The story behind the creation of one of nature’s most stunning gems is as remarkable as each individual blue pearl itself.

Life isn’t black and white, it’s full of colour and that is what sets these precious pearls apart.

The blue pearl (Haliotis iris) truly captures nature - blues, green violet and pinks - bright and vibrant, soft and subtle. This variation in colour gives each pearl a distinctive character and uniqueness.

‘Blue Moon’ - blue pearl creation
Once in a blue moon a pearl is produced that is just like its name suggests - a ‘blue moon’.

In June 2006, while at the JCK Jewellery Show in Las Vegas, Roger Beattie of Eyris Pearls and Peter Bazar of Imperial Deltah discussed the beauty of a large 18mm pearl with such lustre and colour they could only dream of a fitting piece of jewellery for it. They talked of having a top US designer create a piece of jewellery using the pearl. They chose Marie Scarpa, an AGTA Spectrum Award winning designer, best known for her intricately hand woven designs.

Marie Scapa created this magnificent hand fabricated pin / pendant which she named ‘Blue Moon’. This work of art gained Marie second place in the USA Jewellery Arts Award in 2007. If you are interested in viewing this piece please contact us.

Details of ‘Blue Moon’: 18K gold and platinum, hand fabricated pin/pendant; bezel-set 18mm 7.15ct abalone pearl center and 64 spires divided into 3 levels. Woven, invisibly soldered. Embellished with 28 round faceted 2.0mm pink sapphires, 4 round faceted 2.5mm yellow sapphires, eight round faceted 2.5mm blue sapphires, 4 round faceted 2.9mm blue sapphires, 16 round faceted 3.0mm teal green tourmalines, 4 round faceted 3.5mm teal green tourmalines. Hand fabricated and hand woven. 2.25.

Eyris in Las Vegas
The JCK Jewelery Show is being held in Las Vegas from Friday 30th May to Tuesday 3rd June. Roger Beattie, Managing Director of the Eyris Blue Pearl Company and Pacific Blue Pearls will be in attendance as the guest of Peter Bazar and Imperial Deltah.

To see some outstanding blue pearl mabes and to catch up with Roger visit him at the Plum Club - PC39 between 30th May and 2nd June. Roger will be presenting some pearls from his private collection which include the Select Gem grade pearls plus some larger sized pearls ranging from 17 to 21mm along with some exquisite teardrops.

Don’t miss the opportunity to meet the man behind these beautiful mabes! Roger has spent many, many years developing the nucleation and production processes and the marketing of New Zealand’s own gem.

Gemological Institute of America Visit
The black pearls of Tahiti, blue pearls of New Zealand and white pearls of Australia were on the itinerary for a group of Gemological Institute of America members when they set off from Los Angeles in late August on their world trip.

Since late last year Eyris Blue Pearls have been planning and looking forward to hosting 27 members of this prestigious international group. We were fortunate to be able to offer our hospitality and share our knowledge of the blue pearls to gemologists / jewellers from Austria, Switzerland, Lithuania, Malta and the United States of America. Their time with us included a visit to Akaroa and a trip to the marine farm, the Akaroa Blue Pearl Centre, our Blue Pearl Processing Centre and Christchurch’s Blue Pearl Gallery.

Even though their travel plans were disrupted due to aircraft mechanical problems in Tahiti and weather disruptions in New Zealand the group were in great spirits and fascinated by the many steps needed and processes involved to create New Zealand’s gem - the blue pearl. They have all taken away with them a huge respect for our humble Haliotis iris (paua) and its beautiful shell.

Champion Canterbury Award Winner 2007
The Eyris Blue Pearl Company has been announced the winner of the ‘Champion Global Operator Small Enterprise’ category of the Champion Canterbury Awards for 2007. This category recognises the positive impact on the region’s reputation as an internationally orientated successful economy either as an importer or exporter of products or services.

“Blue pearl culture has been a work-in-progress for many years now and to be recognised in this way makes it very worthwhile” reports Roger Beattie, Managing Director / Owner of the Eyris Blue Pearl Company. “These awards are recognised as the largest business awards ceremony in New Zealand and we are absolutely delighted to have been announced as winners of this category and proud to be part of the continuing success of the Canterbury region.”

Natural abalone pearls, prized for their iridescent blues and greens, are the rarest of the rare. Since abalone, which belong to the snail rather than the oyster family, are among the most difficult shells to cultivate, the abalone cultured pearl has so far remained almost as rare.

Now cultured abalone mabe pearls from New Zealand will be available in the U.S. exclusively from Imperial-Deltah, East Providence, Rhode Island, which will launch the Eyris Blue Pearl collection at JCK Las Vegas 2006.

Eyris Blue Pearl Company in New Zealand has pioneered the culturing of abalone mabe pearls using New Zealand's native Paua shell. Roger Beattie, managing director of the company, began his career as a Paua diver and still holds the record for the greatest amount of abalone caught in one dive: 65.

The Haliotis Iris or Paua shell can only be gathered by free-diving, without breathing equipment, often in adverse weather conditions. It takes up to three years to culture each pearl and the overall success rate for saleable pearls is only 25 percent.

The Eyris Blue Pearl Company has pioneered ways to farm Paua, allowing them to develop as naturally as possible in their own ocean environment in specially designed pearl barrels suspended beneath the surface, fed only on their natural diet of nutrient rich seaweed. Paua eat up to 50 percent of their body weight in seaweed every week.

Today, the Eyris Blue Pearl Company operates five sea-based blue pearl farms around New Zealand in the Chatham Islands, the Marlborough Sounds, Banks Peninsula, and Wellington Harbor.

Abalone mabe colors include liquid blues, greens, golds, and pinks, and some have splashes of red and violet. In addition to offering loose round and pear shaped mabes from 7mm to 16mm, Imperial-Deltah will offer a full collection of jewelry with the mabe pearls set in 18k gold. Loose mabes range from $100 to $1,200 wholesale depending on size and quality. The jewelry collection will wholesale from $500 to $10,000