cyndayco
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2014
- Messages
- 335
I am such a magpie!
After being told that Akoya pearls are no longer sold in Greenhills, I found a handful of strands yesterday.
I was in the food court and saw something shimmering in the distance. It sat on the bottom display shelf of a pearl stall. Not visible if you were standing next to it, but if you were sitting down to a greasy dinner of burger and cheese fries, some 30 feet away? You couldn't miss it.
So I sauntered over and inquired. The shopgirl claimed they were "Mikimoto" pearls. (It has become our generic term for small saltwater pearls.) Not very sellable despite their high luster, because they were smaller than many FWP, and our pearl market, like Texas, is big on "big".
Having never seen Akoyas in real life, I didn't know if what she said was true. But the pearls were in a 33" necklace, 8-9mm in size, ivory with a strong rose orient, and baroque. Some had noticeable rings. But--magpie alert!--I had never seen such shiny pearls!
The vendor was eager to make a sale and go home. After a fair bit of haggling, she priced it at par with her better FWP ($130). Since I was willing to assume they were FWP, I thought why not?
Here they are. For the purposes of learning, tell me what you think. Akoya or not? And what about the nacre?
In this comparison shot, the strand is between my humble potato pearls and FWP earrings.
Very strong rose orient. Or did I mistake orient for something else?
That's me and my iPhone in the reflection.
A number of them are ringed. Totally unacceptable to the Japanese market, but I actually like rings.
Bald spots on the two rightmost pearls. I didn't see these until I unwrapped the necklace at home.
After being told that Akoya pearls are no longer sold in Greenhills, I found a handful of strands yesterday.
I was in the food court and saw something shimmering in the distance. It sat on the bottom display shelf of a pearl stall. Not visible if you were standing next to it, but if you were sitting down to a greasy dinner of burger and cheese fries, some 30 feet away? You couldn't miss it.
So I sauntered over and inquired. The shopgirl claimed they were "Mikimoto" pearls. (It has become our generic term for small saltwater pearls.) Not very sellable despite their high luster, because they were smaller than many FWP, and our pearl market, like Texas, is big on "big".
Having never seen Akoyas in real life, I didn't know if what she said was true. But the pearls were in a 33" necklace, 8-9mm in size, ivory with a strong rose orient, and baroque. Some had noticeable rings. But--magpie alert!--I had never seen such shiny pearls!
The vendor was eager to make a sale and go home. After a fair bit of haggling, she priced it at par with her better FWP ($130). Since I was willing to assume they were FWP, I thought why not?
Here they are. For the purposes of learning, tell me what you think. Akoya or not? And what about the nacre?
In this comparison shot, the strand is between my humble potato pearls and FWP earrings.
Very strong rose orient. Or did I mistake orient for something else?
That's me and my iPhone in the reflection.
A number of them are ringed. Totally unacceptable to the Japanese market, but I actually like rings.
Bald spots on the two rightmost pearls. I didn't see these until I unwrapped the necklace at home.
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