Pearl Guide Ruckus 2010

[Hanaleimom]

Good man Russ for taking the plunge. Right Donna?

Yay Russell!!! (where is the clapping hands smilies?)

 

[Mikeyy]

Yay Russell!!! (where is the clapping hands smilies?)

We will need a picture of Russ with his man pearl.

 

[Hanaleimom]

We will need a picture of Russ with his man pearl.

I took some pictures of Russ wearing his man pearl, a close-up of the necklace as well as Russ & Donna. I'll post them in a few days.

 

[Mikeyy]

I took some pictures of Russ wearing his man pearl, a close-up of the necklace as well as Russ & Donna. I'll post them in a few days.

That a girl. He is in the club of real men now.

 

[pattye]

Hi Everyone!

I had a fabulous time and truly wished more of you could be there. Here are a few photos, I didn't take a lot and a couple didn't turn out-------------here's Douglas, Octavia, Blaire, Cynde, Caitlin, Marianne and Cathy, all ready for Saturday night party!



Mikeyy making sure everyone got into the limo----



Steve, me, Cathy's family and Douglas-----------



Inside the limo, Cynde, Blaire, Kether (Caitlin's daughter), Caitlin, Tom (Sheryl's husband), Sheryl (Can't really see her, but I think she is there!, Cathy.
Really beautiful limo,



Three beautiful women, Marianne, Octavia and Blaire!



-----more to come----------

 

[pattye]

Jewelmer provided fabulous gold lip shells, polished and festive from which we ate caviar and sushi and other fabulous dishes!

Donna and Cathy, note the shell plates--



Caitlin at the sushi bar----------



The limo ride back to the hotel and another toast, Mikeyy, Cynde, Blaire, Douglas, just before Douglas burst into song----



Sunday morning at the "show and tell" Donna and Cathy getting serious over pearls. This is our chance to see what Jeremy has stashed in the vault---------

 

[SteveM]

Gold akoya strand with new larger clasp, restrung by Hisano today, has been dutifully delivered to my mother-in-law at the hospital this evening. She is sleeping contentedly!

It was a great mix of fun and learning, not to mention the purchasing opportunities. I'll get to my photos sometime tomorrow, will post if there is anything not already covered.

A huge thanks to Jeremy and the entire team at Pearl Paradise for their efforts and hospitality.

 

[pattye]

Jeremy holding some gorgeous jawbreaker size golden round south sea pearls, an amazing selection in stock right now!


Close up of the same pearls--------



Octavia admiring a tray of AAA drop Tahitians----------



This is just to supplement what the others have posted.

A Huge Thank You to Jeremy Shepherd and his Talented and charming Pearl Paradise staff, Jewelmer, Caitlin, Mikeyy, Steve, Blaire, author Renee Newman, and Douglas for their unique contributions to this amazing pearly event, Rukus 2010! Plus my sincere apologies if I have forgotten anyone.

 

[Keshibelle]

A HUGE thanks to all you Ruckusees for sharing your experiences and pics . I just love the photos, it's great to see everyone . Oh yes, and to see those jaw-dropping golden south seas that Jeremy is holding so casually!
Mmmm Octavia looks to have been on her best behaviour......or was that just for the camera????

Best regards to all,
Kerry.

 

[Nerida]

Thank you thankyou.... so nice to see photos at last! I have been missing you guys, and the fun of the ruckus, all weekend, and it is wonderful to see some of the action!

You all look gorgeous.... how elegant to be eating off beautiful gold shells (now that I could get used to..) and being wined and dined by Jeremy's amazing hospitality once again. I did miss you, wished I had been there, but I am so very well prepared to ensure I will be there in 2011!

Hope you are all recovering well...

 

[Nerida]

And a special hug and kiss for my little adopted mollusk niece/daughter/whatever. Octavia, remember you always have another place to feel at home here in Sydney whenever you wish to take flight again!

