Your thoughts on these pearls?

That brings to mind a good question I've had:

How has the supply of freshadamas changed over the years? In my searches, I saw posts from way back to 2006 and maybe even 2004 or so. Has the quality of freshadamas changed since back in the early days?

About metallics: How long have they been around? How great was the first large batches of product compared to the remaining batches? I was actually kind of wondering if what's left is more of left-over stuff or were any pearls classified as metallics only classified as so because they met a uniform standard of quality? And why are they running out? Did they get so popular that the suppliers in China began supplying so many more sellers and now PP has limited stock?
Sorry--I know very little about how the trade works or business in general.
 
Jeremy brought the first Freshadamas back in the spring of 2005. At first he bought earring stock, which is the best of the highest grade and strung them up. More recently he just contracts for that quality at the beginning of the sorts. I guess that makes 7 years. What they are is the cherry picked best of the AAA grade.

Same with the metallics. Jeremy paid to have them sorted out as they are quite rare. Maybe others are now doing that too, but they remain rare as you have to get a processing plant to make that extra sort for metallics.
 
pearliopath said:
...
About metallics: ...I was actually kind of wondering if what's left is more of left-over stuff...
Click to expand...

Not left-overs in the sense of being undesirable! It's just that people haven't bought them yet.
When the supply is gone, they will be "the ones that got away". ;)
 
So my overall novice review after several days of ownership, organized by feature, and written for future pearl-hunting brides who are investigating FWP versus akoya:

Orient: I still don't really know what orient is, I've read a bit about it here on the forums and apparently it's a moving, color changing effect from refracted light and something about layers and molecular level interactions between light and the chonchiolin and aragonite crystal layers. Anyway, I don't see it in these pearls. Which is fine - I'm curious and it sounds cool but I plan on owning more strands now of different types, so I'll see it some day.

Luster: The pearls are very shiny--not metallic, but I do see my reflection up to my eyes and fingers. Their luster changes in different lights of course, and I think in general they have a beautiful sheen.

Color: Just what I requested from PP: white white. Which I understand means bleached. Which is fine. I need white for my purpose and I hope to have all different colors eventually. I see very slight ivory color from the pearls in some lights, and honestly, I actually love seeing it when I do. That's only in some light, in most lights they are extremely silvery white. Perfect.

Blemishing: There are a few very tiny blemishes here and there--only very few and in general the pearls have beautiful, nearly flawless surfaces. Excellent.

Overtone: I guess it's technically a silver overtone, with a just a tiny touch of pink seen in some lights. I actually love seeing the slight pink rose color when I do.

Roundness: To my admittedly novice eyes, the pearls look extremely round. Each are near perfect round in their own way, I guess. I'm pretty confident that to any well-adjusted person around me, the pearls look beautifully perfectly round too. They are not plastic beads covered in nacre, so the fact that they are so extremely round on their own is really astounding.

Matching: The necklace is very well matched to my admittedly novice eyes. I see very minor variations on some pearls in size or amount of slight pink overtone, but that's only by examining them very close and for a long time in sunlight. But isn't that the point with a real gem? Again, they are not plastic bead covered in nacre.



/ bridal bride wedding /
 
Pearl Dreams said:
Not left-overs in the sense of being undesirable! It's just that people haven't bought them yet.
When the supply is gone, they will be "the ones that got away". ;)
Click to expand...

I'm confused, do you mean he isn't going to be replenishing the metallic line anymore?
 
Just an aside re: metallics, I've occasionally found full strands of metallics mixed in a hank at John Tu's booth at the gem shows. They are ovals or drops, of course, commercial grade,not gem quality or the same grade at all as the ones Jeremy offers. I suspect there are seldom enough metallic pearls to match for a full strand, so I have occasionally seen one or two metallics added at the end of a strand.

Each freshwater mollusk can produce 24-32 pearls, which will be in various colors; perhaps there might be a metallic of some shape in there or not.
 
Thanks, these are wonderful updates and fill-in-the-blanks.

Thinking about it, supply of the supremely desirable pearls will depend a lot on the mollusk population, right? They have a limited productive lifespan and I don't think pearl farmers have been able to develop sure fire genetic lines, although good producers are re-seeded.
 
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Thank you! Now I keep thinking how bare my ears and wrist will look on the wedding day, and wondering if I made a mistake not getting a bracelet and earrings to match. I may have to contact chenai and see what she can drum up for me. :D
 
Yes, pearlsiopath, you definitely Need the earrings!!! :) Welcome!
 
pearliopath said:
Thank you! Now I keep thinking how bare my ears and wrist will look on the wedding day, and wondering if I made a mistake not getting a bracelet and earrings to match. I may have to contact chenai and see what she can drum up for me. :D
Click to expand...

Might be wise, given the infinite differences in pearls, easier to match, even if you don't always wear them together.
 
Re: orient, it is hard to see it in round pearls, much more common in baroque pearls. You can see orient in these:
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=14448
and these:
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/album.php?albumid=68&attachmentid=14439

As to whether Jeremy will continue to seek out metallic pearls, I certainly hope he does, but he may focus his energies on new lines as the pearling world continues to come up with new and interesting items. I think a lot of people would welcome a round white metallics line. And I'm wondering if there is any news in the world of cultured conch pearls?
 
There are more metallics because there are more of the mussels that produce them. Betty Sue King, aka The Pearl Goddess, named her event at the wholesale show JCK in Las Vegas "Magic Metallic Pearls". I don't think she would mind my sharing her photo.

betty sue king.jpg
 
Great design of the cover photo!
 
I think I'd send the necklace back to be matched for a bracelet and earrings, to have a matched set.

There's no time like the present! Weddings are special, I hope you have time to receive them before the special day.:). Just my vote;)
 
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