[Kevin Canning]

Well I designed this with the idea of it being strictly a piece for men, but I think it could work for either a man or woman if worn right. Let me know what you guys think.

Edit: I have had several inquiries as to when the bracelet will be available online and I just wanted to drop a link to the product page where this bracelet can be found:
Men's Pearl Bracelet

[The Pearl Outlet]

Hi Kevin,

I like it. Classy, inexpensive using semi-baroques, but it has character. Way to go. Are the clasps 14k WG or silver?

[Kevin Canning]

well i didn't think rounds would work well as a men's piece, I think the baroque takes away a little femininity in the piece(which is what I wanted to accomplish). The clasps on these are just silver as men tend to be much rougher on items like this, so I wanted something a little harder then gold. Overall I'm pretty pleased at the over all look of the piece.

I'm going to be pitching these to a number of fashion and men's magazines over the next month, so we'll see what the fashion experts think.

[jshepherd]

I am not certain whether I could pull that off. It is definitely interesting, though. I am curious to see any press you may get out of them.
Great photography, by the way.

[Kevin Canning]

its certainly not for everybody thats for sure, time will tell if the public is ready for men to wear more then a single pearl at a time.

[Caitlin]

Hi Kevin
Those are nice pieces- about 8.5" long? And the photos are classy too.

Men are rougher on jewelry and bracelets get knocked around a lot more than necklaces so I would wonder about stringing the bracelet on silk at all. The drapy-ness of silk knotting is not needed in this piece and it will need to be restrung regularly, if it is worn much- and men aren't great about that. I fear it would end up in a dresser box, forgotten, when the thread breaks.

Cliclasp of this forum has a fascinating stringing solution I think would work for a men's bracelet. It is pricey, but with Tahitians it might not matter, since they are too.

For a less pricey, very durable, solution for men's bracelets I would even consider soft flex and longish crimp tubes. Don't freak at me- I use them all the time for stringing my costume jewelry CFWP. (I cover the ends with french wire, ho,ho, ho!)And I have yet to have one break- unless it wasn't crimped properly.

You know, I would even try large black-dyed off-shaped CFWP in a "sports jewelry" piece, to market research the the idea on the young men I know, because you could encourage young men to be tough on FWP as opposed to the care the Tahitians would need. Such a CFWP bracelet could even be worn during sports activities- and on the beach- without concern- cause it is not pricey. And the nacre won't break in a spontaneous game of touch football on the lawn at the family gathering.

[Kevin Canning]

The CFWP idea is another route and the price would be equivilent to what they sell some of the plastic or wood bead bracelets for.

My idea for this piece is a little more upscale then your typical keg chugging 20 something, I think it would appeal more to a fashion forward male that isn't afraid to wear a shirt with buttons and a collar.

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Kevin,

For that purpose solid nacre pearls of natural color are probably still the better choice because men tend to layer the bracelet with a "manly" (speak scratchy) watch. Men also tend to get upset at vendors more even if the damage is their own fault. I don't know how confident you are about the nacre thickness and durability of your Tahitians, but a few evening's wear next to a steel watch is going to do serious harm.

Zeide

[Caitlin]

Hi Kevin
You will notice I said, "I would try ....." Now you know what I would try ---I was not suggesting that you should do it. I know what your style is, but you could get an idea from me- right? I am taking the time to look at your creation and give you my opinion. I thought that was what you asked for.

My declasse attitude just keeps popping out doesn't it? I do use commercial grade CFWP. Just because they are inexpensive does not mean they are tawdry and I feel pain in my heart every time one of you guys turns their nose up at CFWP, just because they are cheap. I get the feeling yall (many venders, not just you, Kevin) do not respect the customers who choose CFWP as much as you do the ones who buy more expensive pearls. Well that is a kind of petit snobbery in my opinion. Unfortunately, too many jewelers are prone to letting that attitude leak out in their communications.

[The Pearl Outlet]

I don't think I would be concerned about the durability of the Tahitian pearls themselves. Generally, Tahitians will stand up to just about anything accept an overly dull drill bit or chemicals (makeup, cologne, etc).

