SteveM
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- Jan 29, 2007
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This thread follows travel (ostentatiously for business) referenced in the Pinctada Maculata thread.
Following our meetings in Wellington we drove five hours up the wild west coast of New Zealand’s North Island to the surfside village of Oakura in the shadow of Mount Taranaki (Mt. Egmont), New Zealand's most spectacular and under-visited national park.
Our objective was the studio of Rob and Denise Wright of Moana Gems/Ringcraft Jewellery. Rob has been goldsmithing since he was 15, and knows everyone and anything about the business, his fantastic creations the subject of innumerable ‘oohs and ahhs’ here at Pearl-Guide. My fascination with abalone pearls, close on the heels of our discovery of poe pipi in the Cooks, had led me to the Wrights, from whom we had carefully selected the freeform abs used in the ab/pipi lapel pin that most frequently serves as my avatar (THIS thread details its design and execution).
On arrival to the studio we were greeted by a display of the US, Japanese and New Zealand flags, as Nozumi (HopePaua here at Pearl-Guide and the Wrights’ Japanese importer) was also visiting. Rob’s coincidentally-named manager Denise (‘NZ Natural Pearls’) is shown with Nozumi.
Awaiting us was an incredible display of paua pearls, from grain-sized points of color to immense 100-carat-plus pieces that would grace the display of any museum in the world.
Standing guard were the Wrights’ ever-vigilant Siamese, whose aggressive affection and purrrring had to be resisted for each and every close-up obtained…
Following our meetings in Wellington we drove five hours up the wild west coast of New Zealand’s North Island to the surfside village of Oakura in the shadow of Mount Taranaki (Mt. Egmont), New Zealand's most spectacular and under-visited national park.
Our objective was the studio of Rob and Denise Wright of Moana Gems/Ringcraft Jewellery. Rob has been goldsmithing since he was 15, and knows everyone and anything about the business, his fantastic creations the subject of innumerable ‘oohs and ahhs’ here at Pearl-Guide. My fascination with abalone pearls, close on the heels of our discovery of poe pipi in the Cooks, had led me to the Wrights, from whom we had carefully selected the freeform abs used in the ab/pipi lapel pin that most frequently serves as my avatar (THIS thread details its design and execution).
On arrival to the studio we were greeted by a display of the US, Japanese and New Zealand flags, as Nozumi (HopePaua here at Pearl-Guide and the Wrights’ Japanese importer) was also visiting. Rob’s coincidentally-named manager Denise (‘NZ Natural Pearls’) is shown with Nozumi.
Awaiting us was an incredible display of paua pearls, from grain-sized points of color to immense 100-carat-plus pieces that would grace the display of any museum in the world.
Standing guard were the Wrights’ ever-vigilant Siamese, whose aggressive affection and purrrring had to be resisted for each and every close-up obtained…
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