Work stakhanovist, women lover and pearl emperor, Robert Wan has been for decades a pioneer in the pearl culture.
In French Polynesia, Robert Wan is the second most famous person after the president. A man who started with nothing and managed to build an empire with own hands. A pair of passionate hands who met the right person at the right time, and worked his life to keep his company running and perduring.
Robert Wan, 84, who is still the head of the company but appointed his son Bruno and grandson Richard to manage the family group.
The pearl farms are located 1700 kilometers away from Tahiti in the Gambier archipelagos. The climate temperature, quality of the water and current conditions allowed Wan to harvest close to perfection the pearl oyster known as the Pinctada Margarifitera. By establishing his farms in this part of the Pacific, Robert Wan’s pearls are noticeable for their colors. Ranging from deep grey to turquoise, peacock or aubergine, Robert Wan manages this way to get the most beautiful and largest black pearls.
The experience of pearl farmers combined to the experience of Robert Wan in his selection process guarantee the best quality. The knowledge he was able to acquire over the years led him to cultivate, harvest and export the pearl culture.
Back in the seventies when Wan first started, he met with Mikimoto who agreed to buy his first harvest and the following ones… if the pearls where meeting the famous Japanese jeweler’s standards.
Since a word is a word, it has been over 40 years that Mikimoto has been trusting Robert Wan’s work. All of Mikimoto’s black pearls come from French Polynesia directly from Robert Wan’s farms.
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Italo Grignani has been working with Robert Wan for the past eight years. He knows from the back of his hands what clients want to know, what are interrested in, how much do they spend and from where they come…
