I returned to PG on Sunday to post our new Kima (Tridacna) ring, and noticed Blair's very recent posting of this brooch as 'pearl of the week.' Now I see it is a thread—kind of spooky! My ears must have been ringing!
A little background may enhance appreciation. The piece expresses my early passion for naturals resulting from a visit to the Cook Islands in 2006. Poe Pipi were followed soon thereafter by Paua. My sourcing instincts, well-honed from our pioneering wine importing business, kicked in big time and the collecting began.
A critical mass of multi-colored, rare 5mm-plus, round poe pipi and a fantastic range of shapes and colors of paua coincided with the visit to Seattle of our recent friend and jeweler/pearler Ben Bergman from Avarua, Rarotonga. We decided to commission a piece that would commemorate wine and inextricably link these two noble passions. Ben took the pearls and worked with his shop in Auckland, NZ to realize the concept in spectacular fashion.
The poe pipi and unusually rare, round(ish) paua form a bunch of grapes in mid-season at variable degrees of ripeness. The flamboyantly shaped and colored paua, together with the custom gold leaves, comprise the leaf canopy from which the grapes are suspended.
There you have it!
