We're starting the Holiday Sale a little earlier this year. 
We're busy creating and uploading lots of new designs.
There will be something for every style. 
Want something custom?
Feel free to email us:
kojimapearl@gmail.com

For more than two decades we've been working
with the best pearls the world has to offer.

Still feeling honored to be doing what we love. 
Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Every year at the end of July, 

we gather with our fellow Pearl-Guide friends in Los Angeles for a weekend of true pearl FUN. 

Hosted by the generous power couple ,

Jeremy and Hisano Shepherd of Pearl Paradise and Little h Jewelry

The group of us gathered in a gorgeous mansion in the Beverly Hills to listen to lectures given by : 

Our dear friend Douglas McLaurin of the Sea of Cortez Pearl farm in Guaymas Mexico

(North America's ONLY salt water pearl farm). 

Douglas is a gifted speaker and a BRILLIANT mind. 

His lectures are always fascinating and FUNNY! 

We love the gorgeous color of Sea of Cortez pearls and use them often in our designs. 

Josh Humbert also gave a lecture on how he raises his gorgeous Tahitian pearls in sustainable and environmentally sound ways at his farm on Ahe in French Polynesia. 

Kamoka pearls are true gems, and we have been honored to work with them in the pearl business for many years now. 

Having made visits to the Kamoka pearl farm, I can attest to their commitment to the environment and also the magic that is Ahe. 

Ruth Johnson was the LUCKY winner of a contest sponsored by Pearl Paradise and won a trip to visit the Atlas Pearl farm on Bali Indonesia!

She showed us a wonderful video of her adventure! 

Renee Newman, the author of multiple books on pearls and gemstones..

namely the Pearl Buying Guide gave a lovely talk on advancements in the pearl world. 

The Pearl Buying Guide is available online and it is a fantastic way to educate yourself on up to date information! 

You may recognize the photo we donated to this cover of the latest edition! 

We're delighted it was chosen! 

Blaire Beavers, the moderator of Pearl-Guide.com was honored with a lovely necklace this year, and also gave a talk on the wild adventures of Octavia, the mascot of Pearl-Guide. 

Octavia has spent time at pearl farms and with fellow forum members all over the world. 

This year our gathering was in honor of our dear friend Caitlin Williams, a long time moderator of the forum and a brilliant and loving woman... who is and will be dearly missed.

It was a wonderful blessing to have her daughter, son-in-law and grandson in attendance to carry on her legacy in pearls. 

 

This year was our biggest group yet! 

Smiles were plenty, the food was phenomenal.. and the view was breathtaking. 

Everyone wore their best pearls and traded stories into the wee hours. 

This event is such a joy for me. 

Thank you Jeremy and Hisano and the whole team at Pearl Paradise for graciously keeping this pearl rolling for all these years! 

After communicating with The Duchesse for 8 years via email,

I decided it was time to finally meet her in person.

She is the author of the fashion / practical advice blog

 Passage des Perles 

If you are not already an avid follower...

trust me, follow the link and let her delight your inbox!

Arriving in Montréal, was met with a charming apartment, macarons, and a fantastic meeting face to face with a woman I had revered for so long. 

Duchesse handed me a map of the city and a metro card, and carefully laid out the adventures she had tailored to my interests. 

I was in heaven. 

We talked incessantly about art, culture, womanhood, fashion and of course pearls. 

We wandered the streets and the gorgeous open air market of Villeray. 

We even got to see Chance the Rapper at the Bell Centre. 

One morning we  went to the Guild Gallery downtown where I was honored to meet Janis Kerman. 

Janis was having an exhibition of her 45years of contemporary jewelry!

She was so gracious to show me each and every piece in the show. 

She is SUCH an inspiring woman. 

A dear friend of mine dropped in from Toronto for 24 hours with a suitcase full of gemstones and we had a great time catching up.

With the Janis Kerman show behind me and all these colorful gems in front of me, I felt fueled for the next round of original Kojima designs. 

The Duchesse introduced me to some of the best shopping.

 At nearly every turn we  enjoyed AMAZING food and of course ice cream! 

Montréal is a phenomenal city with a diverse population of really really nice people, fantastic public transportation and a deep appreciation for the arts...

the best part, by far was meeting The Duc and Duchesse and hearing about their lives and having the opportunity to see the city through their eyes.

They are truly magical beings leading a life we all aspire to. 

Four days was not nearly enough time, and it was also a perfect time. 

 Score one for the internet that brought us together. 

Recently I made a strand of what I called “rosebud tahitian” pearls. The surface of these pearls is dotted with small keshi pearls that grew on the surface of the pearl while still in the shell. The texture is something not often seen in ocean pearls… and I was quite pleased with the way this necklace came together!  The term “rosebud pearl” is most often used to describe Chinese fresh water pearls or natural American fresh water pearls, but I felt that these pearls held the same feeling and thus a new category of pearls landed among us. The natural color Tahitian pearls in this piece ranged in size from 14-17mm!

Here are a few photos of the necklace which has sold.

Stay tuned.. we are working with a fresh lot of these unique pearls now!

If you are not reading new posts on www.pearl-guide.com…

you are missing out on the ever widening world of pearls.

Here is a link to a thread about rosebud tahitian pearls

These lavish annual weekends are hosted by the most generous Hisano and Jeremy Shepherd of Pearlparadise.com .

This year we gathered on Friday evening in Pacific Palisades in a mansion that had so many rooms I lost count.

The ceilings must have been 40 feet tall and the arches framed the sky with grandeur.

Friday night was a champagne toast to the moderators of Pearl-Guide.com : Blaire Beavers and Caitlin Williams.. both are experts on pearls and lovely, warm women of MANY talents.

