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Highlighted Creations
by Award winning designer Chi Galatea
By far the most outstanding addition to the
gem world was premiered at JCK Las Vegas 2007. Chi Huynh of Galatea
(Jewelry by Artist), located in San Dimas, California, is best known
for his Diamond in a Pearl, in addition to his carved Akoya and
Tahitian pearls. This year, Chi introduced carved black pearls,
exposing the pearl's nucleus. The surprise is that the nucleus is
NOT Mother-of-Pearl. Several years ago, while Chi was carving a
Tahitian pearl, he accidentally carved too deeply, exposing the
white Mother-of-Pearl bead beneath the black nacre. Lamenting over
the fact that he had just ruined a perfectly fine Tahitian pearl, he
suddenly got this idea that he could insert gemstone beads into a
black lipped oyster, creating a pearl that would be carved down to
the nucleus, exposing the gem beneath the nacre.
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