Children of the sea, sharing their art
Journeys to the Marshalls and the Solomons naturally led to thoughts of Lu’s own island childhood, in Taiwan’s Penghu County.
The Luperla Jewelry Company was founded on Penghu. Long before the 1963 opening of its well-known Taipei base, the “Wish Paradise Corporation” on Nanjing East Road, the Lu clan had already been through amazing highs and lows. Lu Qingshui, the primogenitor, was one of Penghu’s most successful fishing-industry entrepreneurs, and at his peak owned tens of fishing boats.
However, the entire family fortune was destroyed in 1961 due to a typhoon. Lu Qingshui, always ready to lend a hand to others, had stood surety for loans to other fishermen, and after the typhoon he ended up responsible for a mountain of debt. The whole family, left with no alternative, moved to the tiny town of Shili (also on Penghu) where they started a small-scale fish trading business, and turned their sights to the future and a revival of their fortunes.
Seeing the family’s pathetic state, a neighbor who had learned shellcraft techniques in Japan selflessly taught these skills to them. Flora, the seventh child, recalls the many hours she spent at home with her brothers and sisters polishing Penghu shells by hand and drilling holes in them to make brooches, which they then sent to their elder sister, who was studying in Taipei. She in turn sold them to a jewelry wholesaler on Zhonghua Road in Ximending.
“Coming to the Marshalls or the Solomons and teaching everything to local people starting from zero, transforming disregarded shells into jewelry, is not only about sharing skills, it’s also about sharing an idea, a vision,” says Flora.
In turn, as she herself understands, the giver can also get unexpected returns by selfless sharing. Take for example the story of the founding of the Lucoral Museum.
In 1986 Luperla decided to expand overseas, and after opening one branch in New York, established another in Hawaii. In order to secure a firm footing in the Aloha State, the company purchased land and constructed a headquarters building. After it was completed there were a lot of materials left over, and a friend suggested to Flora that she donate the extra shells to local primary schools for use in nature classes.
One grateful teacher responded to Lu’s overture by suggesting that she open the company venue to the public for educational purposes. And thus in 1992 the space that had originally been destined as a showroom for customers was transformed into a museum, providing a valued resource for visitors to learn about minerals like crystal and coral.
In the two decades and more since its opening, the small Lucoral Museum, with only a few hundred square meters of floor space, has welcomed over 10,000 students per year. Each month more than 1000 students get a hands-on taste of jewelry making and get to know all sorts of precious stones and minerals.
Pictured here, Flora Lu instructs students on how to process shells into jewelry. (courtesy of Luperla)