Tahitian farmer looking for feedback

[Josh]

Hello everyone,
My name is Josh Humbert and I am a Tahitian pearl farmer in the Tuamotu Atolls, north of Tahiti. I recently finished (mostly) my website that is aimed at traders in the industry, namely jewelers. I wrote the text and took the pictures that I'm not in. I don't plan on servicing the public and instead hope to drive inquiries to the jewelers who work with me. I have been getting hammered by buyers in Tahiti for too long now and am ready to try something different. My idea is to have a credit card enabled system like Paypal and a money back guarantee. Due to the costly nature of exporting from here, I plan to impose a minimum purchase value of $1,000USD. There will be two price sheets: one for individual pearls that jewelers could chose and a second price sheet (at a lower price point) that would apply to lots that I put together here in Tahiti. These will include pearl lots of similar pearls as well as plates of earring pairs (10 pairs per plate). In assembling these lots, it is my intention to put them together thoughtfully so they make sense for the jeweler. I have an in house jeweler who doubles as my pearl sorter so I am confident that we can put lots together at an unbeatable price point that are attractive to jewelers.
I am writing this in hopes of getting some feed back before I launch the phase of the project that will include the price sheets and marketing.
Thanks to any and all who have advice or ideas for me.
Cheers, Josh

 

[knotty panda]

Website link, please. And, take a look at Doug McLaurin's site. He does the same thing only with a more select pearl.

 

[Josh]

Dear Knotty Panda,
Thanks for the heads up regarding Doug Mclaurin's site. I had a look and indeed he seems to be up to something interesting. I was in Mexico a couple of years ago and found some live Pinctada Margaritifera Mazatlanicas while diving. Being a graft technician myself, I was captivated by these close cousins of our Pinctada Margaritfera Cumingi. Anyway, I hope to be lucky enough to meet Doug Mclaurin some day.
Regarding the link to my site, as soon as I pressed send on my message I realized I forgot it so I went back and edited it back in. Now in looking in the forum I see my message is the original, not the edited one.
My site is www.kamokapearls.com if you want to have a look.
Thanks!
Josh

 

[Valeria101]

OMG!

Just went on reading your site...

 

[salem]

hey, I noticed that picture too. What happens to all the pearl dust? Cosmetics? or...? Seems a waste if it was just .7mm.

I did have an aruement with one statement that said (roughly) that only in a pearl do pink and green appear attractive together in a natural setting. I find pink roses, gerbera daisies, watermelon, etc. to be very lovely. Maybe you should say naturally in a gemstone? Although pearls aren't gems...huh not sure how to put it. I know what you meant by it,(I think) but it certainly distracted me away from the point while I was reading it. Just my 1.5 cents.

But the site is lovely so far.

 

[GemGeek]

Josh,

Your website is off to a great start. The photographs are absolutely captivating and the message is clear. It's hard to read it and not get caught up in the spirit of sea, air, and atoll life. Your pearls speak for themselves

You use MOP nuclei, very interesting.

Good Luck!
Blaire

 

[knotty panda]

Don't tell tourmaline green and pink don't go together. That's one of my favorite color combinations.
-----------------------
Yes, love your website as well, but "don't bogart that Tahitian, my friend! Pass it over to me!" (For those of you who don't recognize the song, PM me, I'll be glad to fill you in privately -- this IS a family forum!)

 

[Sueki]

Hello Josh,
Sorry I don't have any advice, but I love the site, it's great.

 

[Caitlin]

"don't bogart that Tahitian, my friend! Pass it over to me!"

Well, knotty- it looks like you have been watching Easy Rider again.....

Josh- Welcome! I wish you the best. Please keep us posted on your doings.

Can someone from here visit you when they are near by?

 

[boo]

Maita'i roa! I think the website design is fabulous. It is easily navigated and the sliding page progression is attractive and unusual. Your photos are beautiful!

