And this made me think back and remember certain pearls of previous pearl harvests that have been just as beautiful and colorful and that I call “Erotochromic”. Of course, they are always unique and different in their beauty. At that moment I told myself: “I have never reported those pearls like I have done this year and there might be more people that could find this information interesting”.
And so I told myself: I have to make a blog post to show others these very special and “Erotochromic” pearls that we have been harvesting for many years. Unfortunately it was not until 2007 when I finally had a good enough digital camera to shoot photos, and this ultimately means I do not have good photos of all these amazing pearls and some simply will reside in my memory.
So here goes part 1 of these Special Erotochromic Cortez Pearl Collection.
“Pinky” - 1995
Let me start with a bit of history: back in 1995 we were already producing our first experimental cultured pearls using our “Rainbow Lip Oyster” or Pteria sterna. I had this small group of 32 oysters and I was lucky enough to produce several pearls from these and there was this particular pearl…oval shaped and just 7 mm in diameter (those days our beads were very small (5 mm). I called it “Pinky” because of its delicate violet overtone…and my particular fondness for “Pink Floyd”.
I consider this petite beauty as our 1st Gem Pearl and I am proud to be its “dad” and not having sold it. “Pinky” is being exhibited at our jewelry store & Pearl Farm in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico and its value transcends its mere economic value: this is the 1ST GEM PEARL produced in Mexico and Latin America and –if we just consider Marine Pearls, as opposed to Freshwater pearls- “Pinky” is also the 1st CULTURED GEM GRADE PEARL GROWN IN THE AMERICAN CONTINENT.
Harvest of 2000
Back in the day we had no idea of “christening” our pearls with a name of their own. We had –of course- heard of famous pearls that had a unique name (“La Peregrina”, “The Big Lemmon”, “Hope Pearl”, etc.) but this was an idea we had yet to fully mature into action, but we already had “Pinky” and “Bebé” (“Baby” this one I will leave for another story…a sad one) with their unique names.
That year we officially had our 1st COMMERCIAL PEARL HARVEST and it was also the year we had our “Perlas del Mar de Cortez” trademark and Logo. That year we had several amazing pearls but I remember these two:
These round pearls barely exceeded 8 mm and 8.8 mm, one was violet with a dark green overtone and the other one had a fantastic dark green-blue color with golden-violet overtones. Both had excellent natural luster and were flawless…where are they today I wonder???
Harvests 2001-2003
Those were chaotic years for me and I did not have any precise records of the harvests. There is a whole story behind this but just so you understand a bit: in 2001 I left this beautiful pearl farming venture behind, said goodbye to all my friends and I started a new career in the touristic industry and then in education. Because of this I did not participate in the production nor harvests nor in certain catastrophic events such as hurricane “Marty” in 2003.
So, from the photographic records of Enrique and Manuel I was able of “rescuing” some amazingly beautiful specimens such as this oval shaped 8 mm “Gem+ NS” grade Cortez Pearl (“NS” stands for “National Selection” or you can simply translate it into another “+”, and this sub-grade is given to the most colorful –or “Erotochromic” pearls), this pearl was harvested in 2003 and was taken with the help of a professional camera (you can see the size of the lens on the pearl’s reflection).
The photo below shows some of the most “Erotochromic” pearls of 2002:
Up until this moment we did not name our best pearls systematically…and there is no obligation to do so yet. It is something that has to “feel right”.
Harvest 2004
This year was very interesting for us all: I returned to my post and became a “Founding Partner” (for the first time ever the farm was ours) and we had the help of our friend Alberto Tirado who helped shoot some professional looking photos than those we obtained from our trusty Sony “Mavica” digital camera (it had a 3 1/4” floppy!) that took these amazing 640 x 480 pixel photos (half a Meg!) but its lenses were really good for zooming.
Here I have the best 4 pearls of the Year 2004…
Harvest 2005
Back then I still did not own a good enough digital camera. I had purchased an HP 2 Megapixel digital camera that took good enough outdoor photos but not on close-ups of pearls. Some of the best –and largest- pearls of this particular year appear on this photo. This year we start seeing pearls in sizes larger than 10 mm and up to 14 mm.
Harvest 2006
I finally have a nicer camera. I still own a Cannon digital camera with 8 megapixels with a good enough zoom lens. Here I present you with the most beautiful and colorful photos of the harvest…and many are clearly “Erotochromic”.
What is “Erotochromia”??? Well, I basically came up with this word about a week ago when I was looking at this year’s beautiful “bi-colored” pearl. I have defined it as a “Very pleasant and Intense color with a sensuous expression”. You may say this is just non-sense (you have a right to do so) but to me this is very real: these are pearls with such beauty that just make my eyes turn white. Photos are simply not enough to show you’re their beauty…which –after all- is totally Dynamic.
For a short moment I believe I should have called them “Chromorgasmic” but thought otherwise.
Harvest 2007
Our harvests have slowly improved with every year: with more experience comes better judgment and even some technological improvements; under the threat of climate change we have tried to adapt to a changing environment by using different aquaculture techniques and methods. Overall, the size of our pearls has increased to an average size of 9 mm(up from 8 mm), and our pearl shapes have become softer too (initially our usual shape was of BAROQUE shapes -80%-and now we are down to 60% and our Baroques look symmetric) and the luster and skin beauty have also improved.
On the photo above we arranged the pearls in a way that you can appreciate the range of colors we obtained in 2007’s Cortez Pearl Harvest, but you can easily id the most colorful ones.
Closing Remarks: This has been a very quick recap of some of the best Cortez Pearls of for 12 years. These Special Pearls are the ones that helped us trace a route to where we want to arrive…the “goal-setters”. What was our initial passion??? It is still the same as it was years ago: To produce the most beautiful naturally colored cultured pearls in the World, pearls that will cut your breath short…
In my next post you will see more pearls that have their own names and that defined that year in pearls. I hope you have enjoyed this small stroll through our harvests, so until next time 
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