Day 1 is wrapped up and we're off to a good start. Although Alana couldn't make this trip, so I'm doing double duty as pearl buyer and photographer.



I'll start with a handful of strands I've dubbed the "Holy Grail" of freshwater ripples, I'm actually struggling to find the right superlatives to describe these pearls. The orient and luster is amazing but what strikes me the most is the color. Color this intense is not supposed to be possible without dyes or treatments, but they do exist and it's all natural.

I actually found about a dozen "Holy Grail" strands but they aren't cheap, in fact all ripples have jumped in price. It seems that the Chinese have figured out there is a demand for ripple pearls and have started to price them accordingly. Because of the high price of these Holy Grail strands I'm taking pre-orders, but I won't be bringing any back that aren't already spoken for. If you're interested email me for details.











Shifting gears I went in search of a handful of special Tahitians and found a great lot from the Gambier Islands. I'm told the Gambier Islands are producing a lot of great colorful pearls right now and I gladly picked up a handful of cherry peacock pearls. I would have loved to take the whole lot, but prices are up this show, so I only took what I needed.





Sticking with Saltwater pearls I went in search of more silver/blue South Sea pearls, for an upcoming special. I stopped by the same South Sea dealer I've purchased from the last 2 shows and he had a silver/blue lot of pearls set aside for me. I went through the lot, matching out a few pairs and singles for pendants.











With the day winding down I wanted to make one more buy, so I dropped by "Mr. Money's" booth and sat down to select some fancy/rare color metallic studs. I grabbed a bucket of 10mm AAA pearls and cherry picked out about a dozen pairs with the best luster and rarest color.










So that sums up day 1 of the show, stay tuned for more pearly finds in the upcoming days.