Vantel Pearls Review and Profile

Vantel Pearls no longer appears to be active as a direct sales company.

Vantel Pearls is no longer operating as a direct-selling company. Founder Joan Hartel Cabral announced her retirement and the company’s closure in July 2021.

Original Npros business profile for Vantel Pearls, preserved below for archival purposes:

Vantel Pearls was established in Massachusetts in 1986 by Joan Hartel Cabral and entered direct selling in 1990. Cabral developed the business after receiving an oyster containing a pearl during a trip to Hawaii. She initially brought the oyster-opening concept to a small store on Martha's Vineyard before adapting it into a home-party business that could be operated while raising a family.

The company sold freshwater cultured pearls and pearl jewelry through an interactive "pearl discovery" experience. At home parties and, later, Facebook Live events, consultants opened preserved oysters to reveal pearls purchased by customers. The pearls were then mounted in necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets and other jewelry settings selected from the Vantel catalog. The product line also included pearl-discovery kits, charms, bridal jewelry and accessories.

Vantel Pearls operated as a multilevel party-plan company. Independent representatives, known as Consultants, earned commissions from personal jewelry sales and additional compensation based on sales generated by consultants they recruited. A federal court described the company's compensation system as paying participants according to their own sales volume and the sales attributable to recruited consultants. A 2016â€"2017 catalog advertised commissions ranging from 25% to 41% on personal sales, a 40% product discount, incentive gifts and travel awards.