I can’t believe its October first. As usual I’m in an airport getting ready to catch a flight. This time its Air Iceland. We will be making a stop this morning in Reykjavik Iceland then on to Florida. So I guess its time to get back on American time once again.
Got lots going on and looks like October is going to be quite busy and a lot of fun. First big news is it’s my fifteenth anniversary for my show. It’s hard to believe its been 15 years but I guess it has. I think back at all that’s happened in the last 15 years, and it all seems like a wild dream on a very fast time machine. I got a lot done on this trip and had many wonderful adventures. The first three weeks were business and the last two were with family and friends. I was able to rent a 1928 Gypsy Tiger Moth Bi-plane for my birthday and take a flight along the South West coast of England one morning. It’s amazing what you can see from the air and the way things look so different from that perspective.
I started off my trip by going up to Tennessee to see a friend of mine James. He has supplied us over the years with most of the Pink Mother of Pearl that I have used in my designs with shell. Like so many people I have had the pleasure of meeting in what I do, James has a very interesting life story to tell. Most people don’t know this but about 90% of all pink shell you see in jewelry actually comes from the fresh water rivers and lakes in Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia.
James comes from a family of eight children; he went to work harvesting the shells when he was ten years old. By the time he was fourteen he had his own boat and he harvested shells by brailing. This is a form of dredging with chains. Later he made enough money to purchase scuba equipment so he could dive for the shells. He harvested one shell which had over 2117 pearls inside it. I have attached a picture of it for you to see.
He also has the largest abalone pearls ever discovered. Over 800 carats appraised at over one point five million dollars. In 1973 he was one of the first westerners to venture to China. James supplied the nucleus material to make modern day cultured pearls in the fresh water pearl farms in China. I was lucky enough to get to see his collection of natural freshwater pearls. Its is probably the largest collection of its kind in the world.
It’s hard to imagine but when you’re holding a pearl in your hand and look at the appraisal and its $85,000 to $205,000 dollars it really gets your attention. James and I are currently working on a spiney oyster project in Mexico. You should be seeing the fruits of our latest efforts soon.
The big news is starting October 15th early in the morning we will start our four day visit with a very special Today’s Special starting Saturday morning. So I hope you can take the time to tune in and see all of our latest designs.
Hope to see you soon. Safe Travels!
Jay
More from Jay King on hsn.com:
» Shop all Mine Finds by Jay King Jewelry
» The story behind Jay King Jewelry
» How to take care of your gemstones
» Read more from Jay King’s blog