The Best Cortez pearls of all: 2008-2015

I take off this week by continuing were last I left my blog entry…in an engagingly erotochromic post about the most beautiful Cortez Cultured Pearls of All times!

And we are going to start with the pearl that I personally believe is the MOST BEAUTIFUL CORTEZ CULTURED PEARL that we have ever produced from this farm. And this pearl was produced from the…

2008 Pearl Harvest

Before I tell you about this amazingly, stunningly beautiful pearl I will recount you of hurricane “Julio”, one of the fiercest hurricanes to have hit Guaymas. But fortunately this damage was done after we had harvested our pearls.

This particular pearl is prominently featured in our original “Sea of Cortez Pearl Video” and appeared several times in a thread over at the Pearl-Guide.com forum. It was part of a group of drop shaped pearls that I fondly called the “Drop Dead Gorgeous Pearls”.

This particular beauty had a striking luster to it -all-natural as expected- and at its base it had a very dark purple blue color that started changing into a rainbow of colors until the very tip became a beautiful lavender-pink color, and features amazing overtones. The pearl measures 9.5 mm at its widest and the colors are absolutely EROTOCHROMIC.

I was truly happy to sell this particular pearl to a very good pair of “pearly foster parents” that live in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Holy Land…to me this had a special meaning and over the years this couple became one of my dearest friends. Nora had the pearl set into a pendant-pearl enhancer to use with her Akoya pearl necklace for a very beautiful and striking piece.

The pearl is named “Epyolotli” which is the Nahuatl (Aztec) word for “Pearl” and it means “Heart of the Pearl Oyster”. I really like this name.

2009 Harvest

Then, a year later we also had more splendid pearls…not a single pearl that was equal to Nora’s 2008 pearl but that year was marked by larger than usual pearls.

2009’s largest and most beautiful pearl was sold to one of our US based buyers and I called it “La Bella” or “The Beautiful”: a lustrous, shiny 12 mm near-round pearl with a dark-green body color and a vibrant violet color.

Here you can see “La Bella” next to other gem grade Cortez pearls of around 10 mm in diameter.

That particular year we barely avoided the farm’s destruction by the disastrous effects of hurricane “Jimena”, which destroyed much of our State’s infrastructure . Guaymas was ravaged by it, so I may not have talked much about this particular pearl. Too much going on.

2010 Harvest

This was –for most Mexicans I believe- a year of shadows and lights: this year marked the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution and 200th anniversary of our Independence from Spain, so it was supposed to be a year of celebrations…but we were in trapped in a terrible economic recession and in the midst of violence –in some parts of our country, but not really around our area- due to the drug trafficking cartels.

But while trapped under conditions we could not help improve (we could neither issue moral fiber –nor brain matter- to our so called leaders) we kept doing what we believe in: growing beautiful and sustainable Cortez Pearls. That year’s harvest was really good and we had one particular pearl that I named as “Matrioshka”, a unique Russian doll-shaped dark purple pearl with beautiful green overtones.

I simply loved this pearl and its name just came out of my mouth when I took it out of it’s mother oyster. Measuring at around 10.5 mm it was purchased by my very good friends Jeremy (CEO of Pearl Paradise.com) and Hisano Shepherd, who had the pearl fitted into a lovely and colorful design made by Hisano. I was so happy to see this amazing pearl become a work of art! The chain actually paid the pearl a fitting homage by also having its contour. Lovely piece isn’t it???

2011 Harvest

The year 2011 was yet another challenging year. I actually don’t want to even talk about some of the things that happened, but I also mark this year as the beginning of my “personal awakening”,  so it was kind of waking up from a terrible nightmare and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  One must really be grateful for the “bad times” since they actually build up your character and allow you to become a better version of yourself.

2011’s best pearl was an incredibly erotochromic pearl. A chunky baroque pearl that was so dramatically different that it was like watching a person with a dual personality.

On one of its sides it was a beautiful cyan-true blue color and on its other side it had the same blue with golden and bright violet.

This pearl was purchased at the 2011 Pearl Ruckus by my friend Cathy. I don’t know if she gave this pearl a name but I had called it “Chunky”…I know! Not a glamorous name for a beautiful pearl but to me this name is really special…a pet name of sorts for someone I love.

2012 Harvest

Our worries were definitively not over. This year I fell ill and I was unable to photograph much of the pearls form this harvest. I don’t even recall a personal favorite pearl at all!

Probably the most relevant photo I have is of a group of light colored pearls with a much more colorful pearl. But the photo is simply too bad, totally missing its focus from the beautiful blue pearl in the group.

But life carries on and on…the next year I saw a major improvement in my health. I truly thank God for allowing me to continue walking on this beautiful blue planet of ours.

Harvest 2013 – Down Under!

The year 2013 was marked by a good harvest: large and colorful pearls with high Chroma. And that year was also marked by having some of the best pearls shipped all the way to Adelaide, Australia.

This lovely trio of pearls went to a my dear friend: Dyann Pryor. And she has great taste in pearls! So, it was fitting to have these incredibly colorful pearls.

You can see some of “Raw Pearls” beautiful Cortez Pearl jewelry line if you visit their site.  I never had the chance to name the pearls…they just left so suddenly.

2014 Harvest

Last year’s harvest was the most abundant ever, reaching 5 kilos of Cortez Pearls. We also had some amazingly colorful pearls and also…who can forget the largest Cortez Cultured Pearl ever?!?!?!? Even if this large pearl was not the prettiest it was definitively out-of-the-ordinary. Here you can see “The Hulk” next to 4 smaller pearls (10, 9 and 8.5 mm) and it just looks Huge!

I named this pearl “the Hulk” due to its purple-green coloration and large size, but for a fleeting moment I considered the name “Barney” (yes, I believe I still suffer from the time spent watching the toddler’s TV program with my children…years go).  Decided to go all out on “The Hulk” since it just sounds more butch than “Barney”.

Specs: Baroque shaped, 17.1 mm in diameter, low luster B+ grade pearl.

Harvest 2015

Now, nearing the end of this story I can try to express some feelings I may have regarding these two posts: it has been over two decades of growing Cortez cultured pearls in the rich waters of the Gulf of California. It has been a story of both beauty and challenges so in essence it is Life itself for us.

For me each pearl harvest reminds me of certain periods of my life and I can re-live and feel the excitement of the “research days” when everything was new and we were making “pearl history”, I can also retell the pain of the “bad years” and –finally- also experience the calmness of my more “experienced years”.  Each one of these pearls in itself retells my personal story, just like a photograph reminds you of certain events and how you looked and felt like.

So, what do I want to say with this? That “Pearls are Like a Snapshot of a Person during a given moment of their Life”… Pearls are Your Personal History: the good, the bad and the experience you gain during life.  I don’t know if any other gemstone is the same, but for me this is True.

So now I finish up with the way all of this began, with a beautiful erotochromic pearl that will soon depart to its new proud owner in the United States…it has been named “Flamingo Silk” by its new owner, Nancy A.

Closing Remarks

I hope you have enjoyed this walk through memory lane and I thank you for listening a bit about my personal story…using my naturally colorful Cortez Pearls as stepping stones.

Until next time.