Sooooooo, during the amazing Japan Trip to visit pearl farms, Hisano wore a necklace that she made for herself. It was wire wrapped, and alternated tiny, white, round akoya pearls with small, multicolored, oval tourmalines. I confess, I coveted her necklace. When we got back from the trip, I asked Hisano if she could make me something similar. She no longer had the baby akoyas or the oval tourmalines, BUT PP had just gotten a bunch of incredibly golden, South Sea keshi. Ahem, cough, cough, this was weeks before the Keshi Live event, so I got to them first. Hisano couldn't find any oval tourmalines she liked, but she found pear shaped ones, and I think they complement the non-round shapes of the golden keshi.
The necklace just arrived, and it's gorgeous. I love it. 30.5 inches of WOWZA! The tourmalines sparkle like crazy, and the keshi look like 24K gold.
Oh, and I'm wearing my Mom's double pearl akoya earrings from the 1950s and 60s. She wore these every day.
Hisano's necklace next to the golden SS keshi she picked out for my necklace. My keshi look huge next to her pearls, but my keshi are quite small.