They were both gifted with Finestrino pearl earrings hand made by Hisano ….for their years of work on the world’s largest online forum about pearls.

These amazing designs feature Chinese fresh water souffle pearls artfully carved out, polished and adorned with tiny pearls or gemstones.

These designs are the  brainchild of Hisano and she even won the CPAA Orient Award last year.

We started gathering again early Saturday morning for a full day of presentations. Jeremy and Hisano took us on a video tour of their epic adventure to Flower Island in the Philippines earlier this year. They visited the Jewelmer pearl farms. Jewelmer, famous for their gorgeous South Sea pearls and their tireless pursuit of perfecting the golden pearl. They are culturing thousands of strains of algae in their laboratories to find the perfect diet for their pinctada maxima oysters  to feed on!

Next up was Douglas McLaurin of the Sea of Cortez pearl farm in Guaymas, Mexico (where we visited just over a month ago).

Douglas is a very talented public speaker, and a gifted teacher. He taught us more about the history of the Sea of Cortez, the natural abundance and near extinction of the sea life there.

He outlined data they collected in the first ten years of their work showing the DRAMATIC repopulation of native oysters and how the rest of the sea life in the area benefitted!

By gathering and fostering the remaining oysters in 1996, they were able to stop the extinction of the species!

It was fascinating as always and made it feel so good to be a offering their pearls for sale.          

Watch the trailer for the National Geographic “World’s Funniest Weird Farms” made about the Sea of Cortez pearl farm, and how Douglas became Dr. Mollusk!

After lunch and bit of relaxation, we saw a presentation by Josh Humbert of Kamoka Pearl.. a world famous photographer, and pearl farmer from Ahe, French Polynesia.  I have also travelled to the Kamoka farm on two occasions, so it is always a treat to see Josh’s photos of this magical atoll in the middle of the ocean. It is a place to dear to my heart.

The black pearls they raise, using environmentally sound practices are some of the most colorful and sought after in the world!

Their farm is powered with only solar and wind energy, and they let the fish populations clean the oysters. This is more beneficial to the delicate ecosystem of the atoll than spraying them clean. Another example of sustainable pearl farming!

Celeste Brash, a celebrated travel author and Josh’s wife. She is in charge of Kamoka’s websales .. and keeping him in line 

Douglas McLaurin brought a beautiful array of Sea of Cortez pearls.. and also kept us entertained with his "special human tricks"

Much of the fun of the Ruckus is getting dressed up, showing off your pearls, and admiring those of all the other ladies in attendance. Caitlin and Sheryl Goodspeed of Mauna Kea Moonlight collaborated on her pearl mushroom pendant. Barbara Somlo showed off her metallic Chinese fresh water pearl pendant. Cathy Dassler brought her sweater that she hand embroidered using hundreds of 2mm white round pearls and silk ribbon! Wendy Fairchild in her most color Tahitian pearls.. and a hand forged fine silver pendant with a Sea of Cortez baroque pearl made by Carlos Cabral of Guadalajara Mexico.. and the “line of ladies”.. I love and admire each and every one of them.. it is such a joy to see them each year, hear their stories and meet the new faces in the group!

Sheryl set up a table of her beautiful jewelry, and Saturday was also her birthday! Her husband Tom, played and sung songs to entertain us with Mikey who is a professional diver and deals in the nuclei used to culture pearls all of the world! He is also famous for traveling with a “suitcase” full of pearls!

Sheri Jurnecka brought her famous octopi pendants set with different outrageous pearls,and also a cast mermaid pendant.

We set up a little table to show our latest designs and we were really excited to share the necklace of the top grade of Japan Kasumi pearls from the latest harvest, as well as the “glowing from within” Sea of Cortez mabe necklace.

That’s Patricia Saab in the lavender blouse.. she also makes pearl jewelry and sells the world’s BEST string for knotting pearls and gemstone beads.. Check out her etsy shop!

It was a weekend to remember.. and recover from!

On Sunday everyone met at PearlParadise office in Los Angeles and feasted on the fruits of their pearl vault! Please see more photos on the Pearl-Guide Ruckus 2015 thread!

We are blessed to be a part of this lovely talented group of pearls! Thank you Jeremy and Hisano.. you are generous wonderful people.

My only regret is not taking more photos!

Our annual exhibition at the GJX show BOOTH 107 is right around the corner.

The show dates this year are :

February 3rd through February 8th, 2015

Hours: Tuesday 3rd thru Saturday 7th – 10:00am to 6:00pm
Sunday 8th – 10:00am to 4:00pm*

*No buyers admitted after 3:00pm on closing day, Sunday 8th.

PLEASE VISIT THE GJX WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION ON BUYER REGISTRATION

 

We are very much looking forward to showcasing many new designs and one of a kind pearls.

ALSO THE FIRST DAY OF THE SHOW IS FUJI’s BIRTHDAY THIS YEAR!

If you have never been to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show, we highly recommend that you make the journey.

 

Bring comfortable shoes, hand wipes, and a shopping buddy!

There are dozens of shows going on all over the city of Tucson for weeks.

From dinosaur bones to exquisite gems and everything in between.

Here is a little information about the event in general, including show dates and registration requirements.

http://www.tucsongemshows.net/coming.html 

 

There are hundreds of seminars and lectures going on throughout the city during the show.

Of course our personal favorite is listening to Elisabeth Strack speak about pearls. This year her lecture will be  FEBRUARY 4th 2015 in the MOJAVE ROOM OF THE AGTA CONVENTION CENTER SHOW at 9am.

Here is the link to the full list of AGTA seminars.

http://www.agta.org/tradeshows/gft-seminars.html

We hope to see you there.