[knotty panda]

Jeremy, Josh: As someone who has personally seen Tahitians with the beads showing through and knowing they are black market pearls, and being someone who unwisely picks my causes , what can/should I do? Is there a Pearl Police?

[jshepherd]

Yes there are pearl police! Everyone here on this forum!

Nothing illegal about the pearls once they are here, unfortunately. It is just illegal to export them from FP.

[olmander]

It really depends on the discoloration. It can be very slight, or in the case of this strand, quite dramatic.

Jeremy, you scared me: when something can be described as dramatic, I better bring it back, - should I? Is it that bad? I thought exactly the oppisite, that this shadows of colour make it playful. But this is of course my lack of experience...

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by olmander

I thought exactly the opposite, that this shadows of colour make it playful...

Frankly, at some point I was (and still am) seriously fascinated with bi- and multi-colour pearls: those with sections and bands of different colors. Still am. Apparently, this interesting features do not count as great quality, even if the lustre is evenly great throughout, there are no extensive blemishes etc. Those are just lovely (IMO) oddballs!
Not sure whether I care allot about the generic evaluation of such pearls: IMO, they are cute and unusual. 'enough said

I am not sure whether we are talking about the same things though... it may be that discoloration or thinner nacre makes for 'patches' of colour. And very deep (=bad) circling is not the same as color bands although the circles often expose nacre of different colors etc.

Bottom line: there must be room to like just about anything... Or at least so I hope.

Now, here's the 'bicolor' pearls I am talking about: see the drops in the center of th second row (top down) and the one below in this line-up o freshwater fancies from PP Tahitian and South Sea pearls (Kare Ehret had one or two before pulling her stock from DruzyDesign offline for Tucson - they might be back) sometimes come like this too - baroque and drops especially. Only ever saw two bicolor rounds (even nacre, no circle, no discoloration - just two colors).

I am not sure if these are really not appreciated, or just unusual. At least one well known historic pearl is bicolor black & white (round, natural).

Now, if the surface quality of your pearls in cause differs allot between the two colors, there might be some problem with the pearl - possibly the lighter (and duller) color signaling very thin nacre barely covering an off-center nucleus, or other such unlucky possibilities... Can't tell from here what's up.

[Oops for the long post! Hope some is of use.]

[jerin]

Originally Posted by olmander

Jeremy, you scared me: when something can be described as dramatic, I better bring it back, - should I? Is it that bad? I thought exactly the oppisite, that this shadows of colour make it playful. But this is of course my lack of experience...

Olga,
don´t bring them back, even if the quality is between C and D, I take it that you got them at a good price and in this size they are not easy to come by - so think of them as your "BIG BLACKS" and do not worry any more about it!

If you think the luster is OK and the pits and pin holes are not bothering you, keep this strand, use it as your learning experience and wear it with pride!

[olmander]

Inge, thanks! I think I will indeed keep them and will like them a lot.

I just made a quick jump today to the place where I got it to see what came instead for the same price - this convinced me instantly!!! This was a brilliant deal, as I see now :-)

Olga

[jshepherd]

Yes, definitely keep them! If you like them it does not matter what the grade is and you will certainly have a difficult time finding pearls that large again!

[Bodecia]

Jeremy, Josh: As someone who has personally seen Tahitians with the beads showing through and knowing they are black market pearls, and being someone who unwisely picks my causes , what can/should I do? Is there a Pearl Police?

I have several Tahitians with the nucleus showing but they were probably exported in good condition. From the ones I have seen it is caused when they are drilled. The nacre is very, very thick but drilled incorrectly or maybe the incorrect beads were used for the nucleus. Remember there was a thread on cheap beads being used to nucleate and I think that was Tahitians.

I love the bi-colour pearls. They are so unusual with black on half and white on the other and they do appear to have a thick nacre and have a great lustre. I don't have many of these and plan to make some earrings out of them.

Bodecia

[olmander]

Yes, sir!!!
With these words from Jeremy himself, there is no way back now

[Sueki]

Olga,
I'm so glad that you are keeping the necklace - I love it, it's gorgeous.

[olmander]

I am afraid I was shooting in my own legs, diverting attention from women in power to my Tahitians

Back to power: I am putting forward my earlier message. Anybody has bright ideas for my article? ANY FRESH BRAINS LEFT AFTER THE EXCITING SHOPPING SPRAY OF YESTERDAY???

I think I am getting close to writing an article about women in power and pearls (maybe taken historically after the WW2). With the emphasis on the last few years but not only. Pelosi's strands just gave me a food for thought. In fact along with gorgeous SS baroques of our princess Maxima ('strict' chic, white SS) and the top soprano Anna Netrebko (outspoken chic, enourmous golden SS).

I understand that personal factor was important for setting a fashion but growth of the market (say, technology plus internet) made it possible for a broad audience.

It looks like there is also difference between American and European ladies in power: the latter seem to keep a much more low profile in clothing and jewelry. Why is that?

If somebody has more interesting examples or ideas - I would be terribly thankful, I am carried away by the topic...

Olga

[gravityalwayswins]

One thing I noticed, but don't know if it was a trend or just happenstance based on a few episodes, is that women (girls?) on The Apprentice always seemed to have a set of pearls on in the boardroom. What I've noticed in my own work (consulting) is that I usually only see pearls coupled with one of two outfits: business formal suits, or evening formal gowns. Never with slacks and a button down shirt (but I'm trying to change that!)

I grew up with the impression that pearls are prohibitively expensive. I also never really knew about the broad range - there was only two options: tiny (seed?) pearls strung with other beads as embellishments, or simple, round, med. sized white pearls. I wonder if the increase lately stems from the internet and media - pictures and knowledge and "buzz" are so much more accessible these days, so people are less likely to see something like Pelosi's necklace, or pearls on a picture of Princess Di, and immediately think, "Ya, but I could never own something like that. SHE is a [princess/politician/fill in the blank]!" Add that to the expanding access to a huge variety of pearls, and we can make our own rules!

[silverseajewelry]

What about fictional women of power?

Chief hospital administrator Lisa Cuddy wears a nice tahitian strand in many episodes...appears to be very silvery.

Candace Bergen wore a big strand of baroque tahitians on Sex in the City when she played Carrie Bradshaw's executive editor.

These are the ones that stand out in my mind.

[olmander]

That's a good turn of thought! I like it

It can be seen from both sides:

1) either politico's are becoming more "loose" in style and turn from traditional '8mm white 16 inches' conservative style to something more fancy and challenging, or

2) more ordinary people like you mention pick up quickly what the top ladies are wearing, and due to internet and media it goes very quickly.

By the way, I have an impression that European top ladies are generally less formal in clothing than American ones. Even Angela Merkel, who is not a big fashion model, tries some flirty combinations of trousers with a small short jacket. Never saw any expensive jewelry on her, but also hardly ever a formal strict suit. Not to speal of the French ones which make their style always more playful. The only one who is close in style to Nancy Pelosi & K is Nellie Kroes - but she seems to spend half time in the US.

Does it have to do with some sort of political and cultural tradition? Is political elite in Europe different? Any fresh ideas?

Olga

P.S. yes, by the way, - what you describe (silvery and baroque tahitians) speaks more for the immitation hypothesis; they are in a much lower price category than those Pelosi strands or large SS by, say, Obama's wife yesterday. means available to many.

[jshepherd]

Originally Posted by silverseajewelry

What about fictional women of power?

Chief hospital administrator Lisa Cuddy wears a nice tahitian strand in many episodes...appears to be very silvery.

And here she is with her Pearl Paradise strand!