Set your DVRs for Tonight! Secret Life of Pearls

jshepherd

jshepherd

Pearl Paradise
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Jun 22, 2004
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You will not want to miss this!
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/content.php?310

Tonight on NatGeo Wild at 10pm!
Filmed along one of the wildest coastlines on the planet, this is the intriguing story behind the world's most excluzive marind gem: the South Sea pearl.


  • Australia’s use of wild oyster stocks
  • The rarity and stability of Australia’s pearl production
  • Natural colour and lustre as crucial to desirability and value
  • Australia’s environmental and social responsibility
  • The adventure and Romance of the Australian industry
 
Thanks for the reminder. I was frantically searching my TV Guide thingie last night trying to figure out where and when this was on tonight.
 
Thanks so much for the reminder, Jeremy. I will not miss this!
 
Hisano and I had a fantastically fun and educational dinner with Joseph Taylor from Atlas Pearls tonight and made it home just in time to pop the corn and get ready to watch!
 
I was a bit disappointed. Well, first, my sound system broke the minute I turned it on, and I had to use the speakers in the TV which muddled the accents, but that's my problem.

I was hoping the show was going to be about pearls. And also about the oysters. There was plenty of beautiful photography of jellyfish and sea snakes and whale sharks and hunky divers and waterfalls. And I understand they're not going to give us a closeup of the mantle seeding process. But to get to the last minute of the show and have them say, "And after two years, we harvest the pearls." and then bring out a tray of big honking pearls OUT OF FOCUS just killed me.
 
I sort of had the same thought BWeaves. Given this was on NatGeo Wild and not the jewelry network, it really did provide a spectacular glimpse into the life of pearl farming...but not so much on the creation of the pearl itself (which we already knew, anyway). What struck me most is how undeveloped that part of the world is...it also strikes me that we need to do everything in our powers as humans to protect these special places and the oceans that feed their inhabitants.
 
The cinematography was spectacular. I didn't realize how remote the SS pearling areas are, and had no idea of the dangers divers face from jellyfish and whales. All in all the program did a good job of romancing the pearl.

I had read (somewhere; can't locate the source) that WSS oysters are returned to the wild to breed after 3 harvests, but apparently this is incorrect. Strack says the oysters may be used to make mabe pearls at that point, or the shells sold for their MOP. The program showed the shells being kept and the meat sold. I suppose this makes more sense. (How fertile would the oyster be anyway, after having a huge bead in its gonad for all those years? :eek: )

I also thought the oysters were being harvested sooner-- after 1.5 years. The program said 2 years, which is also what Strack says.
 
jshepherd said:
Hisano and I had a fantastically fun and educational dinner with Joseph Taylor from Atlas Pearls tonight and made it home just in time to pop the corn and get ready to watch!
Click to expand...

Jeremy, does that mean you will soon have more of those light bulb WSSP strands from Atlas for us to grab??? haha #wishfulthinking ;)
 
Yes I also thought the cinematography was just beautiful. But I agree it was more a nature show about the Kimberley region, it's animals, its wild places - and some insights into the dangers the shell divers face - but not so much about the actual culture of the pearls.

Still really glad I saw it though. I'd love to visit that part of the world on a boat and see some of those things. Especially the gap where all the water rushes through the rocks with the tides. Impressive!
 
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Hi Sarah,

It's airing next on Thursday May 5th at 6pm E.T on NAT GEO WILD Channel.

You can also view it on live tv online (at Nat Geo Wild) if you have a cable subscription. Enter your user name and password for your cable subscription and you'll be able to watch it on the website - if you do not have the channel - like me.
 
Lovely show. It made me lurve my SS pearls even more than I already did. :cool:
 
Purranha demanded to wear my WSSP strand while we watched the Secret Life of Pearls.
IMG_4032.jpgIMG_4034.jpg
 
Awww. Precious kitty.

My cat steals one of my pearl strands now and then. Not sure if she wants to wear them or just wants me to chase her.
 
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