Show us your very first pearls?

[lisa c]

Glooooorioski! What a story, what a pearl! Do you have a story for the pearl next to it?
This is right up there with best threads ever, right?

 

[Purranha]

Lisa!!! I have quite a few pearls with beyond hilarious stories, but sadly this little triple marquee champagne one does not... My mom picked it up cuz even though the colors are pretty light & creamie on both the pearls and the marquees, they works quite well together. And relatively it was a pretty good deal!

Want another funny pearl story from me & mom???

 

[lisa c]

Always! Bring on the stories and the pearls!

Well, I should've said "of course I'm sorry for your awful experience", because I'm ALL sympathy, unfortunately due to a very similar experience of my own. Only I didn't get a pearl!

I wish my folks had known about the pearl part of the experience...of course, I'm forgetting they didn't know about the drinking part, so how would they know I needed a pearl?

 

[BWeaves]

Love the story, Love the pearls! More of both please!

 

[kelluvpearls]

Lovely stories everyone, keep posting!

 

[Happy Huku]

Purranha, love your story and your pearls - do you now call it the Chateau Margaux-Latour Pearl?

 

[lisa c]

Hehehehe, good one!
(I love this place, and you guys! Excellent humor and stress relief!)

 

[amti]

OMGosh, Purranha, your story is hilarious and what classy parents!!! They are also brilliant! I'd love to hear the other stories too! And I can't wait to see the pictures because you have amazing pearls!

Lisa, facebook makes it really easy to keep in touch with old friends. I never thought I'd see most of my high school friends again since we were all military brats stationed in Japan, but I have a couple hundred of them as my facebook friends now. I was a pearl girl from the very start. The double strand was when I first got the pearls and I had them that way for the first ten or so years before asking her to restring them into a single, long strand to double my chances of wearing them. My bracelet went from one strand to two and the clasp that was on the double strand was used on the new bracelet. I do have pictures of the bracelet, but as you can see, they were very worn and needed a bath, which I didn't bother to try until I joined this group. They have all been dismantled and will be joining each other in one long strand soon. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of me wearing any of the different versions. It was before selfies were born, and even now, I'm not one for selfies. ;P

Katbran, Yes, you and BPD are so right... it is all about the memories. So glad you have a beautiful strand of Tahitians.

 

[Tucs]

This is a fun thread. I am loving all the stories, especially those including good French wine

I haven't had a strand since about a year ago (don't worry, I have since made up for that!), but I have been wearing pearl earrings since I was a little girl (in Spain, where I am from, it is customary for little girls to have their ears pierced as newborns). I still own one pair and one loose earring (I lost the matching earring in school when I was in grade 5 or 6, as I would always fiddle with it; bad habit). I have had these earrings for over 30 years, but I seem to remember they were my grandmother's; they are quite old. Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure what kind of pearls they are. One of the pearls in the matched pair is severely damaged as you can see. I think the findings are gold and have a tiny diamond in them. The photos aren't great, it's difficult to get the iPhone camera to focus on the pearls.

PS: This style of finding (with variations) is very popular in Spain, and it is called "you and I". However, I have never seen it in North America. I'm curious, is this something old fashioned perhaps, or there just isn't a tradition for this style?

 

[Marianne]

You have very wise parents, Purranha

 

[GemGeek]

You have very wise parents, Purranha

I'm with Marianne. I remember the first time I got sick from alcohol. I woke up, knowing I was going to be sick and I sneaked down to the other end of the house to be sick in the kitchen sink, hoping no one would hear. There was my dad, enjoying himself immensely, saying "Don't think of cold bacon grease!". He never forgot his few episodes and couldn't wait for us to join him in misery.

 

[theseventhsphinx]

I love this thread, pearlescence! Thanks so much for starting it!

 

[Oh Them Gems]

Tucs, adorable earrings. I like the findings and would wear them. I also have to say: gorgeous manicure with perfect cuticles!

