A Pearl Tour, Mikimoto and Tiffany and Co.

So I have been out and about over the last few days. I am doing a sort of pearl-tourist thing. I’m sure most of you have done it. You don a disguise of ignorance and visit a few stores selling pearls just to see what tales will be spun in each establishment. Well on this little jaunt I went to Mikimoto and Tiffany & Co. with a friend that has more than just a wee bit of pearl knowledge as well.

Going to Mikimoto means looking at akoya pearls, right? Not really the case! The display cases were somewhat barren. I mean, the pearls were nice. But there were only about 10 strands. Of all the strands, there was only one strand of AAA grade.

“Where are all the top-grade pearls?” I asked. Their response was that they almost don’t even exist anymore. They’re impossible to get. Japan is drying up. The larger sizes (8 mm and above) are gone. Of course, not wanting to pull off my ignorance-cape I could not bring up the actual numbers in Japan. Like the 12/11/07 – 12/18/07 Ehime auction where nearly all materials concentrated in the 7 to 9 mm range, with the bulk being 8 to 9 mm. 8 mm pearls gone? I hardly think so. Try to find a farmer that is NOT growing that size a staple!

Of course we could not leave the store without checking out the monster strand of South Sea pearls on sale for a mere $1.6 million dollars! It is a beautiful strand of 17 to 19 mm whites with a striking silver-green overtone.

This was not the first time I had seen this one. The story was a bit different this time, however. The guy behind the counter told me it had taken them 21 years to put it together. Checking my notes from a year before and finding a link to the necklace online, I see that age had jumped an incredible 4 years. Using my powers of deduction and dividing by a keystone bullshit-factor of three, I’m guess it took them a few years to put it together, or maybe 2-3 Paspaley harvests. It was a nice strand.

Alas, we left Mikimoto empty-handed and headed over to Tiffany’s.

We wanted to see the akoya and the sales-lady was so kind to explain their grading to us. They don’t have one! They only carry the best - just one grade.

She proceeds to bring out a strand of 7.5-8 mm akoya that was lack-luster at best. Definitely second grade luster, but clean. Spinning the strand is was easy to spot pearls that did not quite match. A “koshimono” here and a .3 to .4 mm coated one there. The Mikimoto strands we had just seen were miles apart.

Seeing our initial impressions she pulled out another. This was the same grade, she said, but was 18 inches instead of 16. The difference was night and day. This strand had the luster, the matching and was spotless. Pulling the cloak aside just an inch, we discussed the differences in luster and overall quality, pointing out the sharp and dull reflections, occasional blinking in the first strand, and pearl grading.

Overall a fun day! I am still in pearl-tourist mode, though. So we may have to hit a couple more today. Too bad photos are not allowed!

Where Have All the Big Pearls Gone?

We've already settled it. Chunky pearls are hot. That's what Sonny Sethi said and somehow the chunky moniker stuck. But chunky pearls are big pearls. I see big whites, a few big golds, but what is happening to all the big blacks?!

Any pearler hitting the Tahitian pearl auction circuit, or any dealers attempting direct purchases are running into the same thing; there ain't enough large to go around. A good auction, unless hosted by Monsieur Wan who is still growing the large on Marutea Sud, will have around 200 lots of pearls. Maybe 10 will be larger than 11 mm. Maybe 2 will be of decent grade.

Small Tahitian pearls, on the other hand, are everywhere! I've heard several reports of selling that nearly amounts to dumping of these smaller pearls, and by small I mean in the 8-10 mm range. The large pearls, however, drive bidding wars. I guess the patient, forward-thinking farmers of yesteryear are finally having their long-overdue payday.

A remarkably good report was posted today, which detailed some of the reasons we don't see many more large Tahitian pearls. It appears to be coming from a pearl farmer in French Polynesia but the author (Mahama) remains anonymous. Who knows. Maybe it is Merehau!

So anyway! Now we know the problem. What's the solution?!

BAFOON PROPOSES CHINESE FWP BOYCOTT

A great submission received today. However, I can't say I support the ban on CFWP from China!

BAFOON PROPOSES CHINESE FWP BOYCOTT

We all know about the flap going on about the little Chinese gymnasts that are ostensibly underage.

He Kexin, the Lilliputian gnome who won two golds to beat Johnson and Lukin in balance beam and barsis reportedly 14, not 16 (the minimum age for qualifications, according to Olympic rules)... discovered by computer geeks breaking into Chinese records and downloading pertinent Excel data before the Chinese could get around to blocking access (which they ultimately did).