 

[Hanaleimom]

My family expresses our sincere gratitude to Jeremy's generosity and hospitality. We also thank Pearl Paradise staff and their dedication to making the party a success. I was so excited to write the recap and forgot to say the above.

Hisano wore a kimono on Saturday night. I hope someone has a picture. She looks very lovely. Hisano did all the floral arrangements for the party and sewed the table cloths. Mia led the team in planning and had great lighting, Japanese curtain, serveware, origami fabric swans, tealight, orchids, etc. All the fine details which contributed to a beautiful Japanese theme.

A sincere thank you to all the speakers for their fine and informative presentations.

Thank you, Chris, for the Scotch presentation, even though I didn't stay long to hear it. He is very charming and nice to talk to.

Thanks to Jewelmer for sponsoring the party. I am glad I have some gold lip shells.

Thank you everyone. You all made it a pearly experience.

 

[SteveM]

Monday morning blues?best to begin with a few pleasant memories!

Top Left: Sunday in the vault with Jeremy, Caitlin, Mia, Pattye and Donna.


Top right: Hisano in her kimono and Mikeyy at the sushi bar on Saturday night.

Bottom left: Hisano at work restringing my wife's mother's gold akoya necklace with a gorgeous new ring clasp. Jeremy drilling my keshi-nuked 18mm golden SS pearl for an enhancer, inspired by the new clasp. (Enhancer finding selected by Mia. This is my wife's, who will loan it to her mother for discretionary use with the necklace!)

 

[jshepherd]

My family expresses our sincere gratitude to Jeremy's generosity and hospitality. We also thank Pearl Paradise staff and their dedication to making the party a success. I was so excited to write the recap and forgot to say the above.

Thank you, Cathy. We all had a wonderful time!

We are working on the party photos now. They will be coming soon! I posted a few conference photos on Facebook already.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181266&id=320057252005&ref=mf

 

[Hanaleimom]

Steve, it was quite a transformation of that akoya necklace and enhancer. The clasp is much more efficient for opening and doubles as a place to clip the enhancer. Kudos to Mia. I really like the finished piece.

 

[SteveM]

Hisano in her kimono?

I'm kicking myself that I didn't bring this back from my last visit to Tokyo (you guessed it?WI-mono!).

Maybe next year?assuming there is more delicious sushi!

 

[Caitlin]

I am having a down day today to recover from all the excitement. I got so super-adrenalated being around everyone! I can do that for 3 days, then I crash. When I got home last night, I was so exhilarated, my bed felt like it was a boat bouncing through the water ( I was 100% sober)

Dear Jeremy put together another fabulous event! Hisano designed the Saturday night ruckus at PP. She was exquisite in her kimono, floating around so softly. Mia, Alia (sp), Chenai really did a good job of helping. All of Jeremy's staff worked hard to spoil us.The sushi was fabulous from left to right we had salmon, halibut, tuna, octopus and eel. I started on the left and worked my way to the right. Mikeyy’s caviar was super-dooper delicious on blinis and topped with cr?me freshe and chives. (I think I ate Sheri's share too.The tempura was crunchylicious and the little snacks circulated on trays were plentiful and everywhere. Steve's wines were so mellow and smooth- the best cabernet I have had in years and a wonderful dry white wine was the best white wine I ever tasted.

After a round of everything, I thought I had enough food in me to venture into the scotch room, where a really cute red-headed prince of a guy, Chris, was getting ready to scotch-taste us through the ages. I tried a few drops of each scotch and learned about the history and making of the beverage, with plenty of references to the various kinds of whiskey, Irish, bourbon, etc., plenty of references to various Scottish clans. I really did enjoy it and did not accidently finish a bottle of Jeremy’s Balvenie like I did last year. (well, I shared most of it last year but had enough in me to get very exhilarated). Some thought Chris should have worn a kilt, but he would have been just too cute to handle. I apologize for what my clan did to his clan back when they were all in Scotland.

 

[Caitlin]

Saturday’s seminars were very high quality information. They were scholarly and some of the best talks I have ever heard at a seminar.

First came Blaire with the Keynote Speech on Rare Pearls and Latest Developments. Her slideshow was fabulous, stuffed with both her photos and ones from several of us at P-G. Octavia oversaw all the presentation slide shows and made several appearances in the slides herself. Her stamp of approval appeared here and there. The talk was a great foundation for the ones that followed. Blaire also made slide show presentations for the other speakers and they were all award-winning. Another great job, Blaire!

Mikeyy followed Blaire with a talk on the Shell Trade. He covered the history of Mississippi River shells, which are plentiful and not endangered. From how to drog or dive for them, to the various uses of MoP lined mussel shells. He showed how they made buttons from the shells, then how they used them to make nuclei for implantation into cultured sea water pearls. He gave us each a sample shell and a little baggie with a strip cut from a mussel shell, from which they make the nuclei, and a few sizes and grades of finished nuclei. He was an excellent speaker with his well-organized presentation and spontaneous sense of humor poking through. Well done, dear Mike!

Renee kicked off the afternoon with a book signing. I was surprised at the depth and range of her books on gems. If you take a copy of each one and line them up together, they are an encyclopedia of gemology written in layman’s terms. An incomparable body of work. Renee’s turn at the lectern took us to Zhuji where we learned how to get there and what to expect when we got there. I wish we could post some of her info. It was geared to pearl travelers and was a most helpful talk. She is a walking encyclopedia and a very charming person. We were all so glad to meet her!

Steve followed with his adventures in search of the elusive, but magical, Nautilus. We heard his explanation of how Nautilus lives and gets from the deeps up to the top and back. He shared what he could about the race for recognition of the so-called nautilus pearls. ( you can read about it in the Nautilus thread here at P-G. His scholarship is profound and his travels in search of more info leave no stone unturned. As he describes himself, he loves to turn over stones and always wants to find the ones not yet turned over. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

 

[Caitlin]

After a break where we all milled around and stretched, we sat back down for Douglas’ presentation on Sea of Cortez pearls. He began with a history of pearling in Mexico. Mexico gave up 400 tons of natural pearls to the Conquest, if I remember correctly. He told of the Yaqui especially, whose leader wore a fortune in pearls and MoP shell when he met and stopped the Spaniards from entering Yaquiland, even turned them back. Yaquis never submitted to the Conquest.

Then he reminded us that Mexico has some deep roots in culturing pearls and how various revolutions and gov’t actions interfered with the pearl growers. The university went through a stage where they subsidized the quest for culturing pearls in Bacochibampo Bay. Douglas and his partners did manage to culture pearls and made a lot of pearls and money. After the University dropped them, they have managed to keep going, but the scale of the operation has shrunk.

He brought many sample of this year’s harvest of pteria sterna pearls and shined a florescent light on them. They glow from pink to deep red as no other pearls in the world do. Douglas is a scientist in the pure sense of the word. He really knows pearls. He is a gifted teacher and has a great sense of humor which even showed up in his slides. It was such a privilege to hear him speak, but it was all over too quickly. The seminars came to an end leaving us wanting more, more, more.

I was impressed by the quality of all the talks and I think many pearl luminaries would have been impressed, had they come in person.

One more comment. Douglas, Kether and I drove over from Tucson. An 8 hour drive in which we had Douglas all to ourselves. An incomparable experience. He is so kind and was willing to participate in the 8 hour long discussion with us (mostly me). He answered a lot of questions and expanded my knowledge on every subject we discussed. It was an a fabulous experience, the fastest car ride to LA, ever!

If he comes back next year, more of you need to show up, just to witness his command of so many subjects surrounding pearls. I have such a knowledge-crush on him. Anyone who knows me, knows I live for, thirst for, knowledge and learning. This has nothing do do with the usual meaning of crush, it is about ideas. I am so sated at the moment, I am in a state of bliss.

 

[jshepherd]

The first set of pictures from the party are posted on Flickr! I posted them there first so that anyone may download the large version if they would like a copy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pearlparadise/sets/72157624588845642/