Freshwater and Akoya

jshepherd

Pearl Paradise
Joined
Jun 22, 2004
Messages
6,302
Natalie mixed peach and lavender freshwater with 5mm akoya for a customer yesterday. The resulting piece is very unique. Enjoy!

freshwater pearls mixed with 5 mm akoya pearls
 
I like it! I'm not a fan of random multicolor strands but, something with a pattern, I usually like. This necklace is really lovely.
 
Hi Jeremy!

That's quite lovely- really keeps the eye moving constantly over the pearls! The color combinations really make for a very light-hearted, playful piece :p Belissimo!
 
I like it too! Did the customer specify colors, sizes, and types of pearls in detail or did he/she just ask for mixed colors and mixed sizes with a rough budget and Natalie went ahead and did the design work? Just wondering in general how custom design works at PP?

Regards,
pernula
 
Natalie does not typically do any of the pearl design work. She manages the art department. But she is one of our top pearl experts (completed GIA and Strack) and multilingual, so she does help with telephone calls when the lines get backed up. So apparently she took a customer request and decided to try her hand at making something.

From what I understand the customer dictated what she was looking for. This happens often with different people throughout the office. I just happened to see this one and thought it unique enough to post. It is one of those pieces you would not expect to come out well, but it really did.
 
Amazing. Are those all AAA grade pearls? How big are the freshwaters? Not very good with sizes even though I know the Akoyas are 5 mm.

Would love to see more of the unique custom designs ... Natalie definitely has a knack for photographing pearls! While I love unique designs I'm not very good at doing it myself, so I tend not to risk giving specs. Maybe that should be my next purchase ...
 
Yes, it is gorgeous. Can you tell me why there is the FWP and Akoya mix? Was that deliberate or was it because you don't have 5MM freshwater stock? I find those middle sizes (ok, what USED to be middle sizes) are limited now. It's either seed pearls or HUGE. Thanks! Tell Natalie she missed her calling.
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The more I look at it, the more I like it. It has a synchopated rhythm to it. That's probably why it wouldn't seem a feasible design at first thought. Would the price be equal to the 3 full strands with enough left over for accessory pieces? I wonder how dangles would look.
 
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Nice piece. Natalie takes great pics. Is is amazing that the freshwater seem to have the same luster as the akoya pearls. Are they Freshadama? The lavender pearls are WOW in color. Peach too.
 
Hello,

Thank you for the amazing comments! :)

To answer everyone's questions:

A customer called asking if we made custom pieces and was interested in doing something similar to a piece she saw in an adjacent ad to our Jewelry News Asia article in the press.

Her idea was to have the darker pearls be about 8mm Lavender Freshadama, 7mm pink Freshadama, and 5mm AAA Akoyas on either side of the pink Freshadama.

I chose the pearls, pieced them together on a temporary strand, and shot the picture Jeremy posted above for her.

The AAA 5mm Akoyas were chosen because we do not carry freshwaters in that size.
 
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I can't believe the visual difference between the 5 mm and 7-8 mm! I'd have thought the lavender pearls were 9 mm. It looks so surreal, like the pics out of a magazine.
 
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