Tom Stern's natural pearls

[jerin]

Beautiful!

 

[DrTKStern]

The Wish Fish

The Wish Fish

Hi, All,

My wife and I operate a charity that last year gave away 12,000 free wheelchairs to disabled adults and impoverished children thoughout the Philippines and Cambodia. Because we do not raise funds or seek outside financial support--although we have much volunteer help--we fund One World Institute entirely out of our pockets and through pearl activities. www.TheOneWorldInstitute.org

A few months ago Princess Yolanda asked silver craftsmen from Sulu to create jewelry using locally produced, 99% pure silver, and Mother of Pearl or cultured pearls from the Sulu Sea. Now we seek a market for about 250 pieces per month. This will allow many fathers and mothers to make enough income to buy rice and fish for their children, and perhaps even enough to buy shoes and uniforms so their kids can go to school.

The pin is about 3.5" long x 1.8" wide. It is entirely handmade, not stamped out by some machine. The men and women grind Pinctada maxima shells to get the Mother of Pearl. The silver comes from nearby mountains. Each piece requires approximately 30 hours of manual labor.

Our cost is $20 per pin. We would like to make $22 per pin--if sold in bulk, more if in lots of 10--which creates a little profit to support the school we just opened, which you can read about at this link. www.TheOneWorldInsitute.org Then click on the education link. A 3 minute YouTube video may interest you...it begins with sort of a scratching sound and then begins to show images.

So, if you know of anyone with a big enough store to buy half or all of the monthly production, please ask them to contact me.

Thomas Stern,MD
Chairman, One World Institute, A California Public Benefit Corporation
Prince of Sulu and North Borneo
Philippine Consulate Building
Suite 701
447 Sutter Street
San Francisco, California, USA 94108
510-331-7826

 

[DrTKStern]

The Mystic Squid

The Mystic Squid

The Celebes Sea and Sulu Sea teem with squid, which have magical properties according to local legends. The eyes are cubic zirconium. Again, entirely handmade by Tausog craftsmen, 3 to 4 inches long, 99% silver.

 

[pattye]

Hi Dr. Tom,

The pins are a charming design! Am wondering from the appearance if this particular piece has a polished nautilus shell? A worthy cause indeed, and I wish you the best in finding someone to help distribute them.

 

[DrTKStern]

Durian Fruit

Durian Fruit

Hi Dr. Tom,

The pins are a charming design! Am wondering from the appearance if this particular piece has a polished nautilus shell? A worthy cause indeed, and I wish you the best in finding someone to help distribute them.

Hi, I'm not sure what shell was used for this pin. Could be Nautilus, commonly caught by fishermen.

This pin represents Durian fruit..."Tastes like heaven, smells like hell." According to local legend an aphrodisiac for men or women, to be eaten in the afternoon beside the Celebes Sea, just before taking a "nap."

Best,
Tom

 

[pattye]

Delightful design! Feel quite sure it is nautilus shell, which we have discussed here recently on another thread. I think they are gorgeous in their natural colors of white, silvery and aqua overtones. And I know they come from Philippines.

Might I suggest, if it is not already being done, a loop on the back so the pins can be alternately worn as a pendant?

I've heard of that fruit before, but not yet experienced!

 

[DrTKStern]

Baroque

Baroque

Delightful design! Feel quite sure it is nautilus shell, which we have discussed here recently on another thread. I think they are gorgeous in their natural colors of white, silvery and aqua overtones. And I know they come from Philippines.

Might I suggest, if it is not already being done, a loop on the back so the pins can be alternately worn as a pendant?

I've heard of that fruit before, but not yet experienced!

Thank you for that design suggestion. We will relay that to the artist.

Below is one of Yolanda's necklace designs...giant South Sea Keshi and what I believe are 2 natural pearls (regardless of what the labs say, but I do not make that claim to a buyer), Mexican citrine, set in 14 carat gold. The largest Keshi pearl is 23mm.

This was an experiment to determine how stable the pearls would be without drilling, because we intended to do an important later piece without damaging any natural. Based on what we learned, we now have our goldsmith doing a similar necklace, this time with GIA cert natural pearls,---all 11mm or up-- 3+carats of diamonds, and the same Mexican citrine. With a center pearl of almost 22 carats, few neckaces in history will have the total carat weight of natural pearls that will be in this. It will be done in a month, and I'll submit photos. Any design comments appreciated at this stage because we can still make some changes.