Online documents show that that He, Yang Yilin and a third team member, Jiang Yuyuan, might be as young as 14 (or even 13). The Associated Press discovered registration lists previously posted on the website of the General Administration of Sport of China that showed both He and Yang were too young to compete. He Kexin was born Jan. 1, 1994, according to the 2005, 2006 and 2007 registration lists. Yang Yilin was born Aug. 26, 1993, according to the 2004, 2005 and 2006 registration lists. In the 2007 registration list, however, her birthday has changed to Aug. 26, 1992.

China’s reaction? “We have given the governing body of gymnastics documents that show our athletes are eligible,”reported Chinese coach Lu Shanzhen, saying the girls’ families are resentful over these allegations. “It’s not just me. The parents of our athletes are all very indignant,” Lu said in an interview with The Associated Press. “They have faced groundless suspicion. Why aren’t they believed? Why are their children suspected? Their parents are very angry. {How can] you trust every web site but not a government ... there are so many web sites, so much hearsay,” Lu said. “These are not official. It is possible that all news on the internet is accurate?”

Definite odor of malfeasance going on here... what the Japanese term kusai (“stinky”)... as the coach went onto bluster: “At this competition, the Japanese gymnasts were just as small as the Chinese. Chinese competitors have for years all been small. It is not just this time. It is a question of race. European and American athletes are all powerful, very robust. But Chinese athletes cannot be like that. They are by nature that small.”

Online images from the actual records belie this bullshit.

My reaction: take strong punitive steps to prevent this nationalistic chicanery:

1. No more lead-painted toys or cheesy clothing allowed into America. Maybe even close all Walmarts.

2. An immediate ban on the use of chopsticks in the U.S.A.

3. Outlaw won tons, pot stickers, egg flower soup, chow mein, Sichuan beef and prawns, all Kung Pao andGeneral Tso dishes...and especially Peking duck.

4. Halt all imports and sales of Chinese freshwater pearls. No need to punish Chinese akoya pearls as theyare already teats up due to two successive annual typhoons having obliterated their industry.

(signed)
Bafoon

Wait! We've Changed Our Minds!

By a vote of 29 to 27 the French Polynesian assembly has changed its mind about the tax. No, it’s not a reversal of the original tax suspension, but instead of October 1st of this year until the end of 2009, the tax will only be suspended until the end of this year.

According to Gaston Flosse (UDSP) this measure is just a patch not a fix. It is going to help in the short term, but will do nothing toward fixing Tahiti’s woes in the long term.

Time to relieve the atolls of the ogre-balls! Free oyster fecetion pearls for everyone (or nearly free). Come and get them! You’ve now only got three months!

O Canada, O Jewellery Business Canada…

The jewellery publication of the land!
Proper editing and factual reporting, we demand.

O Canada, I will have to help edit thee!
O Canada, to keep your publication correct and error-free!

So I am trying to keep up on my reading and I have one article that I have needed to get around to. The Canucks have this publication called Jewellery Business. It’s Canada’s Jewellery Magazine. There aren’t a lot of pearl articles, but the June 2008 issue has a gem! It is aptly titled “Pearls101: A ‘back to the basics’ look at pearls, written by Betty Sue King, the Pearl Goddess of Sausalito.

I made it through the first couple of paragraphs before I whipped out my pen and said, “Oh damn. This is going to be a good one.”

I was immediately struck by the assertion that “… nucleation process to create South Sea, Tahitian and akoya pearls is the same,” and that, “… cultivation period is usually two years or longer … oysters can produce two harvest.”

Hmmm. That may be pretty accurate for Tahitian and South Seas, but akoya? Hell no! How long a cultivation period?! Two years or longer?! Sure, that is what they want you to believe. But the truth of the matter is that 9-12 months is average. Two years is certainly the exception to the rule. Longer than two years… maybe when Kokichi himself was farming them! That last little part is just dead wrong as well. An akoya shell is never, ever renucleated. It is a one-shot-deal for those little guys.

There were a lot of other little technical errors, but there were also some doozies. I’m gonna have to focus on those or this will turn into a real article!

In two separate parts of the article, the Kasumigaura hybid is described as a hybridization of the Japanese Hyriopsis schlegeli shell and the Anodonta plicata. I am going to take a guess here and say that they meant to say H. schlegeli and Cristaria plicata. That would make more sense. But then again, it is still wrong! The shell is actually a hybrid of H. schlegeli and H. cumingi!

