Hong Kong Pearl Buying Trip Wish List Hunting - March, 2016

As usual, we hit the ground running looking for our staple items. The first day of the show reminds of those scenes we see every year on Black Friday - huge crowds rushing into the venue to shop.

The Japanese Akoyas were still very high in demand especially in the Asian market and we had to push our way through the Japan Pavilion to search for the smaller Akoya strands.

By now I have gotten used to squeezing myself between small pockets of space I find between people to get closer to the pearls and firmly tell other buyers to wait until I am done selecting when I see someone's hand reaching over to my "keep" pile.

Since the March buying trip is a smaller buy for us we were able to take the time to look for the wish list items.
We had a lot of requests on 11-12 mm pairs of white Edisons. Unfortunately we didn't see anything in that size that were lustrous and round enough to bring home.
But I was able to find a  lustrous silver overtone 14-15 mm pair.

I found one metallic round 11-12 mm Edison pearl. I couldn't find a match but brought it back anyway because it's amazing!

We were also on a search for metallic drops. We got few pairs but while I was going through the pile of drops I found this perfect oval shaped pair. It's not metallic but it's rare to see such pleasing shape... that matches!

We had a request from a customer who lost half a pair of her metallic studs. After going through a large box full of metallic pearls we found a match! It was quite literally the only pearl like it in the box. It made us happy that the new pair can be enjoyed once again.

Pairing colorful Freshwater drops are way more fun than pairing black and white Akoyas.

Sometimes our wishlist hunt can take years. I received a request from a special client and friend to look for a perfect drop shaped white south sea pair. I searched and searched for two and  a half years and finally met the right pair! Perfectly paired perfect drops are incredibly difficult to find.

We haven't decided on the setting but it is very exciting to finally find a pair.

There was also a rather unusual request on a wish list. A client was looking for golden south sea heart shaped pearls. When Jeremy and I actually found them we were pleasantly surprised. Not only do they exists, they are actually quite beautiful. I am not a fan of heart-shaped jewelry but this golden south sea heart had the right curves, plump body and a beautiful deep golden color.

We learned that there is one special farm in Indonesia that cultures these hearts and they only grow 200 pearls per year.

Jeremy found a strand that made his heart sing. It was toward the end of the show when one of our vendors was showing us some white south sea baroque strands when this unique Tahitian strand caught his eye. The strand has the most subtle pastel assortment of colors with fiery, intense overtones. The size range is 10-11.9 mm.

He almost put it back but I convinced him that sometimes we need to get something that we fall in love with. He agreed. He really loves Tahitian pearls and this strand truly is special.

There was something that I fell in love too. I found a small bundle of tiny Tahitian keshi strands. Although small, the strands stood out with their dark green body color and how smooth the shapes were.

The size start at 3 mm and up to 5.5 mm. The vendor said it was a labor of love and he enjoyed creating the strands.
I selected a strand for myself and one for someone special who also has an affinity towards tiny pearls like I do.

We're also going to be introducing a new pearl for Mother's day. Stay tuned for our email newsletter and upcoming blogs for the BIG reveal!