[Raisondetre]

[jerin]

Hi Raisondetre,

I think the viatnamese Akoyas are lovely in their own way, especially the colouring. True, the luster is not as good as on you pretty lavenders, but think of them as a collectors item. I don´t think there will be a big rise in their production and perhaps they never really will get enough to be able to satisfy the market.

They look great together, and I love that clasp! It suits the size of the pearls very well.

[pearllove]

Hi Raisondetre,
Thank you for posting photos of the Vietnamese akoyas. I was interested in them and your photos were very helpful in evaluating whether or not to get a strand myself. I find customer photos much more realistic than the vendor ones.

[Raisondetre]

I know sometimes pearls tend to take time to wake up, so I will sit on them for a bit. Will decide after I come back from China - this time I'm going to Xiamen.

[The Pearl Outlet]

Hi Raisondetre,

I do have some gem-quality Vietnamese that are by request only. I’m reserving them that way because there are so few. The total numbers here in the states this year for each size are limited to single digits. Take for instance the 8.5mm gem-quality strands. There were a total of 6 this year, and we’ve already sold 2 of them. And this is the TOTAL quantity available here in the US. So you can see why we don’t just list them on the site.

The gem-quality strands have the extra luster and orient you’re probably looking for. That is what orient456 purchased when he/she said:

They have a brilliant mirror lustre. The silver/blue pearls are extreme metallic, but the addition of the warmer creams, pinks and goldens make the whole strand just GLOW.
When I asked Terry about the lustre, he said they are so lustrous that they almost look wet and he is absolutely right.”

The luster and orient are so extreme on the gem-quality strands, it is truly amazing.

[Raisondetre]

I briefly mentioned that I got an exchange for the gem strands (sorry guys, I got the last 8.5 mm). The colors, as expected are amazing, and the luster absolutely pops on the silver pearls. There is a variation between the different shades for luster, probably because of the contrast. I've included some pictures for comparison, and this time the luster shows up alot sharper than on the previous strand, though that one was by no means inferior - it's just a different grade of pearls. Still collector items nonetheless. I'm trying to get a better camera to do these pearls justice because they literally blind you in the sun, but lighting wasn't optimum today, and the light colors don't show up quite as well as the lavender freshwaters that I used for comparison last time. But it is amazing.

[Raisondetre]

[Raisondetre]

Sorry the clasp looks so blurry. I promise to try again when the sun/lighting permits.

[Raisondetre]

There's the typical freshwater glowy-type luster on the lavenders as opposed to the sharp ball-bearing type luster you see on the Akoyas. I'm presuming because the nacre is thicker than the average strand on the market the sharper luster still looks quite warm. Not too happy with the quality of the pictures because if you look at the silvery pearls on the Akoya strand it just jumps at you, but I won't get a new camera till I get back to Australia next month. Hopefully it'll happen soon.

I should add that the best way to describe the pearls is that I'm looking into a strand of different colored soap bubbles. At that size and with such a clean surface in addition to a thicker than usual nacre depth I think it's value for money. I'm guessing the smaller strands would look even more distinct as the luster would look "tighter" with less variation between the colors. But do specify gem quality if that's the effect you want. The normal strands are nice but do not have the soap bubble effect or what we know commonly as orient on this forum.

[Raisondetre]

Being compulsive I thought I'd try again, but comparing them to the exotic freshwaters I picked out from countless strands in Shanghai. It's not entirely fair as the exotics are quite a bit smaller and more or less uniform in color, but here goes.

I've used macro in sunlight from a tinted window, no flash. Different zooms. Luster is tighter in the smaller strand, but you can still see mirror-sharp images in the silvery pearls. As I said there is variation across the colors, but even in the exotic strand there are still difference, albeit not as obvious because of the smaller size. These pictures still do not truly capture the surrealness of the Akoyas.

[Raisondetre]

[Raisondetre]

Probably not zooming in too much makes the pictures look better. The colors and overtones of the Akoyas are as follows: silver/lavender, golden, white/rose and white/ivory. I'm through with small pearls, but my guess is the smaller gem strands would look really tight like the freshwater exotic does. Shape and surface are impeccable as expected of Akoyas.

[jerin]

They are lovely!

[silverseajewelry]

How do you like the bow-style clasp? I don't have any like that.

Beautiful!

[pearllove]

Wow!! The luster on the akoyas are amazing. On some of your pictures, I can see the soap bubble effect.