Now a lot of this is just a bunch of technical, pearl-geek crap. But a careful editor should have caught it. Instead, they just mis-educated the trade of “O Canada”!

There were two big boo-boos too. The first was in a graph that described pearl types, sizes and origins. According to the article, Tahitian pearls are produced in sizes of 9-18 mm. Wait, 9-18 mm? Then how is it that a typical auction lot size is almost always 8-10 mm. Oh yeah, and what about all those 7-8 mm Tahitians that everyone has?! I think they missed the mark on that one.

The second big one was the following statement. “… minimum nacre thickness requirements for exports … Japanese akoya must be 0.5 mm …”

From what Japanese propaganda rag are you pulling out this crap?! 0.5 mm nacre is the minimum? Hell, it’s not even the average anymore! Ladies and gentleman of the North! Akoya nacre of 0.5 mm is considered thick, thick, thick, in today’s market. Average nacre thickness ranges from 0.3 to 0.4 mm.

Mikimoto - Some Truth in Advertising Please!

I respect Kokichi Mikimoto. The man was amazing. What he did for this industry is unlike anything anyone has done since. He created the industry. Every individual segment of the cultured pearl industry can trace its roots back to Mikimoto and his tremendous marketing efforts to promote cultured pearls as the skookum alternative to naturals.

But I disagree with the following statements on the Mikimoto Web site.

“In 1893, Kokichi Mikimoto successfully produced the world's first cultured pearl. Through mastery, aesthetics and a consuming dream to dress the world in pearls, Kokichi Mikimoto made cultured pearls one of the world's foremost and most prevalent fashion accessories.”

Come on Mikimoto folks! Really? Mikimoto really produced the world’s first cultured pearl in 1893? What a load of crap!

In 1893, Mikimoto successfully produced cultured blister pearls. But the technique was already 600 years old! In fact, Kunz and Stevenson credit Yu Shun Yang for founding the blister pearl industry in China in the 13th century. Mikimoto used their same, old technique.

Further, Mikimoto got the bead-and-tissue-piece method of culturing whole pearls from Nishikawa and Mise, who, in turn, almost certainly got it from William Saville-Kent in Australia.

So, actually, Mikimoto originated neither blister or whole pearl culture. What he did do, however, was found an industry through his perseverance and marketing prowess. That is what he deserves the accolades for.

Stop rewriting history and appreciate who he was and what he actually did!

Don Rodgers Gets it Right!

Pearls have been around longer than just about any other gemstone known man. But why are they so misunderstood? If you read news online you will probably find a different story about pearls just about every day. But they suck. They are so full of inaccuracies that it is no wonder consumers and even those in the trade don't really get it.

Take this video, for example. This is a lady who works in a Chinese pearl store in Beijing. She talks a lot about "ocean pearls", but nearly every piece of information she is offering this poor reporter is total BS. Even her freshwater facts are only half-right.

I know I poke fun at a lot of stories when I see them. Hell, that is one of the reasons I started this blog. But I am in a good mood today. In part because I found a story in the UK (of all places) that is bloody good. In fact, about the only thing I would change is the words "organic material", as the organic material has a name, and not any old organic material is going to work.

Antiques bargain hunter: Don Rodgers

Moving to Tahiti

OK, that settles it. I am moving to Tahiti. An industry bloke just does not get the same breaks where I’m from.

News from our good friend Mr. Effisk over on Pearl-Guide.com is that the tax has been voted out by the French Polynesian assembly earlier in the month. It will go back into effect in 2010. That should be enough time to suck all the black-pearl, shit-grade out of Tahiti and dump it on the market. Way to go, guys! You’re future seems bright from here!

But get this! Members of the industry voted. Well, duh! Give me a chance to cancel my last check to the man and I'd take it!

But who are these industry people who have so much pull? Does anyone know? Are there a couple of powerful industry people who stand to benefit tremendously from a temporary tax suspension who would have enough pull to get a vote in the French Polynesian Assembly? And by the way, who were the replacements?

I don't even WANna venture guess.

Yip, yip, yip, yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Sorry about the shout out. I just heard the on CNN that the 37 year-old members of a Domincan Little League team are going to be hosting a charity banquet with the 4 year-old girls of the Chinese gymnastic team for Falun Gong in Beijing.

And what the hell is the deal with Mastoloni?!
You know what they say. A fool and his pearls are soon humiliated.

Detecting Fraudulent Pearls!

So this morning I ran across an article on Physorg.com about cultured pearls and determining origin. The article, titled "Fraud with Cultured Pearls Can Be Detected", immediately caught my eye. What sort of fraud, right?

