stumped on wedding annivesary

pattye said:
Well, you might also want to check out Pearlescence as it appears you are outside the US. Wendy is a member here on the forum and has lovely pearls. Pearls make a wonderful, sentimental gift. If you don't see exactly what you want, do contact Wendy and I'm sure she will help you out.
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I second what Pattye said. I love Wendys pearls
 
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I think it's lovely that you aim to fulfill your wife's wish for pearl bracelet!

You did ask our opinion on the linked bracelet. I think it's overpriced for what it is, and the clasp would be hard to fasten with one hand. You can definitely do better and I agree with checking with Wendy/Pearlescence.
https://www.pearlescence.co.uk/
 
If you haven't checked out Wendy yet, here is my thought: That bracelet would be overpriced at $250.00, let alone 250 pounds. I agree about the clasp. it is the cheapest available and it meant for necklaces where you can use two hands to open and close it.

Wendy has this akoya bracelet for 95.00 pounds. She goes to Hong Kong and picks her pearls and so she skips all the wholesalers and importers and all the fees are already paid, since she is already in England.. You get a good value. You could order the bracelet with a gold clasp which will raise the price, but not 160 pounds worth!
http://www.pearlescence.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/193_251_255/products_id/4439
 
Hi Guys,
I am in a similar boat however I am in the US. Could one of you guys point me in the direction of a trusted seller here in the US? I am looking for a white 6-7mm Akoya strand with a gold clasp or better yet a 18K rose gold clasp (to match the wedding band/ering) I would like to pay under $250.
 
Hi Awesomeo. 6-7mm is pretty small for an adult, and often a size bought for young girls. It seems even the 7-8 mm short strands are soon cast aside as being too small. Of course if that's what your wife likes that's fine but otherwise, I wonder if she'd be happier with more pearl in the less costly freshwaters (small pearls look great in rope length, in my opinion) or maybe a nice pair of earrings, bracelet or pendant?

Pearl Paradise is a huge seller that's having a sale but it ends today. You could ask about a rose gold clasp but I don't think yellow gold would clash, especially when it is such a small amount of gold. Here are a few other ideas if you're not set on the small short akoya strand, but of course I don't know your wife so you should probably just ignore me. :)

* 54 inch freshwater 6.5-7.0mm, AA+ quality
I have several ropes of this quality and the slight off-roundness is not noticeable unless someone inspects the pearls closely. This makes an impressive gift in my opinion and is versatile- it can be worn doubled, tripled, or tied in a knot.
https://www.pearlparadise.com/colle...freshwater-pearl-necklace?variant=25823457479

This looks sort of like it, 6-6.5mm (I think) white metallics, 48 inch, just to give you some idea of it.
wmp[1].jpg

* Or you could get the AAA quality in the 35 inch:
https://www.pearlparadise.com/colle...inch-65-70-mm-white-freshwater-pearl-necklace

* These black pearl studs are a nice size for everyday, and also impressive because hey, they're Tahitians! They're within your budget with the sale. I wear mine constantly.
https://www.pearlparadise.com/colle...cts/80-90-mm-aaa-tahitian-pearl-stud-earrings

a1.jpg

th1.JPG

* 8.5-9.0mm akoya stud earrings
https://www.pearlparadise.com/colle...akoya-pearl-stud-earrings?variant=24655622087

* Or for $13 over your budget (sale price) you could get 10-10.5mm freshadama earrings (Pearl Paradise's top of the line freshwaters, above AAA)
https://www.pearlparadise.com/colle...ite-freshadama-freshwater-pearl-stud-earrings

* 7.0-7.5 akoya bracelet (to me at least, smaller pearls work better in bracelets than in short strands, but of course so much of it is personal opinion). I believe 7.5 inch is average wrist size:
https://www.pearlparadise.com/colle...hite-akoya-pearl-bracelet?variant=25823894151

Or you could get a double or triple row bracelet in freshwater:
https://www.pearlparadise.com/colle...rl-triple-strand-bracelet?variant=24657684743
The akoyas can have a bit sharper luster but the freshwaters are very nice too.

In any case, good luck and please post us a picture of whatever you get!
 
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On the other hand, I wore 6mm 16" pearls to my wedding and I was 36! :) I wore them with an enhancer and it fit the neckline well.

A lot depends on the dress neckline and the size of the person wearing them. Someone petite can look very good in small pearls. A friend of mine wore gem grade 4mm akoyas to her wedding and they were fabulous.
 
I agree, PD, and of course so much of it is just personal preference too. I just mentioned it to him because it does seem people here very often start out with the standard small, short strand but soon cast it aside for something larger. Because of that, if I was buying pearls for another adult I'd probably consider it a good bet to skip earring/short strand pearls under 8 mm or so unless I knew it was what they wanted.
 
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I probably ran him off with my overabundance of unsolicited advice lol. :/

(I am still in a shopping kinda mood but don't really have the nerve to buy any more pearls myself right now).
 
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Hi Guys, hope everyone had a nice holiday season. Thank you for all the feedback! I forgot to subscribe to the thread so I didn't think anyone had replied when I checked back it was a nice surprise. Based on your feedback I wound up getting the below bracelet for my wife. There was a coupon code for $25 off but it had expired :( oh well.

https://www.pearlparadise.com/products/70-75-mm-white-akoya-pearl-bracelet

I got some reward points from them so maybe ill be back to pick up a necklace or pendant at some point.
 
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Awesomeo (love the name!), that looks like a really pretty bracelet! I nabbed a Tahitian strand from Pearl Paradise right before Christmas, and was very impressed with the pearls, and their pricing. I am sure your wife will love the bracelet - it's a very thoughtful gift!
 
PurpleRose said:
Awesomeo (love the name!), that looks like a really pretty bracelet! I nabbed a Tahitian strand from Pearl Paradise right before Christmas, and was very impressed with the pearls, and their pricing. I am sure your wife will love the bracelet - it's a very thoughtful gift!
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MSC said:
Excellent choice, awesomeo!
Click to expand...

Thanks Guys. I heard somewhere that the Nacre on Akoyas is thinner than on freshwaters, do you guys expect any issues? Do you think they will they last a lifetime or two?
 
Freshwaters lacking a bead nucleus are solid nacre and akoyas have layers of nacre over a bead. That said, akoyas can be durable if cared for well. Will the bracelet be worn every single day, or occasionally? Bracelets (and rings) tend to get more wear and tear than earrings and necklaces-- they get banged around more. How long the bracelet lasts is partially dependent on how the wearer uses it.
 
If it's any help, my parents bought me a double strand 5mm akoya pearl bracelet when I was in college. My youngest now wears it...after I restrung it, it looks as good as the day I got it (more than 30 years ago). And I beat the heck out of it, wearing it every day for most of the 80s. The original bracelet was not knotted between each pearl, but there wasn't any wear at the contact points, except for one little pearl that was cracked.
 
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