Shane Co. will donate 10 percent of all cultured pearl sales through April 17 to earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan, the jeweler announced March 21.

“The need to rebuild parts of Japan is real and great, and so many are suffering so much,” Shane Co. owner Tom Shane tells JCK.

Shane says while pearls are a relatively small percent of Shane Co.’s business, Shane Co. buys a lot of pearls from Japanese pearl farmers. “Our thinking was that making something Japanese into the vehicle for the donations would reinforce the fact that we do, indeed, buy from the pearl farmers,” he says.

The company is hoping the donations will help increase pearl sales. “[It] would directly translate into our increasing the quantity of pearls that we would need to reorder from the Japanese, which in itself would boost their economy.”

Fifty percent of the proceeds from the program will be donated to the Red Cross, and the remaining proceeds will be donated to other organizations providing direct relief.

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