Reading this article was a bit of a chore. I kept checking the Google translate button at the top of my browser to make sure this article was not in German. The topic of the article is a discovery made by two scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany. They have discovered a way to differentiate sweet-water pearls from China and cultured pearls from Japan. By sweet-water, I am pretty sure they are referring to freshwater. And although they call Japan’s pearls “sweet-water” as well, the description of the pearls clearly indicates they are referring to akoya. Ground breaking, right?!

The scientists’ argument is that even experts cannot tell the difference between freshwater pearls from China and akoya pearls from Japan, which are worth up to ten times more (according to the article). This ground-breaking discovery would enable labs and pearls experts to accurately distinguish one type of pearl from another.

The method, called laser ablation ICP mass spectrometry, determines whether or not pearls contain vaterite. OK, that cinches it. They are definitely comparing akoya and Chinese freshwater pearls, not Japanese and Chinese freshwater pearls as Biwa and Kasumi pearls both contain vaterite, a calcium carbonate polymorph that is known to adversely affect luster in concentrations near a freshwater pearl’s surface.

I’m now considering sending a letter to the university requesting publication of my own discovery! I too have found a way to accurately distinguish Chinese freshwater pearls from Japanese akoya!

My method involves directing a stream of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths of ~300 nm to ~1400 nm on a strand of akoya or freshwater pearls. Then I utilize a device that works on the principles of the Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization: Proximity, Similarity, Closure, Symmetry, Common fate and Continuity. I’ve found this method to be foolproof! I’ve never seen a strand of akoya or freshwater pearls that were not completely distinguishable from one another.

The greatest part of my method is that a lab is completely unnecessary. You can use any room in your office.

I call my method, “Just turn on the lights and look at the pearls, dumbass!”

Ballerina Pearl Company, What Have You Done?!

We all know what the Ballerina Pearl Company started a few years ago, right? They were the originators of the latest Tahitian craze, chocolate pearls. The popularity of their pearls brought imitators quickly into the market, but Ballerina's pearls were different. They were not dyed, they were bleached.

There was a lot of hubbub in the industry last year about the difference between dyed pearls and bleached pearls. The CPAA jumped on board demanding disclosure. Betty Sue King went on record saying dyed Tahitians "cheapened the prestigious name of South Sea pearls." It really all just boiled down to the fact that a loud member of the CPAA was THE distributor of the over-priced "bleached" version of chocolates. The members were circling their wagons, protecting their own.

In my opinion, what is the difference? Neither are natural. They are both treatments. They are both permanent. If the sun goes down, your windows go dark. If you paint your windows black, your windows go dark. It's semantics, people.

Well guess what this Ballerina invention has now lead to. More varieties of bleached Tahitian pearls.

According to Akira Hyatt and published in the recent Summer edition of Gems & Gemology, she was asked to examine two different strands of Tahitian pearls with odd coloration. There were golds, browns, greens with tones that just did not seem natural. She was able to determine by EDXRF analysis that the Tahitians were bleached! They were not dyed!

I wish I could show a picture of the strand. There is a photo in the G&G. But those G&G folks would have my pearls for breakfast if I posted it here. THEY own the photo. THEY are the mighty G&G, a part of mighty GIA.

On a side note. Anybody know why GIA never had the word "the" in front of it? Do you put the word "the" in front of God?

Advice to the Tahitians

With all this recent hub-bub about GIE PDT and the export tax, one cannot help but wonder if everyone on French Polynesia has the good of the industry at heart, or if most are just thinking about favorite numero uno.

Nearly every farmer that does not smuggle their garbage pearls out of Tahiti must be sitting on a mountain of what should be calcium carbonate dust by Ministry of Perliculture standards. Or maybe the nacre thickness is good enough, but the pearls have too many rings, they are too small, or just too ugly to be worth the 200pf per gram just to get the little ogre-balls out of the country.

Farmers of French Polynesia, take a lesson from a kimono-wearing, crinkly-faced old man of Japan back in October, 1932. Destroy them all and the value of your product will go up (not to mention the perceived value and quality of the brand). Mikimoto torched 720,000 of his pearls as the world watched. His name was behind his product. He cared about the future of his brand. Don't you see this is what GIE PDT has been trying to do all along? Did you think they thought it up themselves?

Kammuri Hammers China's Akoya

It seems like the Chinese cannot catch a break these days. Last August, the southern coast of China and home to the Chinese akoya industry was hammered by a typhoon that filled the rivers that dumped too much freshwater into the saline bays resulting in immediate death to nearly all akoya mollusks at pearl farms up and down the coast.

