Something arrived from Japan! Akoya Pearls

Fedex courier guy knock on my door....... not ring the bell ..... :X

Yea my purchase has arrived from Japan. Pretty daring huh since its pretty expensive, the seller no longer selling at ebay, (previously ebay also 3 tokens (good) )...

I paid on 31 Mar and received it today. Cannot blame the seller though because it so happened the Tsunami happened and the chain is delayed. Plus I have special request to lengthen the pearl strand after getting the set so he has to take some time to find the matching pearls for me.

I decided not to wait for the chain and asked for the pearl set to be delivered first.

Hanadama Pearl Certificate Set

I've read about some companies talking abt Hanadama grades and those on the forums have different interpretation of Hanadama vs another company (all these companies not from Japan). They said that the Hanadama grades are the best under Pearl grading (Mikimoto used Hanadama pearls)

However, the Japan Science Lab that issue the Hanadama certificate doesnt only grade AAA under its certificate? The pearl quality can range from AA-AAA.

For my pearls, its AA quality. It looks average under daylight but under fluroscent light, its excellent luster (to me) and its smooth, very smooth indeed. Better than some of the Mikimoto I saw. No idea if it has anything to do with light too. The clasp I choose is Made in Japan 14K WG. Not cheap. I think Japanese are very detailed with their stuffs and one is paying for the quality. Maybe also because reseller will get better price than end consumer.

This pearl strand is white with pink,green overtone. The pink overtone is very minimal. Most people (asians, japanese etc) will look good with pearls with pink overtone. For me, such pearls doesnt look good. I need to find real white pearls with little pink overtone for it to look outstanding on me.

The picture is taken with iphone 3. Photo quality really sucks but the pearl set is really very good. The seller is also very nice and i think he's very stressed over my order because i've asked him a lot of Qns. I hardly get to chat with people that know abt pearls so i like to learn about it instead of just blindly like pearls.

Nice right? :) I need to change my wardrobe clothes to match my pearls

The quality is really good. Under Day/Sunlight, its like good but under fluroscent light, its very good luster and smooth! Eyes Zoom onto the pearl surface & it looks smooth too. Very good and its just AA Grade! AAA will be freaking expensive for the size of 8-8.5MM.

I went home to check the pearls again under artificial white and then fluorescent lights. Even the white light is very nice! In the day time, I see it under normal sunlight/daylight.
Overall I am very happy with my pearls especially checking them out under the lights @ night.

This morning I checked out again against daylight/sunlight and i can see iridescent colors of pink/green/white. Very nice

Its 295500Yen and I paid when Yen is high :(

Oh ya, initially i kinda worried abt the radiation but Kobe is far from Sedai and the earthquake area... plus the pearls are earlier stocks. I am now considering the 2nd pearl strand. *sweat*

The seller is based in Japan Kobe. I know some US companies are selling the hanadama pearls that are graded by Pearl Science Lab too. This seller also sell pearls that are qualified to be hanadama pearls as certified by Pearl Science Lab (again, they certified AA, AAA as Hanadama under their category. But their standard isnt exactly the same as Mikimoto).

I think Seller is not known in the states because his business is mainly in Japan? He has own website and also yahoo Japan.

My friends' are really surprised that I dare to purchase such expensive stuffs online.... err but well I am a person that depends on instincts & my religion hahaha. Plus the email exchange etc. I know the seller is honest and genuine and really helpful. :)

I will be providing more pics around May. So stay tune!