Christmas Gifts (Help me!)

[Pierrot le Fou]

I know absolutely nothing about precious stones and/or jewelry in general.

I am rather down on the diamond trade, thankfully my girlfriend enjoys pearls.

However, I don't know anything about pearls either, so this is where you folks come in.

I'm looking for either rings or earrings featuring pearls with a simple design, decent quality pearl (or at least such that a normal person can't tell its quality), and set in 18k+ gold, preferably 24k.

If anyone knows of decent sites for this sort of stuff, I'd be really excited. I was half debating trying to snag a loose pearl or three from my trip to Penang in January, but that would be late for Xmas, and I'd be even more nervous as I'd have no idea as to the quality or what ballpark the price should be in.

Danke.

[Kaji]

http://www.nahoku.com

Got my girl's engagement ring from one of their stores at the local mall. Very nice and unique designs, with some excellent pearl work as well.

[Plekto]

Are you planning some sort of promise/engagement or just a gift?

[Pierrot le Fou]

Does it really make a difference?

[japanat]

A picture list of different pearl grades: http://www.pearloasis.com/catalog/images/GIA2.jpg

A longer one from the same company's site:

How we grade Akoya (salt water) cultured pearls

GIA Pearl Grading Set
We follow the cultured pearl value standards provided by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and The Guide for Grading Akoya Cultured Pearls by Gemworld International, Inc. We use the G.I.A. Gem Pearl Master Comparison Set (to see the comparison set, click here) to actually compare with the pearls we grade. The G.I.A. Gem Pearl Master Comparison Set was developed by Gemworld International, Inc. and International Cultured Pearls of The Orient, Inc. for G.I.A. and exclusively provided by G.I.A.

Akoya is the Japanese word for salt water. In the jewelry trade, Akoya pearls or Akoya cultured pearls are known as salt water cultured pearls. G.I.A lists seven value factors of pearls: size, shape, color, luster, surface quality, nacre quality and matching. Pearl worth depends on the combination of these seven value factors. Below is a brief introduction of the Akoya pearl grading system we employed.

Grade -1 Luster -2 Nacre -3 Blemish -4 Shape -5 Color -6 Matching

A to A+ -1 Medium to Good -2 Medium -3 Lightly Blemished -4 Slightly Off, round
to mostly round -5 White, medium cream, medium pink body color with pink, gray, green overtone -6 Good

AA to AA+ -1 Good to High -2 Medium to Thick -3 Slightly blemished to lightly blemished -4 Slight off, round, mostly round -5 White, light cream, pink body color with pink, gray, green overtone -6 Good to Very Good

AAA to AAA+ -1 Very High to Excellent -2 Thick to Very Thick -3 Unblemished to very slightly blemished -4 Round -5 White body color with light pink, gray overtone -6 Very Good to Excellent

Note that AAA and AAA+ are the same high quality pearls. Our AAA+ grade indicates that the pearls have been appraised by the European Gemological Laboratory (EGL) and come with an EGL certification. The following is a detailed explanation of each factor.
Pearl Size

For Akoya cultured pearls, size means the pearl's diameter measurement. Pearl size is expressed in millimeters, rounded to the nearest 0.5MM. Akoya cultured pearls range from 2MM to 11MM. Most common sizes are from 5MM to 8MM. A 10MM Akoya is uncommon, and an 11MM Akoya is rare. Generally, if other value factors are equal, the value of Akoya cultured pearls rise gradually with their size. To help you visualize how big a 7MM pearl is, see our Pearl Size Page.
Pearl Shape

When it comes to round shape, no other cultured pearl can compete with the Akoya cultured pearl.

We grade pearl shape into four levels: Semi-baroque and baroque, Off round, Slightly off round, and Round. Semi-baroque and baroque are pear-shaped or irregular shaped and are listed separately. Off-round pearls have flattening on one side or are ovalish.