Last year's devastating loss brought the industry nearly to its knees. Total losses were in the range of 80%. The trickle-down effect throughout the industry is still being felt as suddenly even Japan is running low on pearls; in large part because the Japanese have been secretly importing so much of their akoya stock from China.

Well somewhere, sometime, somehow, someone in China did something pretty bad in August because Karma is a true bitch! Almost exactly one year later the same area is getting hammered once again. Kammuri is dumping rain and doing its best to rip to shreds the tattered remains of of the Chinese akoya industry.

Pearls on Antarctica?

Could you even imagine a pearl retail center on Antarctica? Who the hell lives on Antarctica, right? When I heard this news I was ready to call bullshit one more time assuming our old Indian friend Ajai Kumar Sonkar was behind the rumor. But it actually has nothing to do with that pearling fake. It is the SS pearl-king himself behind this story - Nicholas Paspaley Jr!

Well it is true. Paspaley is behind the pearl cultural, heritage and retail center to be built on Antarctica - a man-made island in the United Arab Emirates! Construction should be finished in 2010. This is one more part of the Pearl of Arabia project of the UAE in an attempt to regain their earlier prominence in the now-extinct local industry of pearl collection.

I wonder if the Japanese are on board with this. First the Tahitians take over their own distribution channels, the Chinese start selling akoya and freshwater pearls direct, and Australia now rules the South Sea pearl industry AND is experimenting with akoya. Now they want to move the world pearl-capitol from Japan to the desert! If I were Mikimoto I would be pissed! but then again, if I were William Sawville-Kent I would be mad as hell!

Sex and the Akoya

According to Modern Jeweler's Kremkow, the akoya pearl is back this Summer. It is back in a big, sexy way!

Mikimoto took the stage in the recent movie Sex in the City, with a 32-inch, 8.5 mm strand of akoya pearls ($11,900) worn by Sarah Jessica Parker's character, Carrie Bradshaw.

OK. We're talking about SJP. Great actor. She is cute. She is popular. But sexy...? No one can argue against that when she climbs into bed with Mr. Big wearing nothing else! Akoya pearls in bed are sexy. Hell, freshwater pearls in bed are sexy. Just ask Kiki de Montparnasse!

Riding on the popularity bandwagon, Mikimoto is advertising its Sex in the City placement in its stores and online imitators were quick to snag a piece. Opera length necklaces appropriately named "City Strands" and "Carrie's Pearls" are popping up everywhere.

Chunky Pearls Again!

What is it with Chunky Pearls?!

Rae Ann Herman, of Glamour Magazine, says of McCain's "Chunky Pearls", “A chunky necklace needs a confident woman to carry it off...”

What is the deal?! "Chunky" is honestly the best word these fashion afficionados can come up with? To me, when I hear the word chunky I think of a candy bar and those extra holiday pounds, not a $100,000 strand of pearls.

This is an article about the differing styles of McCain and Obama - the wives not the dueling boys. It seems that the two potential first ladies are bringing pearls to the forefront of style once again. It is back to the days of Onassis boys and girls.

Do you know what I did not vote for Hillary? When asked "diamonds or pearls," her response was "both." That is just plain wrong!

GIE Perles de Tahiti

So what the hell is going on over at GIE?! According to a release today Coeroli is out and and promotional funds diverted to only the three major markets. How does this make any sense?

Coeroli was one of the best things to ever happen to GIE. He has had so much influence over the industry and done such a great job promoting French Polynesia's number one export to the world. I would put him right up there with the likes of Wan, Domard and Assael.

The events in the industry are understandable. The US economy sucks. The dollar is dropping like a rock against every currency but the yen. The primary buying markets for Tahitian pearls are Japan and the US. Jewelers are scared to stock pearls. Wholesalers are stuck with inventory that is not moving. They are not interested in buying more. This has meant a huge drop in demand that is hitting at the same time an over-abundance of supply is hitting the market. Everyone has 8-10 mm goods to move. They can barely give them away.

Hopefully this is just another wave through the industry. Things always have a tendency to be cyclical. Things will get better. But what about the GIE? Are these changes permanent? Are they going to abolish the export tax?

Questions, questions questions... only time will answer them all.

Thousand Year Old Pearls Found in China

A box discovered Dabaoen Temple in China was opened within the last couple of days and a two pearls along with some other relics were found inside.

