Rosebuds - please show and tell!

[Sarah]

When I first saw rosebud pearls, I thought they looked a little pimply and odd. In person I found them completely captivating! Besides the beautiful pink rosebuds I purchased from Sarah at Kojima Pearl, I picked up a silver strand that I'm gaga over right now. Even the flat sides are interesting. I haven't taken my own photos yet so here's a vendor photo. These are bright silver in some light but more lavender in others. Tonight they were showing lovely rose, blue and green overtones, but I wonder if they were dyed to get the light gray color? They were sold as undyed but I guess I'm skeptical. They're fairly small at 7 - 7.5mm. I have several ideas for them and am torn about how to use them since I have so few.

What I've learned about them so far is from an article on the Pacific Pearls site. What it doesn't explain is why some sellers advertise them as keshi, are they? I would love to hear what you know about rosebud pearls, and in particular I'd really love to see how you've used them in designs.

 

[pearlescence]

They aren't keishi - just weird surfaced irregular/potatoes. Getting quite hard to find these days, though I grabbed a few hanks in Hong Kong last Sept including some 11mm natural colours and whites

 

[GemGeek]

I have just a few, but they sure are cute. I love your silver rosebuds!

 

[Sarah]

Thanks, I put them in my coat pocket and took them to work today so I could admire them in different lights. I hope some of you might have finished pieces made with them that we can admire. Do any of you worry that non-round, non-smooth cultured solid nacre pearls are going "extinct?" It would be awfully boring if all of them became bead nucleated, smooth and round.

 

[pearlescence]

There were some, as I said, in HK last sept, plus keishi, and other irregulars
What was lacking were black pearls.

 

[AMc]

Those are gorgeous! I love the Silver color, very nice! I don't think they're quite going extinct yet- what with all of the nucleation techniques that are being experimented with, heavily textured FW will probably be around for quite awhile. Besides, there's definitely a collector's market out there for truly unique pearls!

 

[Sarah]

Pink rosebuds, grrrr!

Pink rosebuds, grrrr!

Still hoping to see how other people wear their rosebuds. I've been dying to make this necklace but I had to wait until I had all the parts. I've been tweaking the length but I'm so pleased with it! I got a multicolor rosebud strand from Sarah and took out the softest pinks. If you see this, Sarah, thank you I plan to make another with mixed colors.