[smetzler]

Originally Posted by pattye

Next stop Kojima Pearls…She had some lovely abalone pendants, beautifully done, so I asked if she would like to see mine, turns out it is one of her custom pieces! Wow, small world!

So how did my 'appraisal' hold up?

Wow, can't believe all the activity, while I was stuck on an airplane. I'm so inspired I just might extend my Florida itinerary to Key West and check out those Margarita pearls after all (kidding…got to be another time!).

Blaire, that sunrise was no tease—another of nature's gems! Upon return to the office I'll reciprocate with a photo of us on the trail of 'gems' from the Spanish wine country.

[jerin]

[quote=GemGeek;24012]Pearl Guide reporter Blaire is hot on Pattye and Caitlin's heels....

Left San Diego at 4:30 a.m. in order to get to Tucson in time to go to the Pueblo show at Riverpark Inn..

Here is an unperky Blaire, greeting the dawn in her intrepid Plymouth Vibe...

Attachment 2652

I had to drive for twenty minutes through the mountains in deep fog and total darkness, so I was whooped before I got through the first two hours. The sunrise was worth the wait...


What great photos,
THANK YOU BLAIRE!

[jerin]

Hi Pattye

this is just to thank YOU AS WELL for reporting. It is great to have our fellow members doing this service for us who can´t travel that far....

[pattye]

Hi All,

It's a good thing to sit down sometimes and think about all we've seen--sometimes not so easy to put into words, but fun to try.

Bead-nucleated pearls--Totally forgot to report on these at the G&LW (Gem Mall) which has the lower end merchandise, no, that does not mean cheap! We are seeing quite a few bead-nucleated pearls. Lots are drops, which seems to be the most common formation. Many varying qualities. Few strands of any type have the grade on them, so one has to rely on good eyesight, or any loupes or magnifying glasses one might have on hand. We saw about 6 strands of 22-23 hugh pearls approx (13-16mm), quite round wrinkly, Kasumi type pearls, with bronzy rainbow colors, $5000. Caitlin did not expect to see anything that high end at this location.

Some of the "piles" of pearls are marked bead- nucleated, and in other cases when we asked, were told they were bead-nucleated. They also had trays with strands of the most pitiful Tahitians we had ever seen, no lustre, huge pits and flaws for $100 per strand. Sarah's booth (Kojima Pearls) had a dish of loose undrilled Tahitians for $20 each if I remember correctly, and they would do custom drilling, a much, much better value, IMO.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[Caitlin]

I forgot which thread the comments on time zone in Tucson are. So, I'll put it here. Tucson and most of AZ stays on Mountain Standard time year round. That means when CA is on daylight savings, it is the same time as AZ. During the winter when CA is on standard time, AZ is one hour later than CA.

[pattye]

Hi All--

Today the G.L.D.A. and the GJX opened. They are very popular--and Tucson is gearing up for this weekend, which is the biggest in the approx 3 weeks of overlapping shows. The lines were long to get in, more security guards, more checking of credentials, etc. People were pushing and crowding, I thought I was at a Macy's sale or something. These shows have booth after booth of high quality cut gemstones, gemstone strands, including diamonds, emeralds, lots of rubies, also finished jewelry and high end pearls. It was amazing to find booth after booth with huge south seas and tahitians, strand after strand, with prices like $32,000 wholesale, etc. Of course, we made a beeline for Sea of Cortez booth. Enrique, one of the other marine biologists was there, and Douglas will arrive on Saturday. We picked out some mabes ($90 ea) lovely colors! So much fun to see in person! Many of the pearls they had were pre-sold, and folks were to pick them up at the end of the show! If they had taken them earlier, there would have been nothing to see! And honestly, there were not a lot of pearls. So I have a better understanding of just how small the harvest is. When I mentioned I was one lucky enough to have a full strand, Enrique gave me a little scolding, saying that they are much to precious to make into strands! I assured him they are a great great treasure to me!

All in all, it is truly amazing to see such top quality gems all in one place! Oh, roommate Elaine Wootten arrived late Tuesday, so we have been having a great time comparing notes, and Caitlin was with us for much of today's adventures also.