AAA+ and AAA grade Akoya pearls are all to mostly round. AA+ and AA grade pearls are mostly round to slightly off round. A+ and A grade pearls are mostly round to slightly off round. Off round and semi-baroque are not acceptable for Akoya pearls and are not used by Pearl Oasis.
Pearl Color

Pearl color is a combination of body color and overtone. Body color is the predominant basic color of the pearl. When pearls lay on a white surface, body color can be best seen on the outer edge of the pearl. Body colors include white, light pink or pink, light cream, and dark cream, yellow or golden. Overtone is one or two colors that overlie the body color. When inspecting pearls under light, you may see color in the central dark areas of the pearls. This is the overtone. Overtone colors include pink, silver, and green. You should remember that pearl color for the purposes of grading is not a measure of the beauty of pearls or your choice of pearl color. Pearl color relates to an aspect of pearl quality measured by pearl color. It is important to remember that what color of pearls is the most desirable in one market or culture may not be desirable in another.

With Akoya cultured pearls, the color and intensity of the color is a distinguishing feature of pearl quality. Low quality pearls often have brown or yellowish body color and do not have overtone or very light overtone. Pearls without overtone look "flat". High quality pearls have deeper overtone color, because the intensity of color is the result of thick nacre and high luster. Pearl processing also effect pearl color.

Generally, Akoya pearls have four basic body colors: white, cream, pink and yellow and two overtones: rose (pinkish) and green. AAA+ and AAA grade Akoya pearls are white or pink body color with rose or gray overtone. AA+ and AA grade pearls are white, light creamy with rose or gray or light green overtone. A+ and A grade pearls are white, medium creamy, pink body color with rose, gray or green overtone. Akoya pearls with dark cream, brown or yellow body color are lowest quality and are not used by Pearl Oasis.
Pearl Luster

Pearl luster is the surface brilliancy of pearls. It is probably the best expression of a pearl's beauty. Luster does not simply mean a shiny surface It implies the structural beauty of the nacre.

We grade pearl luster in six levels: Very Low, Low, Good, High, Very High and Excellent. Pearls with a very high luster will generally show strong and sharp light (mirror like) reflection of the light source. AAA+ and AAA grade Akoya pearls have excellent to very high luster. AA+ and AA have high to good luster. A+ and A grade pearls have good to medium luster. Pearls with a very low luster look very milky or chalky. They show very little highlights. Pearl Oasis rejects pearls with very low luster.
Pearl Surface Quality

All the factors that disturb the surface smoothness of the pearl and hence decide its appearance are called blemishes and imperfections (also called spots or flaws). The quality of the pearl is greatly affected by blemishes. Natural blemishes are formed during pearl cultivation. By definition, a blemish is anything that can be seen by unaided eyes.

When grading an individual pearl (for a pearl ring, for example), the degree of blemish is divided into clean, slight spot, medium spot and heavy spot according to number, size, kind and location of the blemish. We reject pearls that exhibit excessive amounts of blemishes, such as cracks throughout the pearls, prominent flaws in a single pearl, patches of missing nacre, obvious discoloration's throughout the pearls, and flaws which cover the majority of the surface of the pearls.

When grading a whole strand of pearls (for a necklace, for example), we determine what percentage of pearls have blemishes. The less such pearls the better quality of the strand. We grade surface quality of a pearl strand by determining what percentage of pearls have blemishes. AAA+ and AAA grade Akoya pearls are unblemished to very slightly blemished pearls. AA+ and AA grade pearls are very lightly blemished to slightly blemished pearls. A+ and A grade pearls are slightly blemished to lightly blemished. For a strand of pearls, 0-5% pearls with blemishes is considered unblemished to very slightly blemished. 10-20% is very slightly blemished, 20-30% is slightly blemished to lightly blemished. We reject pearl strands that have more than 40% of the pearls with blemishes.
Pearl Nacre Thickness

Nacre is the coating that the oyster forms around the nucleus of the pearl. Nacre thickness is more than the amount of nacre. It has other meaningful aspects as well. The structure of the nacre is composed of thousands of layers of thin calcium carbonate crystals. This distinctive nacre structure influences the color, luster, durability and elasticity of the pearl.