Best regards,
Tom

 

[SteveM]

This was an experiment to determine how stable the pearls would be without drilling, because we intended to do an important later piece without damaging any natural.

Avoiding drilling beautiful and irreplaceable naturals is laudable. An alternative suggestion would be to collect the residue from drilling and sell nacre dust (Majorica could produce a super-premium range from this).

How was the stability of the settings determined? Stress tests?

 

[Valeria101]

The citrine appears to pick up the color of the large keshi pearls in the picture... Is this why the stones were picked?

 

[Pearlgully]

How was the stability of the settings determined? Stress tests?

A little glue....... maybe?????

 

[DrTKStern]

SS Keshi cultured pearl necklace

SS Keshi cultured pearl necklace

The citrine appears to pick up the color of the large keshi pearls in the picture... Is this why the stones were picked?

Yes, Valeria. In addition to avoiding the huge cost of chunky gemstones, instead of going for contrast with these big cultured pearls, which have much golden hue--for example with Tanzanite or ruby-- we wanted to harmonize with them and the gold work.

Simply drilling and stringing together a necklace of naturals did not appeal because the individuality of each pearl would be lost. Done this way we thought more interesting. For the second piece done with real pearls, we did decide to amplify sparkle with small diamonds set at the corner of each citrine.

But I did lay out one which used emeralds instead of citrine, and some nights I can't sleep thinking about how beautiful it was.

Best regards,
Tom

 

[DrTKStern]

SS Keshi necklace in different light

SS Keshi necklace in different light

Hello,

Against a white background.

Tom

 

[barbie biggs]

Citrine and South Sea gold. That is a truly amazing piece. Thank you for sharing.

The citrine sets it off perfectly.

barbie

 

[Valeria101]

... instead of going for contrast with these big cultured pearls, which have much golden hue ...

But I did lay out one which used emeralds instead of citrine, and some nights I can't sleep thinking about how beautiful it was.

I couldn't come up with any other material that might match the color of the pearls better either - perhaps green beryl (greenish-yellow, white and yellow mix in the stones: not unlike the most uneven colors on p. maxima pearls - now that I a thinking this). It is a pleasant thought, but ... standard cutting does not favor playing with colors in each stone - quite the opposite. To make use of natural color variations and texture in stones (as it is taken for granted in pearls) it would take having them cut for the model, turn the necklace into quite the experiment.

 

[pattye]

Wow, that is amazing and gorgeous! I can hardly imagine in person! Yolanda has done a fabulous job of designing this one! Agree citrine is available in very large clean stones, not so most other gems. (Shows it's beauty much better against the lighter color.) Personally, I'm not a diamond person, and like the glorious "purity" of this necklace. Emeralds with pearls like this?--oh, my!! It is a thrill to see these royal pieces! Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

[GemGeek]

Citrines can be like polished sunshine - perfect with the pearls in your necklace. I'd also like to see them with Andalusite, but they are hard to find in larger sizes. Thanks for sharing the photos.

 

[Heidi]

This is a lovely composition - the only other gems that come to mind, for color and dispersion, are garnets: demantoid, tsavorite or mandarin. Size and clarity are issues though. The citrines really are fantastic for the size and clarity you will get. An option for extra sparkle but staying in the tone range of these materials would be yellow or orange sapphires or cognac diamonds. Different qualities, to be sure, but the idea that this could be so drenched in color is compelling to me. Could be just me...

 

[DrTKStern]

This is a lovely composition - the only other gems that come to mind, for color and dispersion, are garnets: demantoid, tsavorite or mandarin. Size and clarity are issues though. The citrines really are fantastic for the size and clarity you will get. An option for extra sparkle but staying in the tone range of these materials would be yellow or orange sapphires or cognac diamonds. Different qualities, to be sure, but the idea that this could be so drenched in color is compelling to me. Could be just me...

I think that is what my wife decided to use...cognac diamonds. Thanks for feedback. Tom

 

[DrTKStern]

Chinese Natural Pearls

Chinese Natural Pearls

Hi, All,

Historians say Chinese pearl beds in Heipu and Hainan died off by the mid-1800s. Only recently has the Chinese market begun to pay small fortunes for new pearls.

I bought this painting at the urging of my son while he spent a year at university in China. The young princess must be adorned with $6,000,000 or more in real pearls. Take note of the pair of earrings and the pearl atop her hat.

Best,
Tom

 

[GemGeek]

That painting is incredibly beautiful. Thanks for posting.