Pearls: Special pieces, special prices
In a small boutique, I saw a woman in a clay-coloured sweatshirt and a glittery, flashy, vintage-looking costume-jewellery brooch. I loved the optimism and insouciance, and I thought, Unknown Sister, thanks for the smile. (She was wearing that with grey knit pants.)
Her earrings were genuine baroque pearls. If you want to mix real and faux, real pearls work wonderfully to add a glow glass pearls just can't touch.
Kojima's blues-busting baubles (22% off beginning December 6)
My favourite-by-far pearl company's sale begins Sunday, Dec. 6, no code required. Three things I'm tempted by, at different price points:
Left: Only one pair of jeweller Marc Gounard's earrings are presently offered and they are bewitching: Sea of Cortez mabé pearls paired with with faceted labradorites. The silver sawtooth setting is casual enough for everyday life, but wait till you see the flashing overtones on those pearls! During the sale they are about $US 333.
Upper right: Wear Some Joy bracelet; sale price about $US 95. The name of the piece says it all, and the burst of exuberance has enough presence to wear alone, or layers well. Bonus: This is 8.5in., a generous length, and hard to find these days. (This would also make a merry gift.)
Bottom right: The Avalon South Sea and Pearl Waterfall rope is a graceful aria of a necklace. The varied shapes of the CFWS (baroque, oval, near-round) make it casual enough to wear with anything, the glowing 10.8-14.5mm South Seas are lavishly luxurious. At about 37in., long enough to double, yet lighter than many ropes because of the varied size. Sale price, about $475. This one is a grabber.
Pearls for a song... or a carol
Sumptuous and spendy... but what a year (or any other rationalization one needs)
Your Santa Baby may be generous indeed, and I am including you. Santa has the experience to be discerning, that is why they (Santa is non-gendered now) say, "Nothing but the best for you, dumpling"! And Santa has encouraged one of my favourite jewellery boutiques, Tomfoolery in London's Muswell Hill neighbourhood, to offer a 10% discount on Sunday, December 6, both in person and online.
Maria Frantzi's Blush Pearl and Sapphire Oxidized Silver Drop Earrings are special without being over-designed and a 10% reduction off the price, £1, 520, is a nice touch. Notice the sapphires are pink on one side, white on the other.
On my dream list, replacing visions of sugarplums.
Though I put the J. Crew earrings in the window because they're a steal, thank you for supporting artisans—those who make jewellery by hand—during this extremely difficult time.
Comments
I'm also a bit in love with the Tahitian pearl studs with the tiny diamonds set into them, shown on the Kojima website.
Jane in London
Jane: Sarah made me a similar necklace using so of my old pearls, and adding new ones, the smaller in the piece So I can say, it is an especially graceful piece because of those varied sizes.
I love the tiny Tahitians too.
LauraH: These colourful choices (as necklaces, too)— just at the right time!
Leslie M: I just •did• show you mine... temptations, that is ;) I should also say the reduction for this year 's sale is especially generous.
There are many posts here on renovating pearls, some with photos of reader's projects, and you can always e-mail me personally for suggestions. Especially now ;) To find my posts on what to do with pearls, use the left "Labels" sidebar and scroll down to the labels "rehab your pearls, "reno your pearls: and "restyling jewellery".
As I've said in these posts, restringing with a colour and changing the clasp (a fishhook is dated and makes even good pearls look cheap) is a simple, relatively low cost update. I have also shown what mixing in new pearls or other elements looks like. I'm ardent about this, because pearls look so wonderful near the face—not in a box in a drawer.
When you get your pearls back, if you would be willing to send a photo I'd love that. My email is under my photo.