Biwa - The real McCoy

[Bernadette]

I have a question concerning "Biwa" pearls - ie the real McCoys from Lake Biwa.

Did they ever come in stick form?

Thanks in advance
Bernadette.

 

[DFrey]

Hi Bernadette,
In the late 70's and early 80's I was purchasing pearls from lake Biwa that were "stick form". They were rectangluar in shape but I don't remember ever seeing any as big as the ones that are currently coming out of China.

Dfrey

 

[Valeria101]

Would it be fair to say that the original Biwa really were not on par with the current fws production? Even the not so great current fws production...

Of the Japanese colored pearls, I don't see anything to match the the top round Kasumiga-ura. But it would only take nucleated fws with relatively intense colors, thin nacre and strong mirror - if those aren't already around, they can't be far Those must have been the highest priced cultured freshwater pearls, as much as I know. GREAT stunt to use akoya for nucleation and make it that much easier to present the product as an 'improvement' over the preferred pearls of the day (taken literally - an overgrowth). Oh well...

 

[Bernadette]

Thanks for the replies ... Its a topic that has been close to my heart recently with many local suppliers "naming" chinese pearls as "Biwa" including stick shapes - which I didnt recall seeing in the trade at that time.

The amount of misinformation is annoying given it creates false impressions - and I find it unforgivable that some of the "bead press" here have published misleading articles on pearl production.

Regards
Bernadette

 

[Sheila]

Many clients ask for Biwa pearls when they really want the stick pearls. So I decided to name them 'Biwa stick pearls'.
I know it's a wrong name, but if I just call them 'stick pearls' nobody will buy them.

Two months ago somebody asked me for Mabe pearls. She really was looking for halfdrilled buttonpearls.

Sheila

 

[Ashley]

Hi Sheila,

What a touchy subject you just brought up! What to say, what to say...

In my opinion, specific nouns designating origin should be left to designate that specific origin, unless the term has been specifically adopted industry-wide to refer to all gems of a certain quality/color that are seen to typify the genus. I don't believe that selling Chinese freshwater stick pearls as "Biwa" stick pearls should be considered ok, and although I am in no way passing judgment on your branding practices as long as you inform the buyer that you are using the term "Biwa" to refer to a quality level and NOT origin.

The Biwa name traditionally refers to particular type of pearl from Lake Biwa in Japan. As we all know, Lake Biwa's production is virtually nil, and if the Chinese freshwater pearls are just as amazing in quality and color - why not sell them as Biwa if consumers don't know the difference?

This is an interesting argument and the gemstone industry is going through the same thing with Paraiba Tourmaline over the course of last and this year, although I am not in agreement with what may be the future decision. Here's why:

Paraiba Tourmaline is one of the most amazing colored gemstones on the planet! An electric aquamarine (main coloring agents are a heavy dose of copper and gold) color, it was only found in Paraiba, Brazil. After an insanely successful, but very short run (1987-1993), the only mine in the world played out and to this day remains closed. <-- That makes me very sad, because now, if you want gem-quality, true P.Tourmaline, IF you can find it, it will cost easily $15KPer Carat AND UP depending on size and specific color saturation levels, and of course inclusions...

Enter Mozambique Tourmaline, a newly discovered source of similarly colored cuprite tourmalines from Africa, which rapidly began being marketed by dealers as the new "Paraiba". Gemstone dealers can more easily maintain a good inventory in a range of sizes at a fraction of the cost ($500-900 for lighter saturation and $3-4K for dark, sizeable goods) than that of real Paraiba Tourmaline. And, if you market it as real Paraiba Tourmaline, let's face it, the goods will FLY out of the case, the demand is THAT high!

The Drawback: The color is just not as good. If you've ever seen a true Paraiba; well I know my reaction: I start to palpitate slightly, I know my pupils dilate, I am a nut!! This new Paraiba just doesn't do it for me. The color is slightly off due to lower levels of copper minerals and manganese.

In any case, the questions are and remain regarding this issue:

Is it ethically responsible to give your product's a BRAND NAME based on the reputation of another product that has already established itself and it's value in the marketplace?

As a seller of fine goods, aren't you obligated to disclose origin, specie and quality in an ethical manner to your customer base?

Should a product that is "just as good as the real thing" have the ability to be marketed by the Real Thing's brand name?

I don't know about you, but when I invest in a brand based upon reputation and perceived value, that is exactly what I'd expect to get, and I expect that many people would agree with me, although...

I love a good debate! Any takers?

 

[Valeria101]

Te matter of Paraiba and its official identification on lab reports has been debated so long and wide on the gemology forum it would take a bit to sum things up...

With color properties NOT included on lab reports, proxies became the core of the disclosure debate: Cu content and geographical origin respectively. Not surprisingly, origin and Cu marker do not equal fantastic quality (the original mine did not produce only world class tourmaline for crying out loud), tourmaline with Cu but different origin turned out more abundant, larger, with rare top specimens and some more diversity of options than the original mine, and ... the color comes in tourmaline that does not have copper and has never set foot to either Africa or Brazil too (quite unusual, priced as color deserves).

With labs in the game, it is possible now to have any bit of robin-egg blue tourmaline identified for Cu content and origin, if one desires such disclosure. The reports DO NOT measure or mention in any way quality. Call it disclosure? Ya might as well.

GIA, SSEF, AGTA, TGL and I think Gubelin too give Paraiba IDs all identifying Cu content and some with optional identification of origin too.

PS: you might like THIS BIT of discussion about some turquouse colored Mozambique and Afghan tourmaline. It involves some crazy beautiful stones too (look at the last two pages of that lng thread. The link should go to the first of the two.)
My 2c

 

[Ashley]

Hi Valeria,

Thanks for the links, and some interesting points. However my argument has nothing to do with measurable amounts of Cu or no Cu- I totally agree that Afghani and African cuprite can be pretty amazing too http://litnon.com/viewgem.php?gemid=1598&id=4811. The argument of chemical composition to determine the quality of a stone is a messy one!

I guess I'll try another stone analogy: You wouldn't market a Thai Ruby as a Burmese Ruby. You just shouldn't do it, and I don't care how good the color is. The Burmese Ruby is named for origin, period. It has a reputation for being an extremely fine variety of corundum from a specific location. You CAN however, call a Thai Ruby a Pigeon Blood- because you are using a trade term to denote Quality.

I believe that the same should apply to freshwater pearls, if origin is going to be an issue for customers. Either the industry needs to adopt the term "Biwa" as a connotation of a certain quality, OR, Biwa should be used as an origination designation.

 

[Valeria101]

The argument of chemical composition to determine the quality of a stone is a messy one!

[...] Either the industry needs to adopt the term "Biwa" as a connotation of a certain quality, OR, