We started the day on the hunt for the ever elusive
blue South Sea pearls. As usual there was plenty of steely silver pearls, but only a couple of vendors had anything I would consider true blue.
The first vendor we found with the right pearls had some real monsters, including one pearl that couldn't decide if it was blue or golden. However, given that I paid less for my first car than she wanted for these pearls, we had to pass.
After another hour of hunting we came across a nice lot, with earth bound pricing. Although not as blue as I was hoping (is there such a thing as too blue?), they had great shape, so we got to work matching pairs - studs or dangles, pick your poison.
With blue pearls on the mind and a long list of ladies patiently waiting, we set off in search of natural color Akoya pearls. The first stop was a vendor we often use and he had a great selection of silver/blue Akoya, including one amazing, perfectly round strand that I had to take.
This quite possibly could be "THE" find of the show. Tucked away on one of the outside rows in a very unassuming booth, run by just a father and daughter, was a small collection of Vietnamese Akoya Pearls. As the story goes, he's had these locked away in a safe for 6 years to ensure the color wouldn't fade. Lucky for us, the color was stable and this was the show he decide to release them. We quickly scooped up the best of the best, bowed and left before he changed his mind.
While not on the shopping list, we couldn't resist when he offered to show us his multi-color(natural)Vietnamese Akoya pearls, including a few amazing natural pistachio strands. They weren't cheap but there's no way I could say no, I bought a handful of the very best.
I took a chance on these last show and they proved to be one of the most popular items we brought back. The fact that they vary so much in quality means this is an item you really need to select in person. I'll be honest, overall its slim pickings but we managed to find good number of big whites and a few multi-colors - but today we're going to check out a few other booths, so we'll see how it goes.
Well that's it for Day 2, we're off to the show for Day 3 - wish us luck!
