch it all the time.

That reminds me ... maybe I should retake my Freshadama strand in a coiled setup. Somebody stop me ...

[Spherical Flower]

Does anyone around here have any pictures of a Freshadama strand next to a AAA/Hanadama Akoya strand? Just kinda curious to see the visual difference. Thanks.

[Spherical Flower]

Another question: What exactly is Orient? And how do you tell if a pearl has one or is lacking one?

[Raisondetre]

A picture says a thousand words. If you can't see the rainbow on this one, I'm gonna cry. The baroques are exceptional. I wouldn't expect it of usual round pearls, but there should be a degree of it observed. I don't have special lighting for my photos.

White Freshwater Baroque

I am retaking pics of my Freshadamas as we speak. I don't have it next to a Hanadama strand. The rose overtone is not as overt and it takes on different colors as you put it on different backgrounds, so even if you wear a really pink strand it may not show up on you by virtue of your skintone. My Freshadama usually look rose, but on a white background it looks more ivory.

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by Spherical Flower

...pictures of a Freshadama strand next to a AAA/Hanadama Akoya strand? ...

Once upon a time there was a poll (LINK) and more recently another account of the comparison (LINK) w/o pics.

I am not sure if there are many owners of both around, but tis is not exactly the best time of the day either... I'd bet this thread will get more answers later on.

[Raisondetre]

My pics are uploaded under this thread. The pics on the second page are better.

White 7.0-8.0 mm Freshadama Set

Editted: Oh well, you found the poll!

You will find that alot of us here are very passionate about Freshadamas ..