Dear Passionate Pearlers,
It has, once again, been a while since I wrote in my blog. The world of pearls keeps changing and new pearl "delicacies" continue to arrive! I just had the pleasure of acquiring a short strand of Cocoa Pearls, Tahitian pearls of a natural cocoa color. They are smooth and lovely! I am gazing at them and dreaming of their ultimate design! I am also busily incorporating pearls into the designs for my upcoming series, "Entomology 101" which Opens with a preview party at my Gallery & Studio in Evanston, Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 18th, from 3pm to 8 pm. Please join us, RSVP to contact@evejewelry.com. You can check out my website www.evejewelry.com, and check the Gallery Events page for details.
The next meeting of The Pearl Society will take place on Sunday, November 5, 2006 from 3 to 5 pm at The Eve J. Alfillé Gallery & Studio, 623 Grove Street, Evanston, IL 60201. RSVP to 847-869-7920 or contact@evejewelry.com.
Tears of Mermaids – The Secret Story of Pearls
What it will mean for the industry, collectors and buyers.
The November 5, 2006 meeting will host best-selling author & University of Iowa professor Stephen G. Bloom to discuss his forthcoming book, Tears of Mermaids - The Secret Story of Pearls, to be published by St. Martin’s Press in 2008 or 2009. An award-winning author, his last book, Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America, sold more than 100,000 copies. Tears of Mermaids will chronicle the untold cultural, economic & political saga of pearls, the world’s first & most enduring gem. The reader will enter a world of high rollers, high finance & high fashion. The story will begin with Columbus’ third voyage to the New World, with his mission to bring back as many pearls as he could to satisfy Queen Isabella of Spain & her court. It will take the reader to the capitals of pearl trading: Japan, Australia, French Polynesia, the Philippines, China, & Mexico. There will be stops in Tennessee, London, New York, Indonesia, the Cook Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, & the South Seas atolls of Mangareva & Bora Bora.
The reader will go behind the counter of the world’s oldest, exclusive pearl retailers - Tiffany & Co., Bulgari, Cartier, & Van Cleef & Arpels - as well as inside the 250-year-old auction houses of Sotheby’s & Christie’s, as rare pearls sell at fast-paced auctions. Bloom will place into context the extraordinary impact pearls have had on the history of the world & transform pearls into metaphors for themes of globalization, world politics, the environment, culture wars, colonialism, exploitation, danger & greed, fashion, wealth, adventure, & indomitable human spirit.
This dynamic and dramatic session is not to be missed! Seating is limited, so please RSVP and tell your friends.
Other stories of note:
“More Precious Than Pearls”
Alex Friedman, a pearl dealer based on famed 47th street in New York was both the subject & object of our August 20, 2006 meeting. In “More Precious than Pearls”, a documentary by his son Robert, his early life as a very young concentration camp inmate and Nazi victim is movingly described. The film uses the pearl metaphor as a telling symbol of bitter trouble encapsulated in hope’s renewal. This was Mr. Friedman’s theme as he described his eventual redemption, arrival in America, long & happy marriage, and devotion to family & the pearl trade.
Pearl Exhibit Extended
The Pearl Society is grateful to past Pearl Society Speaker, Dr. Rudiger Bieler, Curator & Head of the Invertebrates Division, Department of Zoology, at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History for the following exhibit update: The “Pearls” exhibition has been extended once more and will, after Sydney and London, go to the Emirates and France:
Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE December 2, 2006 – January 15, 2007
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris October 24, 2007– March 10, 2008
Pearl Hunt
Pearl expert Elisabeth Strack, head of the Gemmologisches Institut Hamburg, a gem lab in Germany, was in the United States to attend the GIA’s Gemological Symposium and present her newly translated & updated book “Pearls”.
The Pearl Society was honored by the appearance of Ms. Strack as our guest speaker for the August 24th, 2006 meeting. Her presentation, which began with a thorough history of the pearls of Lake Kasumiga-awra in Japan, went on to a delightful recounting of her voyage to far-off Northern Karelia. Entirely self-subsidized, Ms. Strack ventured into Russia’s remote sub-arctic region which included the Kola Peninsula in search of its famed pearls. Alas, the search proved futile. 70 years of Soviet regime had erased every memory of those lustrous luxuries. It was only with great difficulty that she managed to find an elder with any memory of pearls being found in the region! The audience was spellbound and we hope Ms. Strack will return to tell us more.
It has been quite a while.
What bodycolor are these coco pearls? Are they the same as the "chocolate pearls"? I'd love to see some photos.
Posted by: Pêcheur de Perles | October 26, 2006 at 05:13 AM