Pearl Personalities

The brand that put ‘Chocolate diamonds’ on the map has fallen hard for cultured pearls.

From the April 2021 issue of #thisispearl digital magazine The seasoned jewelry industry expert digs into her lustrous role, which requires her to spread the message of beautiful and rare Bahraini natural pearls.   Noora Jamsheer joined Danat Institute in Bahrain as CEO in 2019, eager to share her country’s own storied treasure trove of natural pearls and history. To wit, she immersed herself in the world of pearl oysters, divers, and dealers, making new friends with Bahraini families like the Al Mahmoods, who have a long history of buying natural pearls from the country’s many divers. Below, the trained diamond...

From the February 2021 issue of #thisispearl digital magazine Pearl Personalities  Liza Urla of Gemologue in London The model, blogger, and gemologist wears many hats, all of which touch on a love of pearls. Russian-born Liza Urla debuted her Gemologue.com platform in 2009 while still a student at GIA in New York City, and its popularity has mushroomed alongside her love of pearls. “It was still early days for bloggers—‘influencers’ weren’t yet a thing,” she explains. Still, the digital jewelry platform took root as a place to celebrate fine jewelry of all kinds, including pearls. “I absolutely adore pearls, because...

From the December 2020 issue of #thisispearl digital magazine Having been involved in the Tahitian pearl industry for more than 50 years, Robert Wan is a name synonymous with black pearls. Wan was born in Tahiti, the son of a Chinese businessman who moved to French Polynesia at the turn of the 20th century. Wan invested in Mangareva, the largest of the Gambier islands, in the early 1970s before buying it from Tahitian pearl pioneer Jean-Claude Brouillet 10 years later. Wan has never stopped investing in the business of black pearls—a fact for which devotees are thankful. The most significant...