AAA+ and AAA grade Akoya pearls have very thick nacre (0.5mm and up) AA+ and AA grade pearls have thick nacre (0.25 to 0.4MM), A+ and A grade pearls have medium nacre (0.2 to 0.3MM). Pearls with very thin nacre allow the core nuclei to be seen through the nacre. Pearls with very thin nacre often exhibit visible cracks in the nacre. Pearls with very thin nacre can also display signs of nacre peeling or chipping. Pearl Oasis rejects such pearls.
Pearl Matching

Matching refers to all previously discussed factors: size, color, shape, luster, nacre and surface quality. Matching applies to pairs of pearls and strands of pearls. AAA+ and AAA grade Akoya pearls are excellent to very good matching. AA+ and AA grade Akoya pearls are very good to good matching. A+ and A grade Akoya pearls are good matching. We do not accept poorly matched pearl pairs or strands.
Put All Pearl Factors Together

Pearl worth depends on how one combines the complete mix of these seven value factors. Two strands of pearls of exactly the same size maybe very different in other factors such as different color, different surface quality. We would grade these two strands base on the other six factors. Additionally, not each of the factor are weighted same. According to Gemworld International's Pearl Guide, the following percentages apply to the six factors except size:

Color = 10%
Shape = 15%
Luster 25%
Nacre = 25%
Surface quality = 20%
Matching = 5%.

Total 100%

All of Akoya pearl necklaces and bracelets come with Certificate of Authenticity provided by Pearl Oasis. Many of our items also come with EGL Certificate.

[RandomPasserby]

Why don't you make her a pearl necklace?

[4letterwords]

Does it really make a difference?

It really, really does.

[Decade]

Its not pearls plf, but I just got an email about amazons black Friday deals and apparently they'll have a limited amount of 1 crrt platinum studded diamond earrings normally for $2200 for $500.

Might be worth checking out.

[stsparky]

I know absolutely nothing about precious stones and/or jewelry in general. ... I am rather down on the diamond trade, thankfully my girlfriend enjoys pearls ...

Take a trip to Toba Bay with your sweetie -
http://www.pearl-guide.com/images/AkoyaPearlNucleation.jpg

Cultured Pearls

Pearl Formation
A pearl is formed when a small irritant or parasite penetrates and lodges in the mantle tissue of a mollusk. In response nacre is secreted. Nacre is a combination of crystalline and organic substances. As nacre builds up in layers, it surrounds the irritant forming a pearl.

Natural Pearls vs. Cultured Pearls
Natural pearls are pearls formed by chance. Cultured pearls have been given a helping hand. Today, nearly all pearls are cultured. By inserting a foreign object into a mollusk, pearl farmers can induce the creation of a pearl. The same process of pearl creation takes place. The difference is that in this case, the inducement is intentional.

Cultured pearls can be distinguished from natural pearls through the use of x-rays, which reveal the inner part of the pearl.

The Early Days of Pearl Culture

Modern-day cultured pearls are the result of discoveries made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Japanese researchers Tatsuhei Mise, Tokichi Nishikawa, and the son of a noodle maker, Kokichi Mikimoto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokichi_Mikimoto).

Although some cultures had long been able to artificially stimulate freshwater mollusks into producing a type of pearl, the pearls produced in this way were generally hemispherical mabes, rather than actual round pearls. While the early on in Mikimoto’s career he focused on mabe production, eventually he produced rounds with a technique involving tissue and bead insertion into the gonad of an akoya mollusk. He patented this technique in 1916.

