Founded in 1996 and online since 2000, Pearl Paradise operates with the depth and scale of a wholesale pearl house, not a typical retailer. Our Los Angeles vault holds one of the largest privately curated pearl inventories in the world, allowing us to select pearls individually rather than buying pre-assembled goods. More than 250,000 customers have purchased from us over the years, largely through referral, driven by consistent quality, transparency, and expertise rather than marketing claims.

Pearl Paradise sits a little differently in the U.S. pearl market. We are not just selling pearls. We are involved in the work that defines how pearls are described, graded, and understood in the first place.

Jeremy Shepherd, founder of Pearl Paradise, is the President of The Pearl Association of America, the longest-standing nonprofit organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to pearls. He serves on the Pearl Commission of CIBJO (The World Jewellery Confederation), where international pearl terminology, grading frameworks, and disclosure standards are developed. He also represents the U.S. pearl industry through the United States Jewelry Council. In addition, he is the author of Pearls As One, the most widely taken professional pearl education course in the world, used by retailers, designers, and trade organizations across multiple countries.

Hisano Shepherd is a pearl buyer and jewelry designer whose work has been recognized with numerous international and domestic awards over the course of her career. Her focus has always been on the pearls themselves. She is deeply involved in sourcing and selection, hosts the It’s Mine pearl livestream series, and personally chooses the pearls offered at Pearl Paradise.

This combination of institutional leadership, global education, sourcing access, and hands-on selection defines Pearl Paradise. Industry recognition and media coverage have followed not because we sell pearls online, but because we operate at the center of how pearls are evaluated, sourced, and understood.

Pearl Paradise is a pearl-only company. That simple fact shapes everything we do.

Everyone on our team works with pearls every day. They are trained directly by Jeremy and Hisano Shepherd in grading, sorting, matching, and selection, using the same standards we apply to our own inventory. This is not general jewelry training. It comes from handling pearls constantly and learning by comparison.

Our team goes through an in-depth internal training program built around Pearls As One, combined with hands-on work evaluating real pearls across different types and quality levels. That training never really ends. Skills are reinforced daily by looking at pearls side by side and making real decisions about quality.

Pearls are subtle, and small differences matter. Experience comes from repetition. This is our entire focus, and it is what our team does all day, every day.

MEET OUR TEAM