“Regular” vs “Top grade” hanadama vs Tennyo

[GemGeek]

Drool. Drool. LOL!

[CathyKeshi]

What an enlightening and interesting series of posts pearlbop ... and gorgeous pearls! And never fear, we LIKE "me and my pearls" posts just fine

[pearlbop]

Hi Pattye,

Sorry, I only just got home last night. It's actually not perfectly round, so 11.85 x 11.45 mm according to the lab cert. I did think it is very unusual too, so I bought it when I saw it! Though I think I may have seen some other WSSP photos on the forum / Pricescope that looked a bit pinkish.

The only downside is that alot of people who see it insist that it's akoya, because "WSSPs can't be pink", so perhaps one day I'll bring it to a lab again myself just to be sure. Even if it is, I'll still love it

[pearlbop]

Wow, those Miki strands are amazing ! I've seen them in the stores and they are definitely so far above other pearls.

The earrings for 200$ at that large size is a good buy. The price does jump once you go over 9mm so you did well. The lustre on most of the pearls is very good but you have to look at the Miki to see what top lustre looks like - but then... you will be paying for it. I've seen so many Hanadama strands that were quite inexpensive and very pretty but other strands in the same size...outstanding...with a price difference to match.

I know That strand just blew me away. I had to talk some sense into myself into not getting it, because for 10 minutes an irrational part of me was like "what if I never see a strand like that again", and really considering emptying my bank account for it.

One day though..... a few decades from now.

[pearlbop]

What an enlightening and interesting series of posts pearlbop ... and gorgeous pearls! And never fear, we LIKE "me and my pearls" posts just fine

Glad that you found this interesting! I learnt so much from this forum prior to this trip, that helped me check what to look for and also narrow down what kind of pearls I wanted, so I hope that this helps other people too.