This revolutionized the pearl industry. It allowed the reliable cultivation of large numbers of pearls. While natural pearl have widely varying shapes, sizes, and qualities, and are difficult to find, cultured pearls could be "designed" round from the start. Pearls could finally be produced by the millions, making them available and affordable to everyone.

Today’s Cultured Pearl Industry

The development of pearl culturing took much of the chance, risk, and guesswork out of the pearl industry. It has allowed it to become stable and predictable, fostering rapid growth over the past 100 years. Today, the cultured pearl industry has effectively replaced the natural pearl industry with production of cultured freshwater, South Sea, Tahitian, and Mikimoto’s original akoya.

http://www.pearl-guide.com/mikimoto.shtml

“Kokichi Mikimoto

Kokichi Mikimoto is sometimes said to have almost single-handedly invented the modern cultured pearl industry. Although this is not strictly correct, Mikimoto did play the major role in both developing modern techniques for culturing pearls and convincing the general public to accept those pearls as worthwhile and valuable.

Mikimoto was born in Toba City, Japan, in 1858, the eldest son in a family which ran a noodle restaurant. He began raising oysters in 1888, and by the late 1890s he had been awarded a patent on a process for culturing mabes (hemispherical pearls). Over the next 20 years, he continued his research into culturing pearls, culminating with his acquisition of a patent in the early 1900s for culturing spherical pearls.

Thereafter, Mikimoto was a tireless advocate of the new culturing techniques and their resulting gems. His efforts opened new markets worldwide for cultured pearls, and essentially created the pearl industry that exists today. For his efforts, Mikimoto received numerous honors and awards from his native Japan. He died in 1954 at the age of 96.”

http://www.mikimoto.com/index_f_en.html

[japanat]

Hey, PLF,

Why don't you take her for a weekend trip to Mie, watch the pearl-diving obachans, then hand pick the pearls to make her jewelry? Sounds like a win-win to me...

[Pierrot le Fou]

Okay, well, first of all, could someone let me in on what the massive difference between getting a ring for an engagement versus a ring for Christmas is assuming the same budget and the same intent (making the receiver happy)?

Secondly, thanks for all the information japanat and stsparky -- I'd actually already looked at both pages. While I know the general stuff, what I don't know is what it actually means in a real sense. Since all these sites are trying to sell their pearls, they're not exactly the best sources of information. I've been looking at a bunch of sites, many from China, some have certification and some don't, but I don't have a bloody idea what to think about it all.

Even if I were to go to Mie (and I've seen plenty of pearl-selling stands here and there in Japan), I wouldn't know how much a specific pearl was worth, and I'm relatively sure I'd think that all of the pearls looked splendid, which wouldn't be so helpful either.

[4letterwords]

Type of ring, how much you pay, hand size (right hand, assuming they're right handed is usually bigger), what type of ring, quality of the stone... setting... they'res a lot.

If you're going to get engaged, get a diamond. A good, clear diamond in a white gold or platinum setting (unless shes a huge yellow gold fan, most girls like the white gold). You can't go wrong with a solitaire. If she likes royal looking, more clean looking jewelry then go with the marquise cut (diamond shape). If shes a younger personality, more cutesy or whatever, she may like a round diamond better... if she is a fan of diamonds in general... or if shes a bit flashy at all, a square or rectangle diamond is probably what shed like. Worse comes to worse just ask her.

If you're not getting engaged, go to a jewelry shop and ask them. Outside of engagement rings, they'll give you a good idea of what women like. Just don't get lab-created jewels unless you're short on cash.

[stsparky]

When I was the worst boyfriend in the whole Western World 20 odd years ago - I had a long suffering girlfriend, who liked pearls. In 1988, I bought her earrings that were simple large pearls with posts made of platinum. It cheered her up as gold irritated her skin. So questions are worth asking.

Does your ladyfriend know anything about pearls? Do any metals bother her skin? Wish you the best.

[erbiumfiber]

Okay, well, first of all, could someone let me in on what the massive difference between getting a ring for an engagement versus a ring for Christmas is assuming the same budget and the same intent (making the receiver happy)?

