Pearl sisters
For June, the month of pearls, an especially sweet story.
Janet contacted me to ask about ideas for a gift for her daughter, Lilli, a 22-year-old who would graduate from university in May. What, she asked, would I suggest for this fair-skinned blonde with dark blue eyes? Janet loves pearls, and wanted to celebrate this milestone with a surprise.
There is a belief that "you have to grow into pearls", perhaps perpetuated by women who come to them in later years. But young women look luminous in pearls, when the style suits them. It's all about the right pearl.
Below, young actors in pearls, which they are wearing "in life", beautifully.
Left to right:
Keira Knightly in her massive multicoloured Tahitian baroques; these got pearl envy attention. In this shot, she's wearing them with jeans.
Blake Lively wears pearls often; here, a rope—or two—of rounds punctuated by brilliant accents.
Saoirse Ronan in what looks like a choker of either Kasumis or CFWS.
I thought about Lilli, and my sense was, "Tahitian". But going from the campus to Keira's red-carpet is quite a leap. A Tahitian pendant—not one of those mass-produced styles, but one hand-made and one of a kind—would suit her.
Kojima Company had a sale, so I headed there first, and besides, there's my abiding passion for their pearls. I sent Janet several options to consider.
(In fact, this is advice I give a person of any age who becomes interested in pearls: buy one exceptional pearl as a pendant, or ring, or a pair of earrings. Especially if working with a moderate budget, when you try to find a strand of thirty or more pearls, the results may not thrill. Better to buy one or two magical ones.)
But wait! The family includes a second daughter, Anna, a grey-eyed brunette who, two years ago, graduated and married within two months. In the whirl of those events, they had forgotten about a graduation gift. Janet was now looking for a second surprise.
Below, the choices; both are gem-quality pearls that can hook a woman for life!
Left: Lilli's deep green/black 9mm Tahitian hung on hand-cut blue and golden 2mm tourmaline beads.
Right: Anna's silver 10mm Sea of Cortez drop pearl on tiny freshwater seed pearls, accented with faceted apetite beads.
These are the first pearls each young woman has received and in them, they will glow. It's not just the pearls that make their gifts sing, it's the care taken by Janet to make sure her daughters had the right pieces.
Kojima Company contributed to that precision. They re-strung Anna's necklace to change the accent stones (originally lavender spinel) to apetite, a perfect complement for Anna's colouring, and sent neck shots so that Janet could see the look of the pieces when worn.
Here are the true jewels, those smiles, on sisters celebrating a happy day:
Cue the irresistible Pointer Sisters oldie (written by Sister Sledge), "We Are Family":
"All of the people around us say
'Can they be that close?'
Just let me state for the record
We're giving love in a family dose."
Janet contacted me to ask about ideas for a gift for her daughter, Lilli, a 22-year-old who would graduate from university in May. What, she asked, would I suggest for this fair-skinned blonde with dark blue eyes? Janet loves pearls, and wanted to celebrate this milestone with a surprise.
There is a belief that "you have to grow into pearls", perhaps perpetuated by women who come to them in later years. But young women look luminous in pearls, when the style suits them. It's all about the right pearl.
Below, young actors in pearls, which they are wearing "in life", beautifully.
Left to right:
Keira Knightly in her massive multicoloured Tahitian baroques; these got pearl envy attention. In this shot, she's wearing them with jeans.
Blake Lively wears pearls often; here, a rope—or two—of rounds punctuated by brilliant accents.
Saoirse Ronan in what looks like a choker of either Kasumis or CFWS.
I thought about Lilli, and my sense was, "Tahitian". But going from the campus to Keira's red-carpet is quite a leap. A Tahitian pendant—not one of those mass-produced styles, but one hand-made and one of a kind—would suit her.
Kojima Company had a sale, so I headed there first, and besides, there's my abiding passion for their pearls. I sent Janet several options to consider.
(In fact, this is advice I give a person of any age who becomes interested in pearls: buy one exceptional pearl as a pendant, or ring, or a pair of earrings. Especially if working with a moderate budget, when you try to find a strand of thirty or more pearls, the results may not thrill. Better to buy one or two magical ones.)
But wait! The family includes a second daughter, Anna, a grey-eyed brunette who, two years ago, graduated and married within two months. In the whirl of those events, they had forgotten about a graduation gift. Janet was now looking for a second surprise.
Below, the choices; both are gem-quality pearls that can hook a woman for life!
Left: Lilli's deep green/black 9mm Tahitian hung on hand-cut blue and golden 2mm tourmaline beads.
Right: Anna's silver 10mm Sea of Cortez drop pearl on tiny freshwater seed pearls, accented with faceted apetite beads.
These are the first pearls each young woman has received and in them, they will glow. It's not just the pearls that make their gifts sing, it's the care taken by Janet to make sure her daughters had the right pieces.
Kojima Company contributed to that precision. They re-strung Anna's necklace to change the accent stones (originally lavender spinel) to apetite, a perfect complement for Anna's colouring, and sent neck shots so that Janet could see the look of the pieces when worn.
Here are the true jewels, those smiles, on sisters celebrating a happy day:
Cue the irresistible Pointer Sisters oldie (written by Sister Sledge), "We Are Family":
"All of the people around us say
'Can they be that close?'
Just let me state for the record
We're giving love in a family dose."
Comments
My 20 year old daughter wears my mother’s good pearls and, in addition, at 18 was given a Tiffany pearl necklace from her 19yr old boyfriend (they had been dating for a couple of years and it was her graduation gift). When Barbara Bush died (we are Texas girls) I sent her a text “wear your pearls in honor of Barbara tomorrow” and her reply was “I wear my pearls every day.” She has worn nothing but since she was 16. I think she may have born to wear pearls. The 22yr old wears nothing but diamonds.
Fortunately I have both.