In the summer of 1975, my family drove across the country from a tiny town in Tennessee to Los Angeles, California where I attended my first trade show. I was mesmerized by the showcases full of gems, pearls and beautiful jewelry, the camaraderie of uniting with friends as clients and vendors, and meeting industry leaders eager to share their enthusiasm and knowledge. I was only eight years old, but it made such an impression on me that I began working in my family’s pearl business by sorting and matching natural pearls every summer. I was fortunate to travel with and learn from my father, John R. Latendresse, who was considered to be one of the world’s foremost experts on pearls – natural and cultured – as well as the “Father of American Pearls” for the first and only sustainable pearl farm in the United States of America. Over the last 50 years, I have been immersed in the world of pearls, mussel shelling and industry education. I am inspired by pearls daily, natural pearls because of their unique shapes and rarity, and cultured pearls because of their variety and availability. My hope is to cultivate enthusiasm and share the mysteries of pearls along my journey.
With Appreciation,
Gina Latendresse, President, GG
About our founder
In 1949, John Latendresse, a self-taught leader and entrepreneur, moved to Tennessee to dive into a freshwater adventure. At that time, all pearls found in American waters were natural, byproducts of the profitable mussel shell business. The mussel shells from North American waters were and still are exported to a variety of countries and carved into round mother-of-pearl beads used as nuclei for pearl cultivation worldwide.
In 1954, with only an 8th grade education and his grit and determination, he founded Tennessee Shell Company, which quickly became the largest exporter of American mussels to Japan. By 1961, he founded American Pearl Company® to import cultured pearls from Japan and sell his unique collection of natural pearls from North American lakes and rivers. But my father envisioned more, and after a challenge from his overseas colleagues, set about researching, experimenting, marketing and promoting the first American pearl farm. With the help of my immigrant mother, Chieko “Chessy” Nakamoto Latendresse, in August of 1985, their Tennessee pearl farm was featured in National Geographic Magazine with its first commercially harvested pearls fondly named Domé Pearls® and Fancishape pearls.
Today, his legacy continues with a focus on sustainably cultured pearls from the USA and around the world, loose and set in jewelry. We also focus on natural pearls sustainably harvested from our domestic waters, and exotic naturals such as the rare spiny oyster pearls, purple quahog pearls, abalone pearls, conch pearls, melo pearls, scallop and clam pearls.
With Gratitude,
John R Latendresse
1925-2000
An Entrepreneur, A Visionary,
A Pearl Farmer,
A Father, A Husband,
An Ordinary Man Who Lived an Extraordinary Life