Uhh, you lost me here. Engagement is more serious than just making the receiver of the ring happy. I don't understand the whole "promise ring before the engagement ring" situation (don't know if that's what you're aiming for...).

Anyway, if neither of you knows anything about pearls you could just go with a "brand name" like Mikimoto. It seems Japanese women are really into brands, don't know if your gf is like that or not.

I've seen a number of Mikimoto stores (and, of course, they have one at Narita airport).

Anyway, pearls are pretty reasonable compared to diamonds so I'm guessing that even if you go with something like Mikimoto, you could get a decent ring without breaking the bank.

Or you could just say to hell with it and pick up something that looks nice on Amazon.com (they have some pretty nice pearl ring designs but of course you have no idea of the quality of the pearl).

[4letterwords]

If you're gonna do Mikimoto, go with pearls. From what I know, thats just what to do.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Type of ring, how much you pay, hand size (right hand, assuming they're right handed is usually bigger), what type of ring, quality of the stone... setting... they'res a lot.

If you're going to get engaged, get a diamond. A good, clear diamond in a white gold or platinum setting (unless shes a huge yellow gold fan, most girls like the white gold). You can't go wrong with a solitaire. If she likes royal looking, more clean looking jewelry then go with the marquise cut (diamond shape). If shes a younger personality, more cutesy or whatever, she may like a round diamond better... if she is a fan of diamonds in general... or if shes a bit flashy at all, a square or rectangle diamond is probably what shed like. Worse comes to worse just ask her.

If you're not getting engaged, go to a jewelry shop and ask them. Outside of engagement rings, they'll give you a good idea of what women like. Just don't get lab-created jewels unless you're short on cash.
Way to miss the point there.

I do not want to buy diamonds. There are a trillion reasons not to buy diamonds, from the fact that they are not worth as much as they sell for, they have little resale value, and the industry is not so nice (to say the least). To suggest that I should buy diamonds just because is absolutely absurd, and entirely ignores what I said at the start of the thread to begin with.

Secondly, I am not an idiot. I do realize that fingers are different sizes, even on different hands.

Thirdly, there is nothing that indicates that an engagement ring has to be more expensive than any other ring save the fact that an engagement ring is supposed to be diamond (which is a no-no for me, and my girlfriend knows that), and antiquated beliefs that a ring should be 3 months of your salary and whatnot. Absurd.

Finally, I realize that I can just go to a jewelry store, but they will try to sell me the ring, rather than actually provide me with the options I want.

Uhh, you lost me here. Engagement is more serious than just making the receiver of the ring happy. I don't understand the whole "promise ring before the engagement ring" situation (don't know if that's what you're aiming for...).
I realize that there's more behind the giving of the ring in an engagement, but the general concept with the ring is the same -- give the person something they'll like. The reason I'm being obtuse is because I don't really tend to like discussing my relationship online, and I don't think it's integral to purchasing a ring.

Anyway, if neither of you knows anything about pearls you could just go with a "brand name" like Mikimoto. It seems Japanese women are really into brands, don't know if your gf is like that or not.

I've seen a number of Mikimoto stores (and, of course, they have one at Narita airport).

Anyway, pearls are pretty reasonable compared to diamonds so I'm guessing that even if you go with something like Mikimoto, you could get a decent ring without breaking the bank.

Or you could just say to hell with it and pick up something that looks nice on Amazon.com (they have some pretty nice pearl ring designs but of course you have no idea of the quality of the pearl).
Pearls are much more reasonable. The thing that's killing me is trying to find a high-quality gold band to go along with the ring. Most places seem to offer them up to 18k, but not over.

When I was the worst boyfriend in the whole Western World 20 odd years ago - I had a long suffering girlfriend, who liked pearls. In 1988, I bought her earrings that were simple large pearls with posts made of platinum. It cheered her up as gold irritated her skin. So questions are worth asking.

