GemGeek

Hong Kong is, without a doubt, an amazing city. It's filled with diversity in people, food, architecture, fashion and night life. And most fascinating from my viewpoint, it is filled with pearls.

Hong Kong brims with offices where pearl deals are made throughout the year. Wholesalers and large retailers come from around the world to fill their inventory with every pearl type and quality. But the epicenter of Hong Kong pearl activity is the world-class show sponsored by UBM Asia - the Hong...

On the Western coast of Canada, there is a lively natural treasure - Lagoon Island. That is where Canadian researcher and pearl farmer, Dave LeBlanc, operates Lagoon Island Pearls.

The California Mussel loves the environment, which can at times be very harsh, but is host to a vast eco-system. These mussels produce delicate beauties - natural pearls in shades from pale ivory to violet black. Dave also experiments with cultured pearls.



California mussel pearls can display chatoyant flame...

Gabriel Mattice, gemologist extraordinaire at Pala International, demonstrates the fascinating properties of faceted pearls. "Even though the facets on this pearl appear convex; they are actually completely flat..... it's an art."




Be sure to visit the Pala website to sign up for the gem and mineral newsletters - the BEST!

www.palagems.com

Blaire Beavers
Managing Editor
Pearl Guide News

A rare natural pearl might not be the first thing you think of to celebrate a holiday, but you can bet no one else will have the same bragging rights as the person who gives a Tridacna gigas necklace.



Pearls from the Tridacna gigas are typically not lustrous, but have a subtle glow. Commonly known as the Giant Clam, the shells can grow large enough to be used as baptismal fonts.



Earrings made from Spondylus princeps pearls could be very complimentary. This spiny oyster is found off the...

Jack Lynch really is a PEARL. To know him is to love him. He's a charming gentleman with an extravagant love for life and a great sense of humor.

This AGTA Tucson Show will be his last show. He's selling out his inventory and riding off into the Bay Area sunset.


Photograph by Margot Friend

Here's to Jack Lynch -- may he have a long healthy life, and a very happy retirement!

Join us at Pearl-Guide.com, Jack. I know you'll have the time.

Blaire Beavers
Managing Editor
Pearl Guide News

There was a time when people were suspicious of the amazing colors coming from cultured freshwater pearls. There were rumors of something being seeded in the water, or dye being injected into mussels. The conjecture about treatment in the shell was dead wrong - it was the shell itself that initiated the change.*

The shells were adapted from a hybrid of Hyriopsis schlegeli, Biwa Pearly Mussel and Hyriopsis cumingi, Triangle Shell Mussel. Through dedicated experimentation, we now see colors...