Pearl haul

[Bella3x]

A bit of intro first
I got curious about pearls for the first time some 4 years ago and shared my journey, while asking for advice on… another forum. However, that journey was cut short by life; I didn’t even get to stringing the pearls I bought back then.
Now, 4 years later, I have a much better picture of what I am after. I love vintage / second-hand items and I wanted to have fun without spending too much money. So thought I’d share what I’ve bought so far (and will be happy to add the prices if anyone is interested).
Everything on this photo was bought preowned, from Japanese auctions or online marketplaces.

 

[Bella3x]

The first necklace is a fascinating Akoya one, 7.5-8 mm. To my untrained eye, it looks greenish! Green is not something I usually wear, but it was just too interesting not to buy it. This photo shows the color I see IRL the best. If anyone knows why it looks like this and what the color is officially called, I will be very grateful to learn

 

[BWeaves]

I love pistachio colored akoyas. Very rare.

Love the blues, too!

 

[pattye]

Bella, what an interesting collection; nice size on the pistachio Akoyas!

 

[Bella3x]

Thank you for teaching me the name of the color! Sound much better than “green”

Next one, a multicolor baroque Akoya necklace. Not matched in luster, shape and pretty low quality, but I was fascinated by the colors. Photographs better than it looks, really easy to wear now in the summer. The pink pearl looks so pink that I’m starting to suspect these are dyed.

 

[Bella3x]

And these 2.
Both sold to me as South Sea pearls, but just like with other acquisitions this time, I cared mostly about the looks. The light gold one had almost hammered look on the seller’s photos and I never cared for deep browns and glossy looks, but this one just screamed “champagne bubbles” to me, so I had to get it.
Second one, I was not sure if it would be super ugly, but my curiosity got the best of me. It’s grayish and also very much imperfect and I do not have the faintest idea what kind of pearls they are (Edisons?), but I love it on the neck.
Both are great for my PSS, since they are around 9-11.5 mm
On the wrist photo, the gray one is next to a bracelet I finally strung from my 4-year old freshwater pearls from WenPearls.

 

[BWeaves]

A hammered look indicates thick pearl nacre.

 

[Bella3x]

A hammered look indicates thick pearl nacre.

Aha, interesting! I thought that the glowy SS pearls had the thickest nacre, but you live and you learn

Last, but not the least, the blue baroque akoyas that were advertised as “ca. 9 mm” by a seller who seemed to specialize in watches and had a few pearl necklaces for sale. I’m not succeeding in capturing their color properly, but sometimes they look like mermaid tears to me - blue and pink, and soapy.

I’ll cover earrings and second part of the haul when it arrives. But for now, I’m really enjoying that there’s a whole world of non-white pearls out there that I didn’t dare to explore previously. Thank you for letting me share

 

[BWeaves]

Ooooh, I love blues with soap bubble luster. Enjoy!

The SS probably do have the thickest nacre. But the hammered look on Sea of Cortez or akoyas or freshies, etc. usually means that particular pearl has thicker nacre than its smooth counterparts. There are smooth pearls with thick nacre, but never shy away from hammered looking pearls.