RE: Mexican Sur de Mar (South Sea) pearls

[Caitlin]

In another post, http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56 someone asked about black Mexican pearls. J Shepherd responded and said there are black Mexican pearls.

I googled Mexican pearls and found this site with a brief history.
http://www.perlas.com.mx/history.htm

Balboa christened the Pacific ocean on the sw side of Mexico the Mar de Sur and the first South Sea pearls were from the Gulf of California. Click through for some interesting history and interesting pictures.

Looks like a growth industry and we are among the first to hear about it!

[Kenji]

Yes, I have heard of these pearls as well. but I have never seen them in person, just pictures. I would love the chance to examine a full strand. I have come across that website in the past and read all about the pearls. But when I tried to email the proprietors all the email addresses bounced. Hopefully they are online on this forum so they can let us know their contact info.

[Caitlin]

I checked out their website carefully. They will be at the Radisson Hotel in Tucson in February for the Tucson Gem Show,which happens to be the largest gem show in the world. They are one of the first booths I plan on visiting.

I believe they are among the most expensive in the world, even their very baroques, because they will produce only about 6,000 pearls or so this year. I will find out what a strand would cost at various pricing levels, though I think they will probably sell one by one.

They are growing fast and apparently have found a less traumatic method of nucleating that allows a very high percent of oyster survival, so I expect a gradual increase in numbers and maybe a little decrease in price.

Since this is a Mexican university & gov't joint effort, I am sure there will be printed literature I can pick up at that time. I will tell them about this forum if they haven't noticed by then and I hope to report back to this here about the Mexican pearls .

One thing I think is interesting is many Mexican pearls come from the rainbow lipped oyster which is a unique species from other oyster varieties- a pteria oyster. The pearls apparently have the best luster in the world and are very rainbow-like in a mysterious way. The black lipped oyster also lives in Mexican waters, so I will try to learn what distinguishes the pearls from each.

There are a few pictures on their site if readers click through on the above link.

[Caitlin]

These are pictures of Mexican Pearls from the "Perlas del Mar de Cortez site"

[Caitlin]

The picture of two oysters compares the black lipped (Pinctada mazatlanica) with the rainbow lipped oyster (Pteria sterna).

[Caitlin]

I just read that the summer edition of Gems and Gemology, a quarterly publication of the Gemological Institute of America, has an article on pearls from the Gulf of California.

Anyone see it?

Ok, I just found this link
http://www.gia.edu/gemsandgemology/1...cle_detail.cfm. It has a summary and instructions for getting the back issue.

Also here is a link to look at a strand of Mexican pearls by artist Care Ehret
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...953314260&rd=1

Care says in her description that this strand is one of only 8 (eight!) strands sold by the Sea of Cortez pearls people this year! She also has one set of Mexican pearl earrings up for sale today. And that is all the product I have been able to find on the net, so far.

This artist lives in Tucson, where I also live so I ebay-mailed her to ask permission to post the actual photo here with the link. She is a quality ebay pearl seller-unlike many and I hope to meet her and perhaps interview her for a future post on this forum. She has other some incredibly interesting pearls in her ebay store and designs handmade granualated 22k goldwork to enhance them.

[Kenji]

So these pictures are all pearls from these Mexican pearls? Interesting...
I actually do not have plans to visit the Tucson Show. I would like to see the pearls, however. The shows in Hong Kong and Japan are always better for pearl dealers than the shows in the US. The prices always jump when the pearls cross the borders.

[Caitlin]

I bet the prices jump!

I am not attending the show to buy, but to further my pearl education by looking at some of the higher end pearls that are commercially available. I hope to quote some retail prices here.

I just decided to do a new thread for the rest of my answer!

[jshepherd]

The pearls are beautiful, in their own way. I still feel that they are very over-priced at this point. The cost of production is just prohibitive I feel. Eventually they may drop, but again there is only one 'Lake Kasumigaura' so the prices may not...

[dmclaren]

I've read your comments. I have some photos of last year's harvest of Mexican Cultured Pearls...they have a trade-name: "Perlas del Mar de Cortez" or "Sea of Cortez Pearls", quite an apt name for this product.

The colors are a 100% natural. No Photoshop! Enjoy!

[dmclaren]

Maybe I am not allowed to post pictures (being a Junior member), but if you want to

[dmclaren]

These are 4 round cultured pearls from Mexico. Their color variation and orient are excellent!

[Satine De La Courcel]

Just a heads up on this site...As I looked over their information about La Peregrina, They listed Charleton Heston and not Richard Burton as giving Elizabeth Taylor this magnificent pearl.....

Ashby

[jshepherd]

Thanks for sharing the photos!

The orient is amazing! It is usually difficult to capture this with film, but the pearls are so full it comes out in each pearl individually!
Do you deal in these pearls? I see you are located in Mexico City. I used to live on Rio Amazonas, just off the Zona Rosa. What area are you in? I would love to visit your shop to see these in person the next time I am in D.F.

[jshepherd]

Just a heads up on this site...As I looked over their information about La Peregrina, They listed Charleton Heston and not Richard Burton as giving Elizabeth Taylor this magnificent pearl.....

Ashby

I see it too...but I think it could be an honest mistake. Movie stars are lumped into periods at times, you know. I think Burton died in 1984, but if he were alive today no doubt he would want that pearl back! I am going to see it for the first time on Saturday!