Does your ladyfriend know anything about pearls? Do any metals bother her skin? Wish you the best.
Yeah, the girlfriend is allergic to silver. Hence the whole gold thing. As far as how much she knows about pearls, well, it's probably about as much as I do -- they're supposed to be white and round and pretty. I figure that any pearl that fits all three criteria would be okay in both of our eyes.

[erbiumfiber]

18k gold is pretty high quality. You don't see 24k gold bands as much because rings go through a lot more abuse than, say, a necklace. The metals that the gold is alloyed with result in a harder metal than purer gold.

My college ring (which has a lot of intricate designs) is 10k and has really held up through a ton of abuse. My grandfather's college ring was a much higher percentage of gold and had basically completely flattened out (from having two heads of a ram, one on each side) into a band-shaped piece of gold by the time I knew him.

If you're just looking for pretty, then I was pretty impressed with what I saw on amazon. I've ordered jewelry from them and been satsified (I also know nothing about jewelry other than whether it looks nice).

Good discussion of gold alloys from wiki:

Jewelry. Because of the softness of pure (24k) gold, it is usually alloyed with base metals for use in jewelry, altering its hardness and ductility, melting point, color and other properties. Alloys with lower "k", typically 22k, 18k, 14k or 10k, contain higher percentages of copper, silver or other base metals in the alloy. Copper is the most commonly used base metal, yielding a redder metal. Eighteen carat gold containing 25% copper is found in antique and Russian jewelry and has a distinct, though not dominant, copper cast, creating rose gold. Fourteen carat gold-copper alloy is nearly identical in color to certain bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce police and other badges. Blue gold can be made by alloying with iron and purple gold can be made by alloying with aluminum, although rarely done except in specialized jewelry. Fourteen and eighteen carat gold alloys with silver alone appear greenish-yellow and are referred to as green gold. White gold alloys can be made with palladium or nickel. White 18 carat gold containing 17.3% nickel, 5.5% zinc and 2.2% copper is silver in appearance. Nickel is toxic, however, and its release from nickel white gold is controlled by legislation in Europe. Alternative white gold alloys are available based on palladium, silver and other white metals (World Gold Council), but the palladium alloys are more expensive than those using nickel. High-carat white gold alloys are far more resistant to corrosion than are either pure silver or sterling silver. The Japanese craft of Mokume-gane exploits the colour contrasts between laminated colored gold alloys to produce decorative wood-grain effects.

[Plekto]

Ah - I also have a huge problem with diamonds. In fact, they have millions of pounds of them in vaults that they are stockpiling to keep the price artificially inflated.

Then ther's the toil and blood and price-fixing, not to mention the history of DeBeers(started a war in Africa just to protect his company by lying to his government) which ontrols most of it.

Historically, all sorts of stones were given as engagement rings up until the 1930s or so, when DeBeers started spamming the industry to gain market share, and then went nuts in the 1970s.

A typical diamond used is worth the real value, which is about 25% of what it typically sells for. From a gemology standpoint, it is a rather plain and uninspiring gem that requires careful cutting to bring out any decent qualitites. It's jsut too hard, too brittle, and lacks inner color naturally. They DO come in every color of the rainbow, though, so think of clear/white diamonds as the commodity junk.

Now, there are cultured diamonds that are man-made, but they gouge silly prices for them. But they are free of everything that natural ones are plagued with.

A bit of trivia:
Sapphires historically were the #1 stone given for engagements and special occasions in history until the DeBeers marketing nonsense. In many parts of the world it still ranks as #1, because they hold their value, cost less per carat, and are still silly hard - all while having incredible color.(hardness 9) There are man-made ones as well, plus every color you can imagine(red ones are called Rubies btw)

You can get them for ~$150-300 a carat wholesale. This makes them excellent for everyday jewelery since a little color goes a long way.

