History of Tiana Pearl Co.
After stumbling by chance upon pearls during a study-abroad trip to China, Tiana Pearl Co. founder, Jason Tanenbaum, brought back a few necklaces for his friends and family. His girlfriend, Samantha, loved her gift and helped convince Jason to turn his simple souvenir-shopping into a company. But he soon found that beautiful pearls alone were not enough-they needed to be crafted into unique pieces to best showcase their luster and beauty. He needed a designer.
So he reached out to one of his best friends, Nicole Van Leuvan. Nicole had been designing jewelry since high school, when she was selected as one of only 7 students in her entire class to take a rigorous "independent study" art class and she chose jewelry-making. Nearly a year later, and not without the help of another great friend (Chad), Jason's idea for Tiana Pearl Co. was finally born!
Vision
Every few generations, there comes a revolution in the world of pearls. Perhaps it all started when the ancient Greeks used pearls that had been washed ashore as decorative ornaments. Hundreds of years later, in 1892, a Chinese sailor named Captain Tiana (the namesake of Tiana Pearl Co.) struck a deal with the sultan of an island in Indonesia to harvest pearls, in exchange for Captain Tiana's promise to provide jobs to locals from the island. Following that came Mikimoto Kokichi's revolutionary process for culturing freshwater pearls in the 1890s-he developed a process to craft perfect pearls in oysters, but at prices that allowed more than merely the wealthiest of royalty to afford them. And who could forget Coco Chanel's use of freshwater pearls in her designs, bringing the beauty of pearls to the forefront of fashion?
At Tiana Pearl Co., we view ourselves as successors to this rich legacy, offering a boutique of fresh, unique and classic pearl jewelry designs using only the highest-quality AA freshwater pearls. And what could be better than finding that the perfect complement to your outfit is not only unique, but also affordable and crafted from beautiful pearls? Last but not least, all of our Tiana Pearl Co. Signature pieces are personally designed by our emerging designer, Nicole Van Leuvan and assembled by hand, so they have the meticulous quality that you can come to expect from Tiana Pearl Co.
