some different baroque Akoyas

B

boo

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While we all wait breathlessly for Jeremy's beautiful blue Akoyas, I thought I would share two necklaces I already have. The first is a vintage double stranded necklace with a jade clasp. The pearls are very yellow. I'm think I'm getting better at the "hold the camera at arm's length and shoot" technique of neck self-portraiture.
 

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This necklace was my introduction to the ugly truth about pearl nucleation. Several of the pearls are sort of open on the end, allowing a peek inside. The pearl looks worse in the closeup than in person - I am pulling the rest of the strand down to show the nucleus, but the opening is actually rather flush with the top of the pearl and is not very noticable on the necklace when worn. In fact, I frequently have a difficult time finding that pearl to show people when I lecture to them about PPBs.
 

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The second necklace is my "lemons into lemonade" necklace. I have a fireball pearl strand that is a true choker length on me (as in, it cuts into the windpipe on my rather thick neck...) I purchased these pearls with the idea of interspersing them with the fireballs to 1) add length to the necklace and 2) scavenge two of the fireballs to make a pair of earrings. Unfortunately, the fireballs are a silvery white, whereas these are more creamy. I almost returned them, but they weren't very expensive, and I didn't want to be out for postage both ways and have nothing to show for it. Then, inspiration struck - I added the blue spacer beads. A great deal of my closet space is taken up with items in various shades of blue, so I actually end up wearing this particular necklace a lot. It's still not perfect - the teardrop ends of the pearls sometimes cause the spacers to sit crooked, so the line of the necklace is a bit kinked in places. Because the lumen of the spacer beads is huge, I can't get them to stay in place with knots. But, overall, this is one of my favorite necklaces.
 

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Mine certainly aren't fine grade. The white ones are a cheap beading pearl and the yellow are mostly cool because they're vintage and a funky color.
 
I love the blue spacer pearls! Makes it look all mystified. From the pic you can't really tell the quality, but Jeremy's baroques are truly lustrous.
 
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