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/sapphire.html
A great site that has basic ionformation on most of the major types of gemstones.

http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Sapphires/Pairs/Blue/
Quire reasonable prices, and this obviously includes some profit for them.

http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Sapphires/Unique/
Other colors - again, starts at decent prices (under $100 in a few cases)

[4letterwords]

1. PLF - yeah sorry I really didn't get it when I read over it the first time. Sorry. You'd be surprised how many guys don't know the first thing about jewelry.

Anyhoot-
In my personal opinion, I prefer clear diamonds because with something like an engagement ring (and the engagement ring/wedding ring set that a lot of women wear), a clear jewel will match anything you wear and looks fantastic with a wedding dress. Sure its not for everyone but a lot of women prefer that. When my great grandmother died, for whatever reason, she left me all of her jewelry so I have a lot of natural pearls and stuff. For my birthday last year, tatsuo got me a gorgeous white gold ring with 2 rubys and 3 diamonds. Unfortunately it was stolen but the point is that even though it sounds gaudy, it was actually a classic and beautiful ring. I couldnt wear it with a lot of things though because it was red and it looked awkward which is why it matters if you're buying it for an engagement ring or just a present. You can't go wrong with a clear jewel because they can wear it everyday.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Yes, I realize that clear stones look nice. If I were to get a clear stone, however, it would be a pink sapphire, and not a diamond, because they look just as nice, are just as clear, and have greater 'real' value than a diamond. The only downside to it is the lack of that refractive quality of a diamond, or whatever the dickens is that makes them sparkle so. I can live without the sparkle and keep my conscience intact, so I think I'd go that route.

Regardless, pearls are white, and therefore can go with almost anything as well, plus they aren't spawned from the DeBeers' evil empire.

[erbiumfiber]

If you don't mind abusing your conscience a little bit, there are a ton of pearl rings in settings with small diamond chips for whatever sparkle you need. In fact, on amazon, it seemed that the number set with tiny diamonds exceeded the number that were completely plain. There were also a few set with other stones but they weren't as common.

And it looked like 18k was as high as they had. If you're worried about allergic reactions, it seems from the wiki entry above that white gold is perhaps less likely to contain silver than yellow gold. It's also more neutral and looks nicer (in my opinion) with pearls.

If this is not meant to be an engagement, or pre-engagement, present, then I would suggest earrings. No loaded connotations with earrings.

[belladonna]

if she (or you) would like, black pearls are absolutely gorgeous and hold even more value than white pearls as they are so rare. white pearls though usually have a tinge of pink to them and are not purely white, anything pure white, as a pearl, is man-made

[Pierrot le Fou]

I'm pretty sure that I can't avoid tiny little diamond specs in whatever I buy. No biggie. And as I said in the first post, I'm also thinking earrings, I just have far worse sense when it comes to things that go in the ear than on fingers, which is really saying something.

Thanks for the advice, and I guess I'll look into it a bit more.

[Fumi]

If you choose white gold you'll have to be careful. A nickel based white gold alloy will probably give her an allergic reaction.

[erbiumfiber]

Oh earrings are MUCH more simple!! Just buy a nice pair of pearl studs (that is, just a pearl on a post, nothing else). These can be worn ANYWHERE, dressy or casual. I used to borrow my mother's pearl earrings all the time (until I lost one and had to buy a new pair).

The main price differentiator will be the size of the pearls (of course). But I have noticed that Japanese women prefer rather small earrings. Those are quite reasonable (as in $200 would buy quite a nice pair and probably even $100 would be decent). So I'm guessing she has pierced ears (because finding clip-ons would be a nightmare and they look awful).

[japanat]

PLF,

If you're looking for a band - I went to a little jeweler's shop in NishiAkashi to have my wife's stone set into a band, maybe 5min from the station on foot. They made a really nice platinum band and mounted the stone for 30K. Stone or pearl, shouldn't make a difference in the price.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Wonderful thing to keep in mind. Danke!