My father went to China and brought me pearls

[waimeamomi]

So I am now venturing into the FW arena, after being convinced at the being of the summer I was nothing but a Tahitian girl. Then I met Pearl Guide, now I'm in every kind of water. My father went to Guangzhou for a few weeks and I asked him to pick up a couple of strands of pearls for me. I sent him some pictures of things I liked, and told him no dyes, look for lustre and shine, no white pearls, and they didn't have to be round. Now my father HATES to shop, and he knows very little pearls or jewelry, although does know that women like both. Here are the strands he brought back, bless his heart, it must have killed him to go on this mission, but his wife who is from China did the haggling. I have no idea how much any of the strands cost. Opinions welcome, I have no attachment to them other than he did it for me. Also I can't figure out how to put in a pic and then put text below it and then put in another pic, so these will have narrative first.

The first strand has a pretty lavender color and seems to be nice enough to use in some pretty creations.

The second are small little nuggets, also pretty and useful. The color looks natural, and is not the cotton candy pink of a lot of the beading strands I've seen.

Now things get interesting. The third strand has large and lumpy pearls with a very shiny surface and some nice colors, but only on one side. The other side of the pearls, next shot, are rather flat and without much lustre. What does that mean? It looks like they were stuck on the pearls shell or something.

Next shot is a funny one that has the shiny surface gone and another surface showing, but you can't feel the edge. It's under the surface like it was covered with shiny clear polish or something. Hmmm.
oops, no more room for pics, that funny one will be on the next post.

[waimeamomi]

OK, here is the funny one from the last post.

The last "strand" kind of makes me sad, unless I don't get it, because my dad hand picked these individually and then had them drilled so they could be strung. He said they were the most expensive. You can see all the funny areas, and also it almost seems like there is something dark inside a couple of the pearls that you can see. My dad is a designer, and I think he liked them because they were so odd. I wish he hadn't drilled them, because they would be nicer set into something so the bad side was hidden. Not sure what to do with these yet. A challenge. The last shot is all of them together, so you can get an idea of the sizes and colors. Still struggling to get those darn colors right.
Anyway, take a look and I'd love to hear from the experts. I also got some very nice FW pearls this summer from Ms. Ehert, including a brand new strand that I will post in the show us your pearls forum.
Mahalo all.

[jerin]

Hi Sheryl
and thanks for the lovely pics. The # one pic in your second post does look to be Fireballs but I have never seen them in person. Cathybear might be able to tell you or Jeremy or some of our members who have Fireballs. If they are, they are bead nucleated and the Giant Clam could have been used as nucleus (endangered species). I like the lavender strand the best. Pic # 3 shows different layers of the nacre/conchiolin and the pearls have probably touched the shell, I think I remember Jeremy mentioning that if the pearls are close to the mantle, they look different than from other places. I could have mixed up this info though, however seem the pearls to be natural coloured and not over treated. Enjoy them

[Sueki]

Hi Sheryl,
Nice pearls - thanks for sharing them.
I have some of those in the last pic.
Sorry, I don't know what they are called, but they are among my favourites as they have beautiful, subtle colouring and lovely iridescence and the flaws/blemishes give them a wonderful organic look.
They are quite large, too. Around 9 - 10mm. I think.

[pattye]

Hi Sheryl,

Some fun and lovely pearls! IMO, none are bead nucleated. I have lots and seen lots of those pearls with the flat sides. Sometimes they have good lustre on the flat part, but often not. Seems like they would be perfect to put in a bezel ring setting, or some type of pendant that would hold the best side to the front. Have not figured the pendant thing out so far, however. The pearl with the circular blemish appears to have another layer of nacre underneath.(second post, 3rd photo)
The white spotting is just a blemish, next to that pretty pink pearl. (First photo, second post. Looks like you got some fabulous colors too! What are the sizes on the large strand?

[barbie biggs]

Hi Sheryl:
Lovely pearls. Nice Dad and good shopping by his wife. The colors are excellent but I have to tell you I just love the clasps. They are so cute. I am always interested in findings and these are really nice. Enjoy playing with your new acquisitions!
barbie

[Pearl Dreams]

There are some cool iridescent pearls in those larger strands. I wouldn't worry about the flaws-- the pearls have character.

[waimeamomi]

The large strand is, well, large, 10mm - 14mm in length 8mm - 10mm in height. The shorter long strand is 10mm 15mm in length and about 10mm high. I wish he hadn't drilled that short strand because they would have been very nice set (although I've never done that before). Now I have to figure out how to do it with the holes. hmmmm

[Pearlgully]

I wish he hadn't drilled that short strand because they would have been very nice set (although I've never done that before). Now I have to figure out how to do it with the holes. hmmmm

Even though the pearls are drilled, they can still be set in a bezel. I set drilled pearls like that frequently. I just make the bezel high enough to cover the drill holes. You should discuss this with a metalsmith; you'd be quite surprised what can be done, even without using a bezel setting. Oooh, you could stick a wire through two to make a pair of earrings. (Sorry, I'm getting carried away.)


Jerin....... I am pretty certain that those pearls are not fireballs.



Gail

[Nerida]

Hi Sheryl - lucky you having folks do the shopping for you!

Nice pearls too.

I don't think yours are bead nucleated at all. Most baroque FW have a "good" side and a "flat" or "bad" side. You have some blemished nacre, but not nucleated to my eye.

Have fun with them - the lavenders especially are lovely, and a nice clasp too.

[Caitlin]

That bracelet is gorgeous!

Don't worry about the flat sides or flaws. In the baroque pearls, it is the luster that counts.

I would venture to guess that they are all commercial grade pearls because of the shapes. The purple one is the best quality, though you will find them in the commercial booths too.

I happen to love commercial grade pearls I have most of those types in your pictures. I have several strands with chunks missing, but the luster underneath is very good. People love them, chips and all, because the luster is so stunning. My mother in law took one -with chips missing- that I gave her, to a jeweler. They said it was worth $200!

Your bracelet, because of the size of the pearls is probably worth that too, if not more.

[J Marcus]

Sheryl--Drilled pearls are, in the right designs, the easiest pearls to set while still exposing the greatest surface area to view. If a mounting is made so that there is a back that hides the side you don't like and also keeps the pearl from turning around, and if it is made with elements of gold or silver or other metal on each side through which a hole may be drilled, then it is a simple matter to run a wire through the sides and the hole in the pearl and bend, curl or twist the ends so that the pearl is secure. I'll try to post an example.

OK. Got three of them. However, you will have to use your creative imagination because they arent the same shape and the white one was meant to move. You can see that I used extensions of the bale to hold the black ones in place. For yours it might be done somewhat differently, but there are many possibilities that will show off those pearls beautifully.

Marc
http://www.flyrodjewelry.com/home.html

[Amrita]

Congratulations on the bounty that your father (and wife) brought you from China! They are nice, especially the lavenders!

[Cathybear]

I hammered a baroque similar to yours.. nacre all through.

[Pearl Dreams]

Marc, I love those designs! Especially the bottom left one.