Hi Everyone!

Our 12-13mm AAA White South Sea pearl earrings found here http://www.purepearls.com/detail.aspx?ID=134 were featured in the April 2007 WWD issue in the “A Certain Polish” story. 

Best,

Amanda

Hi Everyone!

PurePearls.com was featured in the “Instant Style” section of the May 2007 InStyle issue.  Be sure to check out p. 178 to check out fashions on how to lighten things up for the summer. 

The Golden South Sea Earrings in this ensemble are found here:  http://www.purepearls.com/detail.aspx?ID=132.

Question:  I would like to start an add-a-pearl necklace for my Mom. Do you offer any
loose pearls that would be appropriate for this type of necklace?
Thanks so much,
Jennifer 

Answer:  Your project has a lovely sentiment behind it and I’m sure your Mom would be touched to her toes! We can certainly arrange to send you full-drilled loose pearls for your
project, but I have a few words of warning about pearl necklaces made this
way, as well as a recommendation for you should you choose to proceed.The Add-A-Pearl necklace starts with 3 larger sized pearls in the center,
and every year a new pearl is drilled to add to the chain. This type of
necklace was invented awhile ago, during the time when pearl jewelry was
considered too expensive for middle class families. The hope was to
eventually have a full strand of gorgeous pearls for the young ladies of the
family. Today, this style of necklace is no longer sold at the vast
majority of jewelers for a few reasons:

1) When creating an “Add-A-Pearl” necklace, jewelers used a specific type of
chain to secure the pearls until such time as they could be strung onto
their permanent silk. The problem here is that the drill holes for the
pearls were made very large to accommodate the metal chain- once you
transferred them over to the silk the original drill holes became too big,
and the pearls would slip over the silk knots. On a side note, we do not
carry the chain used for the “Add-A-Pearl”…do you have a local jeweler
that has the materials for this necklace?

2) Metal chain damages pearls- especially around the drill holes where nacre
is weak. The original center pearls in the necklace would end up chipped,
eroded and cracked.

3) Today, buying single pearls for this type of necklace is not very
cost-effective; in order to get a perfect color & size match, the temporary
strand would need to be shipped back and forth to the vendor of your choice
every year… add insurance and this can get very expensive!

4) Akoya pearls age. Over time, their nacre will darken to a very unique
deep cream color. So, if you purchased the center pearls ten years ago, the
newest pearls toward the back of the strand will look much whiter, and the
necklace won’t match very well. The only places where you can find
appropriately aged pearls to match would be estate jewelers and
auctions…you could also try scouting at antique stores when the time
comes.

Those are some of the cons to this style of necklace, and I felt that you
should be fully warned before attempting such a long-term project. The
consolation that I have that may interest you is this:

I can easily send you a temporary strand of pearls in a certain size and
quality range for you to keep. That way you can select pearls every year to
add to your mom’s necklace and you are guaranteed a color, size, graduation
and quality match, with the added bonuses that the pearls will all age at
the same rate, and you can save money and hassle shipping the necklace back
and forth every year.

I don’t wish to discourage you from a really very sweet idea, but I do want
you to be informed of the scale of the project. I hope that my response,
while not what you expected I am sure, is ultimately helpful to you! Please
feel free to contact me at any time should any other questions arise. Have
an excellent day, and Good Luck!

Customer Question:  What are Hanadama pearls?  I’ve heard about them from a friend of mine who said they are the best Mikimoto pearls.  - Laura of San Fransisco, CA

Answer:  Hanadama is not a PurePearls.com brand name- it is the official name of this grade of Akoya pearl produced only in Japan and certified individually by the Pearl Science Lab (PSL) of Tokyo, Japan.  The term “Hanadama” directly translates to mean Flower Pearl or Spherical Flower which alludes to the strong Silver or Ivory- Rose overtones that these pearls are cultured for.

Hanadama Akoya pearls are examined by the following methods: Magnification, Inner Inspection by Optical Fiber, Spectro Photometric Reflectance, and Soft X-ray.  The thickness of the pearl’s nacre layers are measured. The actual requirement is .4 for a total of .8. (this is determined by the optical fiber and soft X-ray apparatus).  Also, the Teri-value (luster) must be strong, the kizu (imperfection) must be listed as very slightly. It is important to note that ‘very slightly’ is the highest allowable ‘kizu’ grade by the lab.  If the factors are all graded high, the strand receives the grade ‘Hanadama’ from the lab. This is a term reserved for the highest quality Akoya pearl strands. The term is reserved only for Akoya pearls. Hanadama is the grade of pearl that Mikimoto carries for their highest quality line, their AAA.  An equivalent strand of our Hanadama purchased at a Mikimoto store will cost at least twice as much as ours due to high overhead of a bricks and mortar store, branding, marketing and other factors associated with purchasing jewelry from a retail store.