Mahana Maui Jewelry
How It's Made:
Passionate design - this is how all life was created. And it is with passionate design that Mahana Maui legacy jewelry is created by hand. Each masterpiece is extraordinary and unique. Every work of art by Mahana Maui is infused with much mana, or life force. All Mahana Maui masterpieces begin in the ancient and beautiful lands and waters of New Zealand.
The Maori of Aotearoa, New Zealand, are the ancient ancestors of Hawaiians. They treasure and practice the ancient arts of their ancestors, skills that have been passed down for countless generations. The Maori, like the Hawaiians, believe that all life is sacred and should be honored with respect. It is their traditional belief that when something is carved in a special way, using sacred intention, the object transforms into a taonga, a sacred treasure infused with great life energy. In both Maori and Hawaiian, this sacred life force that is within all things is called mana.
Mystical South Sea Mother of Pearl: pinctada maxima. The mystical pearl throughout all legends around the world is called a "divine gift from heaven." The rare and exquisite South Sea Mother of Pearl lives only in the beautiful and warm waters of the South Pacific Ocean. The Maori of Aotearoa (New Zealand) hold the pinctada maxima in very high esteem and it is used in sacred jewelry for royalty.
It takes over 3 years for the wild Mother of Pearl to mature to its adult size, 12 inches or the size of a dinner plate. The skill of free diving for the papa tio, South Sea Mother of Pearl, is passed down through the generations. The divers dive beyond the depth of 60 feet to find the wild pinctada maxima, untouched by man. The Maori diver says a blessing and takes the large oyster home to be carved under water, by way of an ancient Maori process. This whole process can take up to many months, for the diver must feel that the oyster is the right one to be carved. Being that the shell's lips are fragile, it takes great patience and skill to bring forth the rainbow of magical colors waiting to be discovered within its layers.
Mahana Maui imports to Hawaii these rare and valuable treasures from an exclusive Maori source, who personally carve these gems of the sea. Mahana unifies the Maori masterpieces with luxurious hand selected fine cultured pearls from throughout the Pacific region. She completes each piece with a 14K solid gold clasp, and blesses each necklace with mana. Each beloved creation is forged by hand on the magical island of Maui, Hawaii, in the verdant jungles of Maui's North Shore.
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