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[smetzler]

Originally Posted by pattye

All in all, it is truly amazing to see such top quality gems all in one place!

Thanks so much for the continuing reports, definitely feel better prepared for my planned first-ever visit next year.

[Josh]

I still haven't met Caitlin or Pattye but hope to tomorrow.
Sarah and Fuji of Kojima Pearls and Pacific Pearls (respectively) have been my guardian angels. They share a booth and are both known far and wide for their expertise, kindness, amazing pearls and professionalism. They do just about all kinds of pearls but insiders know them as THE premium source for unfindable natural pearls. Their family has been in the pearl biz for several generations so they make farmers like me look like real upstarts.

[jerin]

Hi Josh,

I just wanted to let you know that I have a video of Fuji Voll´s father, who is/was known as the "Pearl King" in Japan. It was a german production, very informative and he had a very good reputation.

In one scene he and his daughter showed some of their very huge inventory of pearls - it was amazing!
Ask him about it, perhaps he has some left for You or any of our members, it really was most interesting to get advice (in that case it was about BEUTIFUL Akoyas) and pictures from one of the largest auctions did show the amazing crops......

BTW: See if you can get a pic of Enrice and Douglas together with You, that would be nice....

[salem]

Originally Posted by jerin

I just wanted to let you know that I have a video of Fuji Voll´s father, who is/was known as the "Pearl King" in Japan. It was a german production, very informative and he had a very good reputation.

Hi Jerin,

I just wanted to ask a question about your post. I have only heard of Kokichi Mikimoto being referred to as the Pearl King of Japan. Does he have any realtion to Fuji Voll's father? Do you know what his father's name is? I am just curious because it has never come up in any of my conversations with jewelers here. They all speak highly of Mikimoto(the man, if not the pearls), so I was just curious on who I was missing out on. Thanks!

[GemGeek]

Hi There! I have been busy non-stop, but no shopping since Sunday when I arrived. On Monday, I arrived at the convention center for the NAJA conference and it looked like this...



But moments later it looked like this...



Then it proceeded to rain heavily all day!

The first day, it was very cold, but the next two days, I had to fill water bottles with hot water to get the ice off my windows. It was 30 degrees and my windows were frozen shut until I got my heater going. Brrrrrr! Not your normal Tucson weather. It's supposed to get warmer now and the weekend should be terrific.

On Tuesday I had lunch with author Renee Newman, who I already knew, and Elisabeth Strack. Elisabeth was so taken with the fact that I was wearing pearl rings that she took a photo of me and Renee with my hands outstretched! Apparently, in Europe, pearls are not worn as an everyday item. We agreed that Italy may be the exception!

When she signed my book, I showed her my new pearl bird pendant and she took photos of that, too. Pretty cool.

[GemGeek]

On Wednesday, I attended the AGA - Accredited Gemologists Association conference. It was very interesting. During the hands-on session, I talked to Antoinette Matlins about her Quahog pearls on display...











Okay, I am in a rush because I promised to meet someone. Hopefully I'll get away with more photos.

Cheers,
Blaire

[GemGeek]

Oh, yeah, there was a killer party last night where someone sponsored the drinks which were made with Absoulut red grapefruit vodka. They flowed all night. Next year I'm staying in the hotel where all the parties are so I can have more than one drink! I always worry about driving...

[jerin]

Originally Posted by salem

Hi Jerin,

I just wanted to ask a question about your post. I have only heard of Kokichi Mikimoto being referred to as the Pearl King of Japan. Does he have any realtion to Fuji Voll's father? Do you know what his father's name is? I am just curious because it has never come up in any of my conversations with jewelers here. They all speak highly of Mikimoto(the man, if not the pearls), so I was just curious on who I was missing out on. Thanks!

Salem,
I have to look at the DVD, it´s such a long time I watched it - I come back later. However, the name "Pearl King" was referring to him because he had such a lot of pearls, was known as a very honest man in all the important circles that are doing business with pearls.

The original Pearl King was Kokichi Mikimoto of course!

[youngster]

Thanks so much to pattye, Blaire, and Caitlin for their posts. This has been so fun to read.