Kaviar Pearls www.kaviarpearls.com
A birthday in Bali is one for the books. Definitely not because of the ample selection of hip/hop or reggae dance clubs, happy hour jungle juice being served at every open air patio or new faces in what once were familiar places. It was quiet, and exactly what I needed. Some down time. Humid salty air, fresh tea, the sea and the scent of spiced incense surrounded me.
I arrived in Bali on Sunday evening to spend the following day on the island before I ventured over to Lombok, Bali’s eastern neighbor. My flight was scheduled early Tuesday morning, but having fallen victim to heatstroke in record time, a 5am wake up wasn’t going to happen. I had to push back to the afternoon, and so with high hopes, a bottle of cold water and too much luggage, I arrived in Mataram at 2pm.
Lombok is a very different island than Bali, not only visually, but culturally. Bali, unlike the rest of Indonesia is Hindu; however, Indonesia is the largest Muslim populated country in the world. Everything everything everything is different. Not a good or a bad, just not the same. There are many pearl suppliers and farms in Lombok as well, and from a business perspective, it is wise to make contact and have access to pearls farmed in other locations. Temperature change in the water is enough to affect the well being of a harvest. This fact alone is worthwhile for new sources. So, off and away I am. Here in Mataram with a handful of contacts, well rested grading eyes and a pocket full of dreams.
For me, and many of us, the world spends a lot if its time in the palm of our hands. Blackberry’s and iphones and every other electronic device can connect us around the globe in seconds. I have sourced and made good friends with a few of the people I was about to meet here in Lombok. Some contacts work out, some don’t. Lets not talk about the ones that didn’t. How about the ones that did?! Before I left Calgary I started season one of Madmen. This is where I am, but the Indonesian chapter, of course. Unsuccessful meetings always make it easier to identify the potential in new relationships. After heatstroke, fainting on an Australian man at the airport and being charged $9 CDN for a coke to get sugar back into my body, my radar for good and bad potential business deals seemed heightened. There is always a silver lining, and here, in a local family home, I meet the businessmen of Mataram.
It was Wednesday morning, 9am. I arrived at the home of Mr. Rifky. His home, and it seemed like 7 other men lived there too. I am first introduced to Hussein (Jose), and Rifky enters shortly after. They are brothers, and the other men, I learn later, are clients as well as friends. All day, every day, these men are putting together pearl deals. Negotiating, phoning, texting, bantering back and forth, back and forth…. in the sitting area, out on the terrace, inside standing, inside sitting, out on the terrace…. but they always move as a pack. Sometimes when they are inside sitting, they look up, and someone will say in English “Let’s go check it out.” So all 5, 6 or 7 (however many of them are there just then) all stand up, taking their show on the road about 4 meters. They speak (it sounds like arguing, but it’s not) back and forth, maybe 2 or 3 minutes, and then they all move back inside. Everyone is very friendly, and this first meeting is to show me the quality of pearls that their farm can produce. Quality, and price negotiations. This had a lot to do with the inside/outside and constant movement. Natural sunlight is always the best for grading and seeing the true quality of a pearl and so each pearl will be taken out dozens of time to be mulled over in changing hands throughout the day.
This day was particularly kind with sunshine. A full Wednesday of sunshine, pearls, sorting, matching, coffee and iced teas, traditional Indonesian style food and new friends. This is the beauty of my pearling routine – Building relationships.
We spent out morning looking through a few select gold south sea pearls, but after the last few weeks it is evident that these past few harvests are producing more whites and silvers. Gold is increasingly rare, or in excellent qualities, that is. I fumble through my hands 3 different gold pearls to check their roundness. The lustre is impressive, the gold is even and saturated, but the shape is just off drop. The whites…. Oh the white pearls! Silver and lustrous, slight pink and blue overtones, and sizes that I have only dreamed of – very impressive lots.
Minutes turn to hours and lunchtime arrives. The light is still bright and so we decide to break. It is time anyway, Rifky must go pray and the others are getting hungry. I need something to eat, too. It’s been a long time since I’ve stomached a meal, and although I wasn’t sure what I was in for, I was up for some food.
The mens field trip destination is out decided dining area, so up we move once the food arrives and venture to the yard. There is an elevated type hut in most Indonesian’s yard which is typically used for outside prayer, but today it is out picnic table. It is here that we talk and eat. The men poke fun at me for not finishing my food – lunch is an entire baby chicken, chopped up and served over rice with spices and chili’s, and every inard and organ. The kidney’s look like roasted garlic…. it’s not though, it’s not garlic…….
Back at the negotiating table I sit down with Rifky. He is back from prayer and he is very interested in my business in Canada. Rifky dresses very traditionally with Indonesian print clothing, a dashiki of sorts and long wrap pants. His beard is long, and he strokes it often with his long thin fingers when he speaks to you. He is very very slim and walks with a distinctive limp, but moves around quickly, and often. Like every other man who has been in and out of the house all day, he is the only one who asks if I mind if he smokes. When I gesture that I am okay, he lights his cigarette and we begin telling each other about our businesses. Rifky has worked with many of the Indonesian people I work with and the world is small enough that we share our Toronto contacts as well. Rifky and I have common beliefs about building a relationship with clients, and I know that once a prospective supplier addresses that first, I am with the right people. I tell Rifky what colors my clients like, shape and size preferences and how they like to wear their pearls. He and Hussein show me the Tahitian pearls they sell in Indonesia and ask my opinion. Many times through our conversation, Rifky’s daughter, maybe 3, wanders into the room and pushes her head under her father’s hand. She is sweet and young, and very unsure of me. She wanders in and out all day, trying to catch glimpses of me without me noticing.
Rifky has to run to the office quickly, and so I continue to sort and search and discerningly look through the pearls they have offered to me so we can negotiate our prices on different qualities. It is getting late in the day and my goal is to agree on a fair price by sun down.
Early in the day, Hussein learns quickly that I am not interested in small sizes, low qualities or irregular shapes. It is with him, that I sit and sort grades and begin to put offers on the selection of qualities and sizes. Hussein is the younger of the brothers. He is busy juggling two blackberry’s and conversation with the multiple men in and out of the home. He is casually dressed as you may imagine a gem dealer, a button up collared shirt buttoned only half way, shaved head and glasses. He reminds me of many of my friends back home, always busy and energetic, but when he sits with me, he is engaged and serious. He is a fair man, and impressed with the wise selection of pearls, and so it begins. We laugh back and forth (jokingly of course) at each others opening offers. You cannot fault either of us for trying. Having come from Hong Kong, I know the going rates for wholesalers and so here, at the farm and direct prices, I am not particularly as generous with opening bids as they may expect a naive buyer to be. Hussein and I sit and negotiate back and forth, with frequent breaks for him, until the last 10 minutes before the sun hides for the evening. At that point, we both head outside to agree on qualities, and we finish our business inside. The offers are quick, but after eight and half hours, Hussein and I shake hands. Our price is fair, and we have agreed to do business. The next day, Hussein and I are off the pearl farm.
Rifky has arrived back home from the office and sits back in his chair to discuss my schooling with me. He wants to hear all about sailing the world and harvesting pearls in French Polynesia. He is curious about GIA and government regulation on gem appraisals in Canada. He asks me all about importing and what customs is like and where my parents are from. Then he asks if I’m hungry. We decide to go for dinner – Grilled fish and fresh crab, but first, he has to pray.