I did a day of testing here at my office a few months ago on the durability of our Tahitian pearls. Here is the gamut of tests and the results:

1.) Drop from a height of 8 ft onto tile. Result: No affect.
2.) Slam in an oak file drawer. Result: Dented the oak.
3.) Propel the pearl at a high velocity and impact the pearl against solid tile. Result: No affect.
4.) Hit the pearl with a hammer against a cement backdrop. Result: Smashed pearl.

When I say "No affect", I mean there were no visible scratches or other visible damage at all. The nacre thickness, measured after finally smashing the pearl, was determined to be approximately 4mm total (2mm per side).

[Kevin Canning]

Hey Caitlin,

I think I came off the wrong way with my remark, I was in a hurry and I probably could have been a bit more eloquent in my statement.

I actually meant that the low price would be a positive for that type of bracelet, but I think it would appeal to a different category of customer(unfortunatly probably not the type that shops online). What I should have said is "yes it would look great and be very inexpensive on the retail end also".

In the end the whether you like it or not, most 20-35(the demographic for this type of piece) are very materialistic and a high price tag on any given piece of jewelry will instill a sense of value to the customer. Just look at diamonds, sure you can get cubic zirconia for a fraction of the and it looks pretty good, but the price compared to diamonds makes it seem like junk. Men feel successful when they can spend a lot on a luxury item - so for that I think Tahitian pearls fit the bill.

Its sad but if I created the exact same bracelet in freshwater and Tahitian, I think the Tahitian would sell more because of its higher price tag. That's just the nature of luxury goods.

[Kevin Canning]

Oh and I certainly don't look down on customers that buy freshwater pearls - they make up about 40% of my business!

And I also had my PR firm spend the month of April pitching only freshwater pearls to the fashion editors, so please don't think I'm a pearl snob - I love them all.

For that purpose solid nacre pearls of natural color are probably still the better choice because men tend to layer the bracelet with a "manly" (speak scratchy) watch.

I don't really get this statement though - sure the freshwater pearls are solid nacre, but they are still going to get damaged and scratched against a watch and are not going to look any better then the tahitian. I mean a gouge or scratch is going to look ugly on both.

[Caitlin]

Hi
I tried to use more smilies, to show you I am just making comments in a good spirit, but the program would only allow me four. I am not going to do a search to prove it, but several times folks on this forum have made remarks demeaning the desirability of CFWP, solely because of their cost.

In the case of the formerly, heavily subsidized Chinese CFWP, price is not the criterion of intrinsic value, especially of the strands most folks here sell. If they are high luster, they are worth far more than the market value and thus are a good investment. They have not achieved their true market value, yet.

I can see appealing to the snob as a marketing ploy, but if pearl bracelets are a good idea for men, they should do well in CFWP too and it may be a better test market. I would get great big ones, slightly off round, dyed peacock colors- they will look better than many baroque Tahitians I have seen. Their looks should sell them, even if the the buyers aren’t “investors”

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Caitlin,

You got that one straight. Chinese freshwater pearl production is highly subsidized for political reasons and said political reason is to destroy the Japanese pearl industry because the Chinese in general and the Generals in power in particular hate the Japanese with a vengance. Actually given the no-interest loans, free land grants, allocation of free (prison) labor, water right privileges and many more have made the Chinese freshwater pearl industry flourish. In the last 5 years many of these privileges and benefits have been cut back and you see the effects of that in dramatic decreases in production. As soon as the areas now dotted with pearl farms will be converted to producing cattle for McDonalds or as vacation spots avec golf courses for the rich, you will see even more decline in production. The current combination of large availability, high quality, and low prices is unlikely to last. Highly unlikely.

Kevin:

Men's complaining habits are quite closely related to the price they paid for an item. If their Tahitian pearl bracelet scratches up due to their watches, they will first bitch at you and then never buy a pearl item ever again. If it is a relative affordable CFWP bracelet that scratches up due to their watch wearing, they'll toss it and buy a new one. Of course that would only work at current CFWP prices that I do not think will last very long. But then, when a CFWP is scratched up, you can polish or peel it until it is all gone. A Tahitian pearl is going to reach its nucleus much faster than that and when it does, your customer will feel really cheated. It is one thing to be aware that your "cultured pearls" contain a nucleus, it is quite another to actually see that nucleus up close and personal.

Zeide

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Terry,

I really like your testing methods. I shall hereby adopt the process as the Terry Shepherd Tarzan Test.

Zeide