Tenerife Pearl

Free Gift.
Remember to fill out and print the EuroSol Pearl Form, from the menu above, and take it with you to Tenerife Pearl. This will qualify you for a 'no strings' free gift - you don't have to buy anything, but I'll be surprised of you don't find something you can't resist.

Discount
Take the EuroSol 5% Discount and 'Free Gift' voucher (toolbar above), to get discount on anything you buy.

Pick an Oyster!.
This really is a potential opportunity, its not a 'wind up'. An ad-hoc collection of oysters are regularly taken from the farms and placed in tanks in the showroom, to continue growing. For a very modest charge, you can choose any oyster that takes your fancy - have it opened - and whatever its value, it really is yours. An expert is always on hand to scrutinise the colour, shape and size of your harvest and value your pearl free of charge. You will be given the valuation certificate.

About their products. One of the features I have always liked about Tenerife Pearl, and hence why I recommend it, is this. In addition to the beautiful hand crafted masterpieces you would expect from such an internationally respected company, they also produce a whole range of cheaper costume jewellery. Many of these items make spectacular and affordable gifts for friends and other family members. With prices well under the 'High Street Jewellers', considerable savings can be made, opening up the possibility of treating yourself to a really special 'once in a lifetime' piece of jewellery.

As well as beautifully cultured pearls, there is also a range of simulated pearls, including their Prestige Pearl jewellery. This is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing and only a fraction of the price. (I must admit, I just could not tell the difference. The range of pearls is complemented b a variety of precious and semiprecious stones. All items are Tax free and most carry a guarantee of satisfaction. The staff are genuinely friendly and helpful in offering advice to ensure that a gift or special memento of your Tenerife visit is selected with confidence.

The Workshop Visitors to Tenerife Pearl can witness the art of pearl threading and knotting and observe the painstaking attention to detail and skill carried out by pearl stringers. Here the craftspeople create individual pieces and can even create something especially for you. There is also complimentary ring sizing services, etc, available while you wait.

Summary

• Free entrance
• Free Car Park
• Tax free jewellery and products.
• 5% Discount for EuroSol users (take form above)
• Open 9am till late, 7 days a week.
• Cafe, serving fresh sandwiches, coffee, etc.
• Well located, within 10 km Playa de las Americas (see South Map)
• Tenerife Pearl, Armeñime, South Tenerife
• Tel: (+34) 922 741250 Fax: (+34) 922 741900

Tenerife Pearl is one of the most interesting places to visit in Tenerife. These fascinating 'gems of the sea' have enhanced the beauty of the most attractive women in history. I am always intrigued with many of the historical facts - For instance, who 'drank pearls' in wine, and who 'financed a war' by selling just one pearl. The answers are further down this page, where you will also find more on pearls.

More about Pearls

A Pearl for a War
At the height of the Roman Empire, when pearl fever reached its peak, the historian Suetonius wrote that the Roman general Vitellius financed an entire military campaign by selling just one of his mother's pearl earrings.

She Drank Pearl
To convince Rome that Egypt possessed a heritage and wealth that put it above conquest, Cleopatra wagered Marc Antony that she could give the most expensive dinner in history. The Roman reclined as the queen sat with an empty plate and a goblet of wine (or vinegar). She crushed one large pearl of a pair of earrings, dissolved it in the liquid, then drank it down. Astonished, Antony declined his dinner - the matching pear- and admitted she had won.

Caring for your Pearls
Pearls are softer than almost all gem stones, only the opal is really comparable in hardness. Consequently they can be scratched and otherwise damaged if they are jumbled up with other jewellery in a jewel box. They are best kept separate in a soft cloth, bag or case. After wear, they should be wiped with a cloth, which should be slightly damp, but not wet. The object of this is to remove perspiration, body acids, make-up, perfume, or hair spray, which contain a variety of substances such as alcohol and acids harmful to the pearl. Consequently, if the surface is attacked, the lustre is dulled. The string at the back of the pearls is always in constant contact with the neck and it is especially important to clean this part of the necklace as it can otherwise become severely damaged by chemical attack and through wear, in the course of time. Although some sources advise soaking pearls in warm water containing a little detergent or soap once in a while, it is probably best to avoid doing so, as this process can weaken the thread. It is advisable to wipe them with a clean cloth moistened with mild soapy water. If worn regularly your necklace should be re-strung at least once a year. They are strung on silk thread which is knotted between pearls, to prevent them from rubbing against each other and also to avoid loss, should the thread break. However, small size uniforms and graduated pearls are often strung without knots because the overall look is better. Re-threading is advisable when there is any sign of fraying or stretching or when the gimp becomes discoloured.

Cultured Pearls
A Japanese noodle maker's son, Kokichi Mikimoto, and his wife, set about trying to convince oysters to produce round pearls on demand. Mikimoto didn't know that two other people had already, quite independently, found secret of pearl culturing.
They had found that by inserting a piece of oyster membrane tissue, with a nucleus of shell into an oyster's body causes it to form a pearl sack. That sack then secretes nacre to coat the nucleus, thus creating a pearl. In 1907, the two independent discoverers recognised they had both done the same thing and signed an agreement acknowledging their joint discovery as the Mise-Nishikawa method, which still remains the basic method of pearl culturing today.
Meanwhile, Mikimoto, who had received a 1896 patent for hemispherical pearls, and a 1908 patent for culturing in mantle tissue, could not use the Mise-Nishikawa method without invalidating his own patents.
So he altered the patent to cover a technique to make round pearls in mantle tissue. He then began a huge expansion, bought the rights to the Mise-Niskikawa method (leaving them, purely with the honour of 'being the first').
Mikimoto did make one crucial discovery. He experimented with every imaginable material, and eventually found the yield when he inserted round nuclei cut from U.S. mussel shells. These mussel shells have been the basis for cultured saltwater pearls for 90 years.
Mikimoto revolutionised pearling. Using his natural promotion skills, and astute business acumen, he badgered jewellers and governments to accept his cultured products as pearls. Huge pearl demonstration structures were displayed at every major international exhibition, making pearls available to virtually everyone in the world.

Salt and Fresh Water Pearls
Natural freshwater pearls occur in mussels, saltwater pearls occur in oysters. Usually a sharp object or parasite, enters a mussel which cannot be expelled. The mollusc coats this 'foreign body', with the same secretion it uses for shell-building, nacre.
To culture freshwater mussels, workers slightly open their shells, cut small slits into the mantle tissue inside both shells. Small pieces of live mantle tissue from another mussel are inserted into these slits and this starts the nacre production.

What's Killing the Oysters?
A rapidly increasing number of oyster deaths was attributed, around 1994, to 'red tide', microscopic, toxin-producing animals in the ocean that proved deadly to the oysters. However, deaths continued at a high rate, after the 'red tide' subsided. Various theories, attributing blame to producers, and other factors have failed to unhide the real cause, the specific cause of the disease, with a mortality rate as high as 80%, still remains a mystery.