I have been so excited to share this video of me harvesting pearls in The Philippines. What a joy to learn this very difficult skill of extracting pearls while maintaining the life of the oyster. It is tough! Most men and women do this job at least 10,000 times to reach novice status. I am …
The following article, “Freshwater Biological Association leads the way for pearl mussel conservation,” was written by Carl Fallowfield and published in the Cumbria Crack on 07/13/2015. I am copying it here because of my interest in freshwater pearl mussels in England. You may have seen my earlier posts on the decline of these mussel populations due to …
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You never know what you might find in a landfill, right?! Such as a 2000 year old pearl! On the north Kimberly coast of Western Australia, The Brremangurey Rockshelter in the Admiralty Gulf is home to over 12,000 years of Indigenous history. There are shell middens and rock art. A team of archeologist were excavating a midden, a …
“Where do black pearls come from?” I get asked this a lot and I am feeling like it is a great day to talk about black pearls. Not only because it is, you know, Thursday but mainly because we just got some pearls from our farm in French Polynesia and I am SERIOUSLY wanting a strand …
What is a Non-Nacreous Pearl? Quite a word, isn’t it? Non-Nacreous! Well, let’s take it back to the word nacre. Does that sound a little friendlier? Pronounced with a long “a,” nacre is mother of pearl. It is the building block for a pearl. Nacre is that beautiful, lustrous material in the inside of a …
An interesting article came out Thailand this week about new technology to turn pearls into gold! Thai researchers at the Synchrotron Light Research Institute have figured out how to change the natural color of pearls from white to gold! Okay, so not exactly pearls to gold but pearls to a gold color! India RowsI am …
I think there is a problem with pearl grading. India RowsI am a modern day treasure hunter who travels the world for gorgeous pearls and amazing adventures. I own a pearl jewelry and jewelry repair business, ThePearlGirls.com, with a cute retail store in Athens, GA. I also have a Pearl Travel business and travel blog …
If you have not yet read my last post on Mollusks Go Mobile, I explained the life cycle of freshwater mussels and how important it is to have fish for the development and mobility of freshwater mollusks. Now, for a bit more info on cultured pearls and fish. India RowsI am a modern day treasure …
Have you ever slept in an opal mine? Gazed at the Sydney harbor from your hotel window? Traveled to a remote Australian pearl farm, the oldest family run pearl farm in Australia? Well, I haven’t either! But, I am going to and I want you to join me! Our next Pearl Adventure is going to …
Pearl prices are rising. I have long been saying to “buy pearls now” as their prices continue to rise. Since I began working with pearls in 2006; the boom years of high quality supply and low prices has been morphing to lower supply, small amounts of high quality pearls and higher prices. We’ll news from …
What are peacock pearls? Peacock is a trade name used to describe the color of “black” pearls. According to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), “Peacock is a trade term for Tahitian cultured pearls with dark green-gray to blue-gray body color and pink to purple overtone.” Trade term is an important distinction here. When the …
Japanese pearls in Ago Bay, Japan! We traveled to Ago Bay, Japan to see the akoya pearl farms throughout the protected inlets, waterways and coves in Ago Bay, Japan. This is the same area where Mikimoto cultured his very first pearl and the company maintains pearl farms to this day. There are also many small …
