Technological Breakthrough in Pearl Culture: Cultured (Beaded) Abalone Pearls from Chile In what appears to be a major technological breakthrough in Pearl Aquaculture, Chilean Scientists from the University of Antofagasta, Chile have been successful in culturing bead nucleated cultured pearls on the “Red Abalone” (Haliotis rufescens) a species that was imported into Chile from Mexico back in the 1990s. Ever since, Chile has been a major producer of farm raised abalone, but just over a decade ago they started looking into culturing Mabe and cultured pearls. Their efforts have finally borne fru ..read more

An interesting article was recently published in CNN, with the title of Eco-friendly and ultra-luxury: How Bahrain hopes to revive its natural pearl industry. The article explains that the island nation of Bahrain (part of the Saudi Emirates) intends on reviving their traditional natural pearl fisheries and focus on the Eco-Friendly (sustainable) and Ultra-High Luxury market segment. What do you think of this dear Members? Do you think a Pearl Fishery can be Sustainable ..read more

Pearls in the Web of Life – Part 1 Pearls are not only a product of a living being -a mollusk- but their “mother mollusk” is also a host for dozens of other life-forms! When we think about other animals that we use in our lives (as a food source or as a luxury good, such as furs) we can rarely imagine these creatures being a part of something larger or co-existing with other animals from varied species. We may picture a henhouse bursting with chickens, or a pen full of cows, but we find it hard to imagine these caged animals as being a “part of something greater”, but with pearl oysters it i ..read more

Our friend Jennifer Heebner has just informed us that Christina Assael, wife of the late Salvador Assael, has just passed away peacefully and surrounded by her children at her home. Her family issued the following statement: Assael will remain a family owned business, wit Peggy Grosz at the helm, with the support of the family. No services are planned, but a formal announcement will be issued by next week. May she rest in peace, now alongside her husband. An interesting article about this pearl passionate couple and pearl industry leaders can be read here ..read more

From all of us here at Pearl-Guide.com to all of YOU: HAPPY HOLIDAYS ..read more

Renowned jewelry designer Suzanne Kalandjian of Suzanne Kalan Jewelry has collaborated the Cultured Pearl Association of America (CPAA) to debut a Tahitian Pearl capsule collection, Suzanne Kalan x CPAA Tahitian Pearls. Kalandjian debuted the collection at the 2021 Couture jewelry show, and by day two, all the pieces had sold out. Jewels sold to major luxury merchants all over the world, and a list of more have all placed orders. Thanks to support from the government of French Polynesia, CPAA worked with Kalan to feature Tahitian pearls in a collection of their own. Known for her innovative u ..read more

In a sad note, this past November 26th marked the end of an Era for the UK's pearling tradition with the passing of Bill Abernathy: Scotland's last pearl diver and a man known for the dance in his Soul and feet, and for having found valuable natural freshwater pearls in Scotland's lochs and rivers before the pearl fishing ban. He found the famous "Abernathy Pearl" (also referred to as "Little Willie") and many other valuable pearls. Passed away at 96 years of age. For the complete story please head over to The Press & Journal. May he rest in Peace and enjoy the passing under the Pearl ..read more

Pearls in the Web of Life – Part 3 In our last entry, where we learned that the outside of pearl oysters acts as a small ecosystem in itself, but now we will “dive deeper” into the oysters themselves to find that this pattern repeats itself -in a kind of Hermetic understanding of the “As is Above, is Below” law- but with different actors involved. And, if you ever had the opportunity to stare into a live and open pearl oyster, you would begin experiencing a calmness that emanates from these animals…as if staring into an encased, fleshy orchid, a peaceful womb. And it is this protective enviro ..read more

This is a Special Educational entry, but I believe it may be of value to some of our new visitors; it originates from an email I received just a week ago, but I have received this type of e-mails many, many times before... so, I will take this opportunity to have this information to the widest audience possible. The e-mail would say something like this: Hello! I'm writing from X country to ask you: Some time ago I had lunch at a seafood restaurant, and I found a pearl inside a clam/mussel/oyster. It's small but roundish and X colored. Does it have any commercial value? Thank you! And this is ..read more

MILAN, ITALY: October 27, 2021 — With less than one week to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the seventh of this year’s CIBJO Special Reports has been released. Prepared by CIBJO’s Pearl Commission, headed by Kenneth Scarratt, the report provides a broad overview of an industry that has been dealing with the dual challenges of COVID-19 and climate change for the past two years, with perspectives from Australia, Indonesia, French Polynesia, Mexico, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. “For while the molluscs remain blissfully unaware of the situation and conti ..read more