There is no description of the pearls found. I wonder if they are fresh or salt, blister or whole. I bet one thing is for sure! The pearls are nucleated with some sort of Buddhist amulet (my joke for your gullible Pearl of Allah fanatics).

UAE Wants the Industry Back

The United Arab Emirates is making a push toward bringing the pearl industry back to its natural roots in the gulf region. Prior to oil discovery pearls were the "oil" of the Middle East. Its hard to imagine anything trumping oil over there!

The UAE hosted a Pearl Revival Convention last year. I still remember seeing an article with a picture of Nick Paspaley looking ne'er-too-demure in a suit alongside his robe-clad Middle Eastern counterpart. This year they are looking to expand that program and Paspaley clearly sees profit potential in this rich country - a country historically opposed to pearl culture.

The Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) is taking an active role in bringing pearls back to the Emirates. This year they have announced a design contest called Pearl Essence which will pit designers using pearls against one another and students as well.

Chunky Pearls are In!

According to Sonny Sethi from the jeweler Tara & Sons, chunky pearls are in!

That is really an interesting choice of words in my opinion. "Chunky" is not something I would typically associate with a large strand of pearls. Large pearls, Wilmas, Klonks ... anything but chunky!

But he is right! We are seeing them everywhere. Michelle Obama (almost certainly the next First Lady of the United States) wears them in nearly every appearance. People have speculated that her's are fake; but that is very doubtful, in my opinion.

Cindy McCain wears several different styles of pearls according to Amy's Style Notes. I have seen her in the triple strand that seems to have the luster of a fine set of akoyas, but the size!

I think this entire trend started with Nancy Pelosi, personally. It was around five years ago she started sporting that strand of Tahitians and South Seas. The pearls were "chunky" by all accounts - at least 14 mm. Pelosi's pearls included some solid-color large strands as well, if I recall correctly.

How about a real longshot? Obama picks Pelosi as a running mate and the first lady as well as the VP are pearl-adorned. THAT would start an uber-trend.

World's Most Expensive Holiday

With Pearls!

The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi is offering the world's most expensive vacation. A $1 million vacation that includes private jet service and "the rarest pearls in the world" from "Robert Wang".

I am going to go out on limb here and say I think they are talking about Robert Wan, not Robert Wang. I am interested to know, however, how a Tahitian pearl farmer from French Polynesia is providing the rarest pearls in the world for this PR campaign. The rarest cultured would be large South Sea pearls. The rarest naturals would be the Barodas.

Who the Hell is Ajai Kumar Sonkar

There is this supposed scientist in New Delhi India who claims to have developed a new kind of pearl. He is describing it sort of like an icon pearl, but as a free, whole pearl. In this article it is supposedly 42 mm in size, shaped like Lord Ganesha, and grown in a Pteria penguin. He claims it is worth $30,000.

This is the same guy who a few years ago stated he had created the world's largest black pearls in the Andamans. Anyone remember this article? This same dude claims to have cultured a 22 mm black pearl with an 8 mm nucleus. Oh yeah, and he claimed it was worth $30,000. He also claimed to have a 90%+ rate of nucleus retention and pearl production in his experiments.

Well, let me be the first to call bullshit. I do not believe this guy for an instant. I read the black pearl article a couple years ago but never saw a shred of proof. Even reading this article it is clear that the author knows so little about pearl production. He claims that 6 mm pearls take three years to grow in Japan and he cannot spell mantle - something he is supposedly working with to create his amazing pearls.

Are they growing weed in India now? Mushrooms? Something with hallucinogenic properties? This guy has more stories than Dr. Seuss.

Paspaley's Latest Collection

Paspaley has apparently just put out a release about a new style of earring they have designed. They are saying they whisper subtle elegance.

From what I have seen from Paspaley in the past, this is most likely an entire line of jewelry that follows a similar motiff.

My favorite Paspaley collection of all time was the Dolce collection. I am not usually a fan of diamonds and pearls combined together, but this collection was something different. The centerpiece of the collection was a necklace that seemed to flow in waves around large white South Sea pearls.

I am keen to see this latest collection. The earrings are nice, but without seeing the collection ensemble I am underwhelmed.

My Newest Blog!

I have been thinking of writing a blog for some time. It is one of those things that I say I am going to do but I never really get around to doing it. Well, I'm giving it a try.

My main passions in life are family and pearls. They say you should blog about your passions but I don't feel like blogging about my family. So, this is going to be all about pearls; my comments and thoughts about pearls and my take on articles written by others about pearls.

I love all pearls but my favorites are Tahitian and freshwater.