Last week at Shop HQ, we were part of an event centered around the September Hong Kong Jewelry and Watch Expo. With 2 full convention centers, and several halls filled with anything that has to do with jewelry production or design, this is the largest jewelry convention in the world! This is the show of the year for producers as they pull out all of the stops to showcase new designs, new cuts, and even the new pearls harvests! From fashion shows, cocktail mixers, and intricate big booth displays, no expense is spared to showcase the latest ideas and trends. For our family, this convention is more about seeing the new trends for the upcoming seasons and checking in on our production and new ideas. We put a lot of work in to preparing for this trip in the prior months by brainstorming and designing new ideas, mocking them up at our office, and refining and perfecting the designs. The Hong Kong show brings together jewelers from all areas of the industry, so we get a chance to do some one stop shopping and experiment with new stones and expand our design ideas.
This year, we attended the show with a slightly different mind set. We brought along a film crew to give you a little behind the scenes look at how we produce some of our pieces. Over the next few weeks, I will be posting videos from our trip.
This video shows the Emperor Of Tahitian Pearls- Robert Wan, who recently celebrated his 40th anniversary of his company Robert Wan Tahiti Perles. We have showcased The Wan family in some of our past posts and discussed their impact on the pearl industry and specifically Tahitian pearls, but what I love about spending time with Robert is his limitless enthusiasm and passion for producing beautiful pearls. I am lucky to consider Robert Wan one of my mentors and friends. Over the last year, we have been introducing pieces to our collection featuring pearls from his private lagoon as an exclusive cobranded collection. Look forward to more new designs under the Kwan Collections/ Robert Wan collection coming soon!
This is a video that I am extremely proud to share with all of you. For the last 3 years, I have been sharing my interpretation of the pearl, and the story of the people behind the scenes who really put in all of the hard work to bring this gem to life.
It is not often that we are able to hear the true story first- hand from those who have lived around the pearl for nearly 80 years.
The main purpose of this trip was to celebrate Robert Wan’s 40th anniversary of Tahiti Perles, which is a feat in itself. However, at 80 years, The Palmer family have seen it all when it comes to the mother of pearl and Tahitian pearl in the islands. From the days when Tahitian pearls were strictly a natural pearl and only 1 or 2 pearls were found in collections of thousands of oysters to the present, where the oyster is now grafted to culture pearls.
This is the first time I have done a pure video blog for our page. I thought you would enjoy seeing some of the scenery on the island and hearing from the farmer what is going on in the island and industry. Enjoy!
Kwan Collections 