WOW! Thank you Caitlin for bringing us this video. It has everything: the setting, the farming, the processes, the dedication of the team and ....... the pearls.
Having been there, and out on the boat to see the Instituto from the bay caused me nostalgia when I saw that view in the video! And I having only seen it thus one time, can imagine the hold it has on Los Tres Maestros who farm for pearls, there. I love the shots of Jesus in the upper right at the beginning, whom I admire greatly for his extraordinary skills with the critters. The one who holds the farm in his steady, capable hands....
Caitlin, Thanks for putting the video up.
Douglas I'm very impressed by both your pearls and the whole gig you people have going on.
I'll spend the next couple of nights going over this thread.
Congratulations on your combined acheivements.
Rusty
douglas - when is the next harvest? (or did you just have it?) just wondering if i should get this pendant i'm looking at or wait until the next harvest and try to get a real rainbow one...... am i on the waiting list? lol
Breathtakingly beautiful pearls. Also very interesting for me to see the short film.
The film brings it home that it is these small sea creatures that produce the pearls. Are they hurt by any of this? Do they feel pain and/or die giving us these pearls??
They do not feel pain as they have no nervous system. The nacre is very smooth and the same substance as their shells are. They have very soft bodies and can accommodate a nice sized pearl. As often as possible the mollusks will have at least a second implantation and in freshwaters, more. I think some- a lot of -people eat the ones that die.
I don't know if I have any good photos from those necklaces, in those days we had a very bad digital camera and our best photos had a 640x480 resolution (1/2 Megapixel). I will try to find some and post them later, but I have some photos of this year's pearl necklace (2012) which now resides in Mexico City and was christened as "Bela".