[ferdinand]

hi everyone. my name is ferdinand from the philippines. actually im new in this site and am very excited to read all your posts. i seem to see a lot of opportunities and ideas about pearls.

my interest in pearls actually started only when i came visit my uncle one time to ask for work. instead of actually giving me work he suggested that i sell pearls instead. i didnt really appreciate it at first but later he told me that its a wonderful income opportunity and he even told me that he will give me a good price so i could start quickly and sell fast.

my uncle by the way owns a pearl farm here in cebu, philippines. as of today there are only two pearl farms here in cebu.

hope i could show you all the samples he entrusted me, after telling me how much it all worth...

[Valeria101]

There are some rules against outright advertising. But if your posting the pearls doesn't breach those rules... sure I'd like to see them and hear about their source! Any pictures of the farm by any chance?

[J. Larry Railey]

Hello, Ferdinand,

My wife is from Dumaguete and taught school in Cebu for 20 years until she was recruited by a school district here in Houston, Texas, US when I met her in 2002. She and I were in Cebu and Dumaguete last year. I didn’t know there were pearl farms in Cebu; I presumed the waters were too polluted. I presume your pearls are bead nucleated. What sizes do you sell? How long do you grow them before harvest? How thick is the nacre? What treatments do you do to them? Dyeing? Are they drilled? Do you sell loose or on strands? As Valeria said…we sure would like to see some pictures.

Larry
J. Larry Railey
Railey & Associates
jlr@houston.rr.com

[jshepherd]

Cebu City, highly unlikely. The only "farm" is the Davao resort, and it is not a real pearl farm. Cebu Province... I guess it is possible somewhere in the Visayas, but most farms are very remote and very difficult to get to.

[perlas]

I've never heard of a pearl farm in Cebu. The place is too commercial for a pearl farm. Although Cebu is a major exporter of shells, Philippine pearls usually come from Palawan and Mindanao.

[Kevin Canning]

well lets see a pic of your samples and give us more information on the actual location of the farm?

[SunshinePearls]

In the GIA's Book of South Sea Pearls within the Course on pearls is a section called "Phillippine South Sea Cultured Pearls", there is a map, whose source is Jewellery News Asia, showing 1 pearl farm between Bohol Island and Cebu Island, and 2 pearl farms on the other side of Cebu Island, between Cebu Island and Negros Island. All told this map shows 21 pearl farms with the greatest concentration around Palawan and Busuanga. A lot of the area between Cebu and Bohol is a marine sanctuary and teeming with fish, not polluted at all. I have seen something that looked like a pearl farm; but,of course they don't advertise.
The GIA book says that the Philippine culture both P.Margaritifera (native to the Philippines); but smaller than those grown in French polynesia. Mostly they grow P.maxima in silver and gold lipped varieties.
As is a lot of the business in the Philippines, most Philippine farms are joint ventures with the Japanese. It says the largest farm employs about 700, and consists of four farms, and they sell most of their pearls in Japan.

[perlas]

Originally Posted by SunshinePearls

In the GIA's Book of South Sea Pearls within the Course on pearls is a section called "Phillippine South Sea Cultured Pearls", there is a map, whose source is Jewellery News Asia, showing 1 pearl farm between Bohol Island and Cebu Island, and 2 pearl farms on the other side of Cebu Island, between Cebu Island and Negros Island.

I'm not sure... the data maybe outdated.
If a pearl farm is located between Cebu and Bohol (approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes apart by boat), I would have known about it. If it's between Cebu and Negros Island (approx. 2.5 hours apart by boat), this is more probable.

I've done island hopping in these places and have not encountered any pearl farms.

In either case, vessels usually pass between Negros and Cebu, Cebu and Bohol.

Originally Posted by SunshinePearls

All told this map shows 21 pearl farms with the greatest concentration around Palawan and Busuanga. A lot of the area between Cebu and Bohol is a marine sanctuary and teeming with fish, not polluted at all. I have seen something that looked like a pearl farm; but,of course they don't advertise.

Metro Cebu is polluted.
Bohol and Negros are marine sanctuaries.

The marine sanctuary in Dumaguete, Negros, was just restored after being desroyed by fishermen and now a scuba diving resort.

The best marine sanctuaries are in Palawan, Busuanga and Mindoro where the famous Apo Reef is located.

http://whc.unesco.org/fr/listesindicatives/5033/

Originally Posted by SunshinePearls

The GIA book says that the Philippine culture both P.Margaritifera (native to the Philippines); but smaller than those grown in French polynesia. Mostly they grow P.maxima in silver and gold lipped varieties.
As is a lot of the business in the Philippines, most Philippine farms are joint ventures with the Japanese. It says the largest farm employs about 700, and consists of four farms, and they sell most of their pearls in Japan.

Yes, I've heard of joint-ventures with the Japanese but the farms are located in Mindanao. There is also a farm in Luzon producing fw blister pearls.

[mandyshan]

I 'm new here ,but i really like to introduce our zhuji fresh water pearls here .All of them are natural color and nearly round in nice shining .Our zhuji city is famous for the fresh water pearl ,the scenery is very beautiful for the pearl farms .I will send more photo so share with you .

[Valeria101]

Hi!
It is hard to miss a couple of pearls in the pile with particularly intense color .. violet and orange, aparently, although the colors apear slightly distorted in the image. Do you single out these stronger colors?

[Caitlin]

Hi Mandyshan
At what stage are those pearls in? They have been washed, but nothing else? Now do you separate and grade them? What other processes do you subject them to? I like the natural colors. Do any of them have orient and water?

[mandyshan]

Now they are grading, they should separate from size ,color ,shape for many times. Normally it's finished by less necklaces .most of them would be sold by single or kilogram,if by kilogram the quality is not good enough ,but of course they are natural ,just because the shape is not round enough or is not shinning .And the single choosed from them are really perfect .

[National Pearl]

Hi Mandyshan,

Just wanted to welcome you to the forum. Good luck!

[Mandy]

ferdinand kinda went poof, didn't he? Maybe he'll come back offering another type of pearl, hmm? ;P

[mandyshan]

I like pearl-guide very much and like to share my freshwater pearl in pearl-guide .