Every afternoon on the Star Flyer, there would be some form of entertainment taking place around 4 o’clock on the main deck. On our fourth day aboard, Mrs. Tahia Collins, internationally known black pearl designer, graced us with her presence on the ship, along with two of her co-workers, Sebastian and Christopher. Since many people were still out on their excursions and my father and I got in early from diving, we were lucky enough to have long personal conversations with the designers about the pearls. We mainly spoke to Sebastian, a fashion savvy island native.
Tahitian waters are known for cultivating one of the most beautful pieces of jewelry on earth, the black pearl. Harvested anywhere from 100-140 ft. below the surface, black pearls must be taken out of their shells by divers (Sebastian used to be a diver until he realized the danger of the job was not worth his life). He told me a story about how he ventured down to the depths of the oysters where many lemon sharks drifted along. Lemon Sharks can be agressive and very intimidating, as they can grow to be 11 ft. long!
All one had to do was brush against me and I was done. -Sebastian
After hearing the negative aspect of raising pearls, Sebastian almost exploded with excitment when he began to describe the nature and beauty of the pearls. Black pearls are found in ”Pinctada Margaritifera” (black lipped oysters) that are farm raised. It is actually illegal to go diving and find natural pearls because they are so rare and you would decrease the pearl population if you were to do so, therefore you must own a farm and harvest them yourself.
So what makes the pearl black you ask? Well, it is pretty simple, the lips of the oyster cause a black tint to occur on the pearl. After looking closely at a black pearl you will realize that it is not actually black! It is more of a gray color with tints of beautiful blues, greens, reds, and deep purples intertwined to form a “peacock-like” color. A pearl with high luster, rare color, large size and a minimum amount of imperfections will be the most precious and expensive.
After about 10 minutes of talking about these pearls, greed began to cloud over my eyes just from the thought of these small beauties! (Like I could actually afford any!)
I tried on the most beautiful necklace of all called, “The Coral Garden.” How much you ask? Just a mere $30,000! It weighed alot too, I guess that means it has to be expensive…
I ended up getting a black pearl pendant for a necklace that cost about $200…a little more in my price range then ”The Coral Garden.” If you want to know more about Mrs. Tahia Collins’ gorgeous masterpieces just go to her website, I promise, you will not be disappointed.
Tags: Black Pearls, Diving, Tahiti
