Pearl Guide News

A Historical Reprint from our Friends at Pala International
Pala?s Featured Gems: Natural Abalone Pearls

This month we feature something a little out of the ordinary?a local Californian/Mexican treat. Pala has found a new supplier of these ocean jewels and it has been exciting to see all the freeform shapes and iridescent colors nature can conjure up. Greens, blues, pinks, purples?oh my! These colorful metallic looking concretions spark in the viewer a wonder of formation and inspire...

As part of Orange County, California?s Fashion Week, I attended FIDM's annual Fashion Museum Soiree on Saturday. Themed "Fabulous!", it was a private, ticketed event with a VIP reception area, refreshments and seating for the runway shows. The event benefitted the FIDM Museum Fashion Council, which hopes to acquire the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection. (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) http://fidmmuseum.org



It was still in the nineties when the event started, but...

Etienne Perret first came to my attention a few years ago when I fell in love with a pair of earrings that were decorating a beautiful woman. They were a swoop of white metal and diamonds, twining around Tahitian pearls. Now I know I was looking at his "Tendril" earrings.





And the clean-lined Madonna ring is another design that rises to the beauty of the orb, which makes sense, because Etienne has always had a special affinity for pearls.

Etienne: "I think it must be that I have an...

Five years ago, I had the pleasure to see and photograph several pieces of finely crafted jewelry that featured natural pearls. This was at a time when precious metal prices were rising to unforeseen heights and the recession was sending luxury spending to new lows.

So, admire the jewelry maker that did what was right ? honored the natural pearl by giving it its proper setting ? 18K gold, platinum, and fine diamonds, executed by the finest craftspeople in the jewelry industry.

I hope you...

Third in a series by Antique Jewelry Collector Paul Royse. See the first one here.

Antique Pearl Jewelry that YOU could own - 1800 to 1850
By Paul Royse

By the end of the 1700's a great nation had formed through the American War of Independence (1775?1783), and another great nation was transformed as a result of the French Revolution (1789-1799).

Transformations also occurred at the personal level. New ideas of freedom and liberty were in the air, and new forms of literature appeared...

Second in a series by Antique Jewelry Collector Paul Royse. See the first one here.

Antique Pearl Jewelry that YOU could own - The 1700's
By Paul Royse

The Age of Discovery, launched by Columbus discovering America, and Vasco da Gama opening the route to India, rapidly led to the development and expansion of global trade.

Pearls soon began to reach Europe in quantity from the Sea of Cort?s (off California) and the coasts around India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Many of the greatest of...