May 16, 2011

Pearls For The CulturedBy Gracie ShepherdChronicle.Augusta.com

Some trips are for fun, some are for business, and some change a person’s life.

When Thomson native India Rows took three months in 2006 to travel all over Asia, she took with her a name and number for a friend’s “pearl contact” to buy high quality cultured pearls for wholesale prices. Once she got to China and saw firsthand the industry process and pearl farms, she was captivated. “It was fascinating,” she said.

Her mother always encouraged her to buy jewelry at meaningful times and places, and to buy pieces that would last a lifetime.

Rows stocked up on pearls, bringing jewelry home as keepsakes and gifts. Her sister, Molly McDowell, had an art gallery at the time and Rows started to sell her pearl jewelry at gallery shows. The jewelry was a big hit from the start, Rows recalls, and people began asking her to have private home shows for them and their friends.

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