 

[Tucs]

Oh Them Gems, well, thank you

 

[lisa c]

Hi, I thought I'd give this thread another bump. There's always room for more 1st Pearls and stories

 

[Purranha]

Sadly my previous post got wiped during the server transition, but I sometimes have the geekie habit of writing out longer posts in word before pasting into the forum. So reposting this again~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lisa! Love how you are always bumping various threads. I'm sharing another*pearl*story, though not technically the*1st*pearl*(I've shared my*1st*pearl*- the drunken*pearl, the*1st*growth bordeaux*pearl*- previously in this thread).

So, around the time of my 25th birthday (maaaaaaaaany years ago), my mom brought home this strand of WSSP and handed it to me. She said Paula, I got this for you since this is your quarter-life birthday, plus, I think this would make a great wedding*pearl*for you!

Silence.....silence...silence...

Hmm, mum, you know I'm single, right?
Mum basically just smiled and repeated herself - well I think it will make a great wedding pearls for you!...

Fast forward a decade+++, I'm still single (even with a long-term stable boyfriend who is co-parent to Purranha).
So this poor strand of WSSP still hasn't fulfilled its destiny.
(It is the outter most strand amongst my white pearls)

To tell the truth, I didn't wear my "wedding" pearls for yeeeaaarrs, not because of it's "designation", but more because I felt self conscious wearing such big pearls. But in the past few years, I've adopted more of the mindset of I'm gonna wear it because I want to!*
I'm wearing it today, along with my prehnite ring.

 

[CathyKeshi]

Purranha, I'm glad you reposted I too sometimes write first, as I get logged out before I can finish ... probably the internet's way of telling me I'm being too wordy ... The "wedding pearls" are so beautiful, and do deserve to be worn often ... why not? Enjoy, and thanks for sharing their beauty. That ring ... wow!

 

[Bailey1856]

Lovely stories and lovely pearls. I wish I got interested in pearls before I got married. I would have worn three strands of Tahitians... would have looked very striking with a white dress. I actually got interested in pearls when a friend of mine got married two years ago and I was one of the bridesmaids. I thought pearls would be appropriate to wear to a wedding and the more I learned about them the more fascinated I got and that was it for me. LOL about writing longer posts in word and being geekie...sometimes I feel like i should do that and write a few drafts before posting hahaha

 

[lisa c]

Cathy, have you tried up at the top when you log in, clicking that little box? Or is it a check... I used to get logged out too, I don't anymore, knock wood.

 

[BWeaves]

When I was 11, my grandmother knew I loved pearls and she gave me the necklace on the left. It was hers and it was pearls and I was so excited. Then she said, "These are Richelieu pearls. They're the best pearl that is not a pearl." And my heart sank. They were fakes. They were badly strung. The clasp was tarnished black. I never wore them. 45 years later, I looked up Richelieu on the Internet. I restrung the pearls and polished up the sterling silver clasp. The pearls are lightweight plastic, and have a yellow patina, and none of you would mistake them for the real thing, but I do wear them every now and again.

After she died, I inherited her real akoya pearl necklace and earrings. 7-8 mm akoyas. They are the loose pearls in the middle in the top photo, and at the top of the following photo. I've worn them to death over the last 30 years, and they are plumb worn out. PP helped me replace them with a new strand of Freshadamas that matched my grandmother's clasp. The Freshadamas are now attached to my grandmother's clasp.

If you blow up the photo you can see how pitted and dull my grandmother's pearls are compared to the Freshies.

My grandmother always wore them with the clasp in front like a pendant. When I was younger I wore it with the clasp in back.

This is what the necklace looked like when my grandmother had it. Since the the clasp has room for 3 strands of pearls, I sent the necklace back to PP to match a second strand of pearls. Sometimes I wear it with the clasp in back and sometimes in front.

I was tempted to add a 3rd strand, but I think the clasp was designed for smaller pearls near the clasp, and the 8mm pearls I currently have on it are too big for 3rd strand. Plus, the necklace is quite heavy now.

Her earrings remind me of PP's Blossom setting a bit.