Indonesia Pearls Festival 2013

[katbadness]

Hi guys,

Thought I'd share... In a few days the annual Indonesia Pearls Festival is going to commence.


I'm excited about going... And let me see if I can take pics of the show to share with you guys.

 

[GemGeek]

Woo Hoo! We have an insider! I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

 

[LitGeek]

Pictures would be wonderful! Can't wait to see/hear more about it

 

[pattye]

katbadness, Sounds amazing! Oh, I hope you can take photos! We want to know about EVERYTHING!

 

[Caitlin]

Yes, please! Go see everything and tell us all about it. We know very little about pearls in Indonesia yet it is and apparently always have been a major source of world pearls. We don't even know the geography, so anything you can say will be so enlightening! You will have to see who brings the pearls to market. Try to meet some of those people who collect the pearls from the farmers. Try to find out what the supply chain to the show itself is, is and how it works.- along with lots of pix!!!!

 

[katbadness]

A teaser... tee hee...


I have more to tell later...

 

[Hanaleimom]

A teaser... tee hee...
View attachment 25372

I have more to tell later...

How cruel.

 

[KarinK]

How cruel.

Exactly!

Though I guess it would be crueller to be present and broke...

- Karin

 

[KAC]

A teaser... tee hee...
View attachment 25372

I have more to tell later...

What a tease! Can't wait to see more....

 

[katbadness]

Guess the pearl size on these 2 strands?

 

[katbadness]

Pearl sorting tools...



Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong but I simply am not familiar with the English terms for these items..

From the left:
A sieve, a scale, pearl counter, and a thickness gauge.

 

[pattye]

Guess the pearl size on these 2 strands?

View attachment 25373

Uh, 21mm for the large, 13mm for the smaller? lol no idea!! Those trays of pearls, I just want to pet them~

 

[katbadness]

Some booths sell loose pearls (left booth), whereas others have the pearls already set into jewelry (right booth).



The crowd on the left booth are picking pearls from trays.

All the booths provide drilling and stringing service. So you see people sitting around creating strands!
A couple booths I talked to were willing to swap out pearls from ready-made jewelries, should I prefer other pearls.

 

[katbadness]

A keshi strand I was in lust with..



The keshis at the back of the strand is about 9-10mm. So really the center piece is *large*.

 

[pattye]

Gasp! Oh, me too~

 

[katbadness]

Uh, 21mm for the large, 13mm for the smaller? lol no idea!! Those trays of pearls, I just want to pet them~

If I remember correctly, it's 15mm for the large and 11 for the smaller.
I was starting to scare myself when I started thinking that 11-12mm pearl is small, and 15-16mm is normal. Being at the festival, looking at numerous *large* SSPs really skewed my perception of size.

I still have more Wilma Flintstone necklace pics..

 

[katbadness]

Many loose pearl sellers had the pearls made into matched sets (to be made into a pair for earrings, a pendant and a ring).
Here are 3 sets of golden SS pearls with their variations of colors (the left set is greenish, the middle is the most sought after reddish golden, and the right set is slightly brownish golden).

 

[katbadness]

This is me picking keshis for my station necklace project.



Sorry pattye, I did get to pet trays and trays of pearls...

 

[katbadness]

Wilma Flintstone pearl strands..

 

[katbadness]

The booth of ASBUMI - the Indonesian Cultured Pearl Association, containing specimens of all sorts of oysters native to Indonesia (P. fucata and P. margaritifera included!).