Pearl tastes CHANGING and EVOLVING? or am I just getting wierder?

Heyas pearl pals!

OK so I can't help but notice how my tastes have changed in the small time I have become obsessed with pearls. I don't even know WHEN it started to be honest!! What happened to me??? How did this start??

Initially I thought that pearls were only for pampered princess girly girls. A majority of my youth was fighting off anything feminine (hello punk era). However, a lovely Japanese exchange student somehow managed to break my cage and all of the sudden I was able to love pink and other colours!

Ahhh yes I remember... my first strand of imitations that mom gave me. I never really wore them. Not interested. Too prissy. Enter a Rock and Jem show and I see a neat choker of dark FWP potato black/purple beads. Since I was wearing more jewelry lately I thought it would fit great! It did! I became fascinated by them and was initially disappointed to learn that they were dyed. Still loved them and for cheapies they had surprisingly nice nacre.

Then on a trip to Hawaii, bought a longer strand of those dark fwp. I also splurged on my biggest ever pearl expenditure... Opera length ombre SSP with Tahitian gradation. I thought it was GORGEOUS but I didn't know enough to know if I got a good deal. It did bother me a bit wondering so I started researching.

While researching this beautiful strand of doom, I stumbled upon the Pearls as One course. Oh crap!!

So now armed and dangerous with my limited new knowledge, I thought I knew stuff about pearls. I ordered a FWP strand from a Canadian website (supposed to be lavendar) website lied? Not round, look more pinkish than purple. Slightly potato shaped. Yep.... learned about the whitebox effect.... I Initially thought the pearls were average nacre. I Learned the difference between good and poor enough to now love that strand (Yes it had good nacre and fit within the definition of lavendar colours).

Ok so I digressed... Initially I was only interested in round, average sized pearls. My SSP strand being the only exception of 9mm-11mm ish.

Saw some circle and thought.. ugly. Saw Kasumis and thought... ugly.. same with baroque.

Oh how things have changed!

Now I am obsessed with Circle, baroque, Kasumis, and generally any other funky off round pearls! Don't get me wrong, I do have a soft spot for Akoyas when they are perfect.

It's just that I am not obsessed with perfection, but rather character. I now find perfect pearls beautiful but boring! How things change in life no? I now cherish even flawed pearls or treasure the fact that the blue Akoya strand I bought from PP's live event have slight bumps and are not perfectly round.

PS my favourites are still Akoyas and Tahitians but I have opened my heart to many other forms of beauty in the pearl world!

How have your pearl tastes changed?

Shani said:

It's just that I am not obsessed with perfection, but rather character ...

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Perfectly said

I think our taste grow and evolve. There’s a lot of beauty in pearls and there’s always more to see..

My taste in many things have changed over the decades-- pearls included.

Are you me? Hahaha! My pearl tastes changed when I discovered Pearl-Guide about 10 years ago, and saw what Baby Nurse, and Newberry, and BAS, and Red, and JEG, and others were wearing, and how they mixed and matched their pearls. I was one of the first people to go through the Pearls As One course, and it was fantastic!

I started out with perfectly round, perfectly matched white akoyas, and I thought perfectly matched, black Tahitians, and giant, gum ball South Sea, and circles, and baroques, and ripples, and Kasumis were ugly. Now I can't get enough of them! I love deeply colored, baroque and circled pearls. Mix them with gemstone beads and I'm in heaven.

Also, this is why I'll never get a tattoo. My tastes change too much over the years. At least I can swap out my pearls for better or more interesting ones.

What a great reflection on your tastes through time. I am slowly realizing that my taste is changing as well as I am growing fond of a piece that I had hidden at the bottom of my jewelry box. I find it hard to embrace change and the truth shows in my pearls.

BWeaves said:

Are you me? Hahaha! My pearl tastes changed when I discovered Pearl-Guide about 10 years ago, and saw what Baby Nurse, and Newberry, and BAS, and Red, and JEG, and others were wearing, and how they mixed and matched their pearls. I was one of the first people to go through the Pearls As One course, and it was fantastic!

I started out with perfectly round, perfectly matched white akoyas, and I thought perfectly matched, black Tahitians, and giant, gum ball South Sea, and circles, and baroques, and ripples, and Kasumis were ugly. Now I can't get enough of them! I love deeply colored, baroque and circled pearls. Mix them with gemstone beads and I'm in heaven.

Also, this is why I'll never get a tattoo. My tastes change too much over the years. At least I can swap out my pearls for better or more interesting ones.

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Yes!!! I love all the interesting shapes..cultured pearls are amazing!!! I am sure I will always see new interesting pearls!

BWeaves said:

Are you me? Hahaha! My pearl tastes changed when I discovered Pearl-Guide about 10 years ago, and saw what Baby Nurse, and Newberry, and BAS, and Red, and JEG, and others

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For me, it was Newberry and LillieFuzzySocks ... and it was down the rabbit hole!