I do have one very minor quibble with a specific bit of text. On page 4 of the "Pearls" section, the text reads: They are: Surface luster heavily influences quality as well. I found that sentence very jarring in an otherwise smooth and professional presentation. "They are" refers back to the text on the previous page, but since it *is* on a separate page, the pronoun seems to lack identity.

You seem to be doing wonderful things with your approach to perliculture - I hope you have much success!

 

[jshepherd]

Beautiful pictures and well constructed text. If you are ever able to move the design out of frames it will help tremendously, however. No individual pages can be referenced, linked, or cached.

On the MOP beads, you mention that Kamoka farms being the first to use them. I assume you are referring to P. marg MOP, not MOP in general, of course. This is very interesting!

But I have some questions about it. I have heard that the government has wanted to do this, I mean it only makes sense if possible. But I did not think it had really worked. This is the first time I have heard of it in practice.

1. Who has the facilities to process the bead nuclei in FP? Is it done in China and Japan? If so, do the same re-import taxes apply?
2. What is the max size nuclei produced. I imagine reaching 9mm at the hinge, but what larger?
3. With the laminar structure of the shell, it seems so difficult to get a smooth bead. How is this being overcome?
4. During the grow-out, P. marg. is alway so susceptible to predation and seems to have a lot of holes which would make it very difficult to produce nuclei. Are the shells individually selected for this?

I was doing some searching in reference to "Le Service de la Perliculture". But I could not find anything. Are there any news reports?

If this is really working then this should and could spread throughout FP. How far out do you think it is? Will FP and maybe even the Cook Islands be able to decrease dependence on US shell?

 

[Josh]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the feedback. I'll try to answer all questions in order.

Valeria101 OMG is right. I'm glad you pointed it out because the world needs to know how a Tahitian farmer feels when his/her flawless 16mm round peacock pearl gets ground into dust when the x-ray shows .7mm of thickness on the nucleus. Japanese Akoyas are considered of high quality with .25mm. Strangely enough though, I am happy with those rules and proud to sell my pearls with those standards.

Salem sorry about the confusion. I see that my wording was sloppy. What I meant is that you can mix pink and green and not get brown in a pearl. I agree that side by side they are spectacular. Does that make sense? The pearl dust gets tossed eventually.

Blaire and Sueki thanks for the thumbs up. It's great to get the feedback.

Naughty Panda i'm not Bogarting anything. And what's this business of filling us in privately?

Caitlin we do have visitors regularly. The catch is that you have to get your hands dirty.

Boo, thanks for the heads up on that. I wrote the text then cut it up to go approximately with the photos, trying to keep about the same amount of text per pic. I should have gone over it once and for all at the end but just didn't have the time.

Jeremy, regarding the use of MOP: Kamoka was indeed the first farm as far as I know to use MOP. MOP nuclei only come from Margaritifera and Maxima. Most of the nuclei we use come from Max. though the smaller sizes are often done with Marg. Excellent nuclei could easily be made in sub 6mm sizes. We have some 6.0bu MOP which measure out to 18mm! Nuclei are cut from around the hinge where the shell is thickest.
It's true that pearl oyster shells are lamellar (or laminar?) but then so are all other shells. It's no problem at all getting a smooth bead.
I have done drill tests where I have drilled the same poor nucleus over and over and it just didn't fall apart. Your drill bit won't break either.
The government did talk about producing MOP nuclei in FP but as long as minimum wage in China hovers around $30 a month, I just don't see it happening. Despite what Japanese companies may tell you, all nuclei are produced in China and have been for some time now. The Japanese companies pack nuclei up and market them but I have had numerous sources tell me production goes down in China.
You are right about the problem of holes in MOP. Boring nematodes called Cliones in french (don't know the english word) are responsible. Before shipping our containers of shells to Asia we try to sort out as many as possible but some always get through. We have asked our manufacturer to sort them out as well but even so still get a few that sneak through. In a bag of nuclei they could be present but never in consequence.
I have offered MOP nuclei to the market here in Tahiti for about 4 years now and it baffles me how slow people are to catch on. Even after the Service de la Perliculture came out with their independent tests it still hardly caused a stir. We have some farmers who always ask for it but I doubt it will change much over time.
As for the pressure on stocks of American pigtoe mussels, I think that will definitely be able to be alleviated by MOP nuclei. I really hope so any way. I don't have any hard facts but I think the primary nuclei type is not American shell any more. In China there is a fresh water mussel that is often passed off as "US White" that actually makes for perfectly satifactory nuclei. I am pretty sure this is the number one material now.
I met with Anne-Sandrine Talfer today who is head of the Service de la Perliculture. She said that she has been pushing to develop a website with various related information (like the tests on MOP nuclei they did) but has not found the necessary support yet. If that changes I'll let Pearl-Guide know.
I'm off to my farm tomorrow for a week for the beginning of our harvest so I won't be back on Pearl-Guide until then.
Thanks everyone!

 

[salem]

Wow, fantastic post. What a load of information. I think I will have to go back and re-read it multiple times for even a fraction to sink in. Thanks for being so open.

And about the wording, I was mostly teasing, gently I hope. But I love the way the site is put together.


So, if we come visit, and get our hands dirty, can we get some sample rejects? j/k I wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble. But honestly, I can't understand having the heart to powder them. Can you even use any for personal use? Say if you want to make a necklace for your wife, etc? What I mean is, is it strictly a "must be detroyed" policy, or just nothing can be sold under.8mm? I can understand the need/desire to maintain standards. But they are still objects of beauty and it seems they should be utilized somehow, even if they have to lack the label of Tahitian.

I think we all need to take a moment for pearl grieving....

 

[jshepherd]

That is great about the nuclei. I did see P. max shell in Guangzhou at the Fukui shell factory. But I did not know it was possible with black lip as well. That seems to be the best natural fit if possible. That would really help the wild mussel stocks of the Tennessee rivers if all of FP dependence on the shell came to an end.

What is stopping farmers from accepting it? Is it more expensive? But if there is a direct correlation to quality, it does not seem as though there would be a good argument against.

 

[Josh]

Salem,
I'm not kidding about the visiting. We have two Germans and a Swiss there right now and have plenty of room. PM me if you are serious. The reject pearls that are invariably produced can be exported only if they are mounted. There are two kinds: one that can be determined by eye and the other by X-ray. The latter is obviously the more painful. Yup, I'm grieving.
Jeremy, it's true what you said about the argument being bogus regarding the higher cost of MOP nuclei. I'm using it and well, you can lead a horse to water...

 

[salem]

Hi Josh,

Wow, thanks for the invite. I don't have any plans to go to Tahiti any time soon, but this may give me incentive. I would love to learn more about pearl farming in a hands on way. When is the best time of year to visit, if for pearling reasons?

 

[Josh]

We have four harvests a year that usually happen in February, May, right now and November. They go on for about 2 to 3 weeks. When we aren't harvesting we are grafting (seeding) and that's fun to see as well. The only time we don't take visitors is during the holidays in December and in July during our break.https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

[Ashley]

I am impressed, Josh! Such informative posts and your website is gorgeous! I love the pictures of pearl grafting and the surrounding environment you live in.. you are a very lucky person!! I also really like how much of a familial touch you added to your site; so many jewelry sites are all about the product and fail to include all the people behind it that they end up seeming rather impersonal...

As far as visiting your farm goes, wouldn't it be amazing if we were able to get a whole Pearl-Guide group tour going? Just a thought...

 

[Josh]

Let's do it.

Let's do it.

So why not? We've got plenty of room. Let's make it happen for the November harvest. We have some flexibility regarding harvest time and could shoot for Octoberish if need be. People just need to know that Ahe is 350 nautical miles from Tahiti and takes an hour some plane ride or a three day boat trip (highly recommended for you adventurous types).

 

[Ingykiz]

Josh,
It was a real adventure, touring your website. Very creative and informative, almost like a National Geographic Special. I really enjoyed the pics, info, background etc. Does your father still have a presence in your business?