Report from Tucson

J Marcus said:
It looks like you're having a terrific time! Thanks for letting us enjoy it vicariously.
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I am really enjoying myself, other than losing my cell phone this morning for an hour... Sorry I couldn't get more photos. The shows have a lot of security and you know better than most that the problem with photos is with stealing designs. Come to think of it, I have designs on most of the things I want to take photos of... ;)
 
Hi Y'All!

I have some pearls that I'll photograph and post later, but let me show you the photos I have from today. I stopped by Imperial and picked up the show specials. Peter Bazar told me to go to the Cultured Pearl Association of America exhibition and tell them he said I could take photographs.

Even better, Bo let me take photographs wearing "The Miracle of the Sea" formerly owned by the Dowager Empress of Tzu-His of the Ching Dynasty from 1875-1908. What fun!

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The Pearl.jpg

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With Peter, the owner of THE PEARL
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It was a fabulous day!

Cheers,
Blaire
 
Unfortunately, I couldn't go to Tucson this year but I'd love to hear about Elisabeth's Strack's seminar on Sunday from anyone who was lucky enough to attend.


Gail
 
Great reporting, great photos, drool-worthy pearls, and you make a fabulous groupie, Blaire! Thanks for sharing!

Sheri
 
That's my kind of pendant! :D

Lucky you to be at the show with all the eye candies :D

DK :)
 
Elisabeth Strack's lecture was very good. It's hard for me to differentiate from last year because I am always studying up on pearls, so have been spending a lot of time on naturals and rare pearls, but it was similar to last year with extra emphasis on rarities. So, if you were lucky enough to see last year's lecture, you didn't miss a lot. Last year's lecture was outstanding.

The big news was the possibility of a true Nautilus pearl, but the photo Elisabeth had was of a nacreous pearl - not the non-nacreous ones that we were recently debating. She had several photos courtesy of our own Dr Tom Stern. I was so proud!

You have to remember that if you read Pearl-Guide regularly, you see a lot of examples of rare pearls, such as the Quahog and Tridacna, so that seeing them presented in a lecture is something of a review. If you want to acquire a solid foundation of pearl knowledge, there is no better investment than Elisabeth's book. After reading her book, you just need to get out and see the pearls in person so you can gain skills in identification.

I've been sick, so I'll be going to bed now. I have photos to take for posting, but I won't get any time free when there is natural light for a day or two, so please be patient.

I love that you all love this stuff just as much as I do!!! ;)
Cheers,
Blaire
 
Hi Blaire,

Thanks for "being there" for us... and hope you feel much better soon. It is no fun being sick, but it sounds like you have some goodies to share with us.. can't wait!

Take care, and hope someone is looking after you!
 
Blaire,
I hope you're feeling better soon. I love reading your reports and seeing your photos. It's so good of you to share all this with those of us who would love to be there but can't. At the moment we're in England taking care of my husband's parents who are not well. I love the Miracle of the Sea pendant. Wasn't it hard to take it off and give it back??!!
 
Thank you Blaire, for the update. Now, I don't feel so disappointed since I attended her lecture last year.

Gail
 
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GemGeek said:
The big news was the possibility of a true Nautilus pearl, but the photo Elisabeth had was of a nacreous pearl - not the non-nacreous ones that we were recently debating. She had several photos courtesy of our own Dr Tom Stern. I was so proud!
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There was a lot of teasing going on here as I recall, including a fascinating close-up from Dr. Tom that suggested a hybridized calcareous/nacreous structure (even what might qualify as the only authentic representation of 'orient' ever to appear on this forum), but never any substantiation or corroboratory images! Was Ms. Strack able to shed a bit more light on the subject?

Get well soon, Blaire!
 
smetzler said:
There was a lot of teasing going on here as I recall, including a fascinating close-up from Dr. Tom that suggested a hybridized calcareous/nacreous structure (even what might qualify as the only authentic representation of 'orient' ever to appear on this forum), but never any substantiation or corroboratory images! Was Ms. Strack able to shed a bit more light on the subject?

Get well soon, Blaire!
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone for the well-wishes. I'm feeling a lot better than I did on Monday and Tuesday. ;)

The photos from Dr Tom were of other rare pearls, I think. I'd never seen the nacreous Nautilus photo before the lecture and Elisabeth may have taken it herself. I'm not sure if he'll read this thread and chime in, but he has been very generous with sharing his photographs. You just can't overestimate the rarity of naturals, especially the calcareous concretions. But, Elisabeth was hesitant to make a definitive nautilus pronouncement as the experts are not 100% in accord -- yet. It's amazing that so many wonders of nature are still in the exploratory stages. The oceans are still hugely under-studied. Okay, I'm preaching to the choir! ;)
 
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