The wonderful color of black pearls… where does this color come from? Black pearls come from a Black Lipped Oyster (Pinctada Margaritifera) . Since their shell is black, these oysters can produce black pearls. Pearls are made of the same shell-making material that mollusks use to grow their shell. But, of course, Tahitian black pearl …
Seeing Tahitian pearls come out to life from an oyster is quite a marvelous sight! We got to witness this incredible miracle on our recent trip to French Polynesia! This might be one of the million reasons why I fell in love with these gorgeous black pearls. Prior to this trip Tahitian pearls were never …
We have just launched our newest curated pearls… from our recent travels to French Polynesia! See our Tahitian Pearl Jewelry here… Pearls from Tahiti… I must admit that is a bit of misnomer. Tahiti is a gorgeous island, one of the over 100 islands in French Polynesia, way down in the South Pacific ocean. Tahiti …
What is an atoll? An atoll is an amazingly great place to culture Tahitian black pearls! At least, that is the case with the island atoll of Ahe, in French Polynesia. An atoll is characterized by an island which was once formed by a central volcano. Over time, the volcano has sunk back into the …
What is the big deal about Mikimoto? Surely you have heard his name. In the pearl business buyers love to throw around the Mikimoto name… especially by saying things like, “my Mikimoto’s” Other people have no clue …”miki-what?” So, I am here to tell you the big deal with Mikimoto! What is in a Name? …
Mandarin pearls are the unique name given to chinese pearls drilled as buttons so they could be used to adorn clothing. These uniquely drilled pearls were used to adorn the hat of mandarins. Confused? I was. The term mandarin, as most of us know it, refers to the spoken form of Chinese language, a language …
Will I find a pearl in my oyster? is a question I hear from many people who visit my talks. It makes sense, right? Pearls come from oysters (or mussels) and it only seems fair that if you eat a bunch of these, especially raw, you are entitled to find a pearl. Right? Well, here …
Large pearls are being cultured in the freshwater cultured pearl farms in China and it is with good reason. Large pearls are dominating the market. People want bold, bigger pearls. There was a time for the petite strand (okay, truthfully, there is always a time for a nice simple strand) but the trends are changing …
Bigger is better especially in the newest wave of freshwater pearls coming out of China. Are you interested in big freshwater pearls? Many of you have been asking about the rapidly increasing prices for smaller size cultured pearls. These smaller pearls are becoming more and more scarce because the newest wave of cultured pearls is …
See part 1 of our post here: Grandmother’s Graduated Pearls Can’t get enough of those Japanese cultured pearls! Despite the fact that the cultured pearl trade was severely damaged by World War II, after the war, the industry boomed. Demand was high and competition was low. Both the U.S. and many countries in Europe were …
Why does your grandmother have graduated pearls? Graduated pearls were very in style in the 1940s and 1950s in the U.S. Ever wonder why? I used to sell graduated pearls because they are not very easy to find any more. And, truthfully, they were not easy to sell but trends have shifted again and now …
Continue reading “Why does your grandmother have graduated pearls?”
Follow this link to see a sneak peak at the Smithsonian Channel’s South Sea Pearls video. The Smithsonian traveled to Australia’s west coast to document pearl divers and pearling operations. It is a great look into this huge world of cultured South Sea pearls. http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/show/134682/south-sea-pearls India RowsI am a modern day treasure hunter who travels …
