Pearl colour help please

[glimmeryjewels]

Hello - I'm pretty new with pearls myself and I have been lusting over mikimoto's pearl stud earring in 7.5-8mm AA/AAA with a diamond stud on top.

(MSG below edited due to error)

I'm looking at options as obviously the above is super expensive. I'm in the UK so I'm prob gonna order it from the U.S. - I'm a bit confused over colour options - white/ivory/rose?

I obviously want it to look at as much as the Mikimotos - I think they look like white pearls with pink lustre, and not a pink pearl per se?.

With a Mikimoto stud earring in mind - which is I think white but has a pink reflection - would you go with natural white/white/pink/ivory colour when buying a hanadama, specifically from pearl paradise?

Appreciate any advice.. thanks..

 

[pattye]

glimmeryjewels,

Welcome! Sounds like you have some very special earrings in mind! For a white pearl (not a pink pearl) you would want the PP Hanadama with rose overtones. Pearl Paradise hanadamas are lovely and I've seen them in person, though I don't own any myself.

 

[jshepherd]

You're not going to get the white-pink Mikimoto look with Pearl Source hanadama. I've seen many of their hanadama pieces and they have all been cream to yellow with a rose overtone. There is a big difference visually and in value with the color you're describing.

Also, Pearl Source is in the US, not the UK.

 

[GemGeek]

Jeremy is right about what you will get with the other company. I own the natural white hanadamas from Pearl Paradise and they are very beautiful. I think you would be happy with the regular hanadama pearl earrings from Pearl Paradise, which have a rose overtone, but look white against the skin.

Here are some photos of my pearls:

In indirect light


In sunshine

 

[pearlescence]

I believe Pearl Source has some sort of drop shipping arrangement. But their website is certainly not compliant with several UK or European consumer laws or the Hallmarking Acts. (You want to look for a website with this logo on it - It's illegal to sell much precious metal without a hallmark or even to have a website selling them without the logo) . I also think that if there were problems you could have real difficulties with a complaint/return.
The clue is in the spellings

I just checked the website again and there is no mail address given (breach of online selling law, no statement re VAT, You can't deduct from return refunds and finally you would have a job phoning an American phone number to get a return authorisation (itself not allowed)
Oh dear...
That's just on a two minute glance through.

 

[cmd2014]

Mikimoto Akoya pearls are traditionally white with a rose overtone. So regardless of what vendor you ultimately decide to go with, you'd want to choose a white Akoya and then select the rose option for the overtone.

 

[KarinK]

I am very confused here. The original post talks about buying Hanadamas from Pearl Paradise, not Pearl Source. I don't know if it has been corrected later.

- Karin

 

[jshepherd]

I am very confused here. The original post talks about buying Hanadamas from Pearl Paradise, not Pearl Source. I don't know if it has been corrected later.

- Karin

Both are mentioned in the original post.

I was somewhat confused too so I asked Blaire. Apparently there were two new posts from the OP awaiting "new post" moderation so Blaire just combined them into one post not noticing that it came out strange.

 

[GemGeek]

Yes, Pearl Source was not capitalized, so I thought it was just a "pearl source". By the time she got to the second thread, she was wanting to know about PP. Sometimes it is a long wait for a new member's threads or posts to get approved. Usually, I just go with the one that covers the most. Sorry for the confusion.

Note: I removed the name from the title.

 

[moonpie]

I also had that confusion with pearl source. It's a .Co.uk Web page and prices were in pounds so I assumed they were based here. That's when I started reading around and came across this website and got more confused when everyone here talked about Pearl Source in the US.

Along with the mixed reviews and a very old thread where I read a few responses from the owner of the Pearl Source I decided not to order from them.

 

[pattye]

Guess I was confused also. I thought glimmeryjewels meant online pearl source.

 

[glimmeryjewels]

Thanks for all the responses! Sorry for the confusion, because it took some time before my message got posted I read around the forum and realised that pearl source wasn't teally from the uk (although strangely it says that it will cover all taxes in the price stated in the uk website) and that I probably Wanna get the earring from pearl paradise.

In terms of color - so I either get the akoya with rose overtone or hanadama in normal White(not natural white)..?

Anybody know which would look the most like mikimotos aa or aaa grade pearl? I really liked the pink sheen (not pink pearl) and multidimensional look that was if there with the higher quality pearl (the a grade didn't have it so much)

As I'm ordering from the uk I'm worried about returns/extra charges like tax etc so really do want to get it right! If only we had the same store here!

Thanks so much!

 

[GemGeek]

You should be good to go now, glimmeryjewels. You should be able to go to your first post above and edit it and not wait for moderation. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Katbran]

Well there is a post in this Akoya section that is called Pearl Paradise v Pearl Source....now I don't think you need to bother reading all the pages as there is a lot of just general conversation lol BUT on page 8 is a great set of photos that show the different colours of the white Hanadama pearls. The PP natural White , The Pearl Source creamy , The PP with rose . There is a good close up that shows the lustre of the pearls and the colour. It's pretty obvious from the photo that the PP pearls have a sharper lustre and I'm sure you would prefer that to the creamy ones and Jeremy has mentioned that PS pearls tend to be creamy in colour.

Personally since returns can be a pain it's worth being sure of the size that you want. So I'd go check out the difference in the sizes .. one mm might not seem like much but it's a big difference when you are talking about a sphere. Once you sort that out I'm sure you'll be pleased with the PP colour and luster.

Don't forget about customs and duty and tax. Factor that in..

 

[glimmeryjewels]

Oh is there a pink overtone hanadama ?? I just looked at the post you mentioned with the three strands. The bottom one is 'pinked'? It's not listed on pearl paradise's website for a pinked hanadama. I'm so confused!

 

[cmd2014]

PP's Hanadama pearls are pinked (and are the rose overtoned coloured strand in those sets of pictures). The Natural White Hanadamas are not pinked, and are the whitest strand in those pictures. To be the closest to the Mikimoto ones that you want, go with the regular Hanadama ones, not the natural white ones.

 

[cmd2014]

To put it another way, all Hanadamas are pinked EXCEPT the natural white ones. It is the most common practice; what is rare is the PP was able to source ones that weren't, which is why they are the ones with the special label.

 

[GemGeek]

Great explanation, cmd2014!

 

[BAS]

From what you are describing, I think the "regular" PP hanadama are what you are looking for. They're white pearls with a rose overtone and have been "pinked". They're white pearls and appear white on the neck -- but with that traditional rose overtone. I own the "pinked" version and they were actually described as having silver overtones. You can see my strand on that thread mentioned above -- maybe on the first page.

 

[Katbran]

I'm sure people use the word 'rose' in the description because it sounds a bit better than 'pinked' . As cmd explained so well..the 'pinking' is a process that almost all white Akoya go through..it is the normal process for Akoya . PP sells the pinked ones / rosey ones and the NATURAL ones ( no pinking process and they are very white as you can see so well in that photo on page 8. )


PP has the pinked Hanadama and they will be like the Mikimoto ones you liked. Go that way. Just make sure of the SIZE you want so you don't have to return or exchange ... and factor in customs and duty and tax as that will increase the end price you pay. (you pay the taxes and duty when it arrives in your country and is your responsibility not the sellers)

Please do post a photo ! I love the look of the Hanadamas !