Learning About Pearls in the Philippines

[lucyryalls]

Hi Everyone,

I have just decided on a career - finally! At 23 I have decided that the jewellery industry is where I want to be! Unfortunately / fortunately (whichever way you want to look at it) I am at the moment, based in the Philippines. Fortuantely we have a lot of pearls here. Unfortunately there doesnt seem to be any quality education offered on gemology.

I am currently taking the GIA GG and also the pearls course via distance learning, Im really enjoying it, but not getting too much hands on experience.

I am basically looking for any learning experiences that I can find, eg work experiance with any pearl dealers / retailers or visiting pearl farms - anything really that's a little more hands on than staring at a book all day! Any Ideas?

Thanks a million
Lucy

[jshepherd]

You should take a trip to visit jewelmer! That would be an educational experience! You should also subscribe to Pearl World, the Journal:
http://www.pearl-guide.com/pearl-world-journal.shtml

You will get a lot more from 2-3 issues than you will get from the GIA course. They had a great article about the Philippine industry last fall. If you email me I will send you a copy. I liked it so much I requested a PDF copy.