Article about cyclone Oli and how it impacts farming Tahitian Pearls in JCK online.

[Josh]

I wasn't sure whether to post it here or elsewhere but we have been harvesting these last days post-Oli and are ecstatic to report that the colors are excellent. In '93 and '98 when we had other meteorological events that displaced a huge amount of lagoon water we also had spikes in pearl color/quality.

These are some top grade circled pearls, in terms of color range, luster and intensity. The funny part is that I had to do a rush job on the photo so the pearls never even got cleaned. They were fresh out of the oysters, dried and snap. Kind of lame but they still manage to shine in a blurry sort of way.

 

[olmander]

Wow, Josh, - this is indeed a wonder of nature! I hope we will be the lucky ones to benefit from Oli...

Our university people (environment department) have already placed a link to your interview on one of their educational sites, which immediately became very popular among students and teachers (an unusual terrain!). Now we can support it with a photo as an evidence

 

[pearlgem]

Hi Josh,
these are some fabulous tahitian pearls! It is like a little wonder that nature is giving something special to mankind even in a devastating event like a cyclone... Seems like yin and yang are balancing in mysterious ways sometimes. Looking forward to more photos of this years? harvest!!! Hopefully I?ll be able to pick some for our new store before we open in late August (if everything goes fine...).
Greetings, Sven

 

[Josh]

Thanks Olga and Sven. I'm hoping to take some more photos next week. There are more pearls arriving from the farm today that we'll clean and sort next week. Can't wait!

 

[pattye]

Josh,

If they look that good i.e. blurry sort of shine, well, WOW! Hope we can see more photos later, glad to know the harvest is going well, and first things first!

 

[GemGeek]

Josh,

If they look that good i.e. blurry sort of shine, well, WOW! Hope we can see more photos later, glad to know the harvest is going well, and first things first!

Yes, you're just whetting our appetites for more. Congratulations on what appears to be a top-notch harvest. The fact that they were grown with care for the environment and the people who work with them only adds to their luster.

 

[Pearly Shell]

Great pearls Josh! Such a great breadth of color. How long will this explosion of color last?

 

[Josh]

Thanks Blaire!
Donna, I wish I knew the answer to that one. We have observed color to improve or worsen on live oyster shells in as little as two weeks. Pearl color should logically follow what the shell does as it's the same material but if there is one thing I can say with certitude in farming, it's that nothing is certain.

 

[waimeamomi]

I want some!!!!!

 

[john675]

Beautiful! Some of them look like circl? plums!

 

[lisa c]

They remind me of spilled Christmas ornaments, so lovely and colorful. I can't wait to see more pics. Congratulations Josh, on your writing and photography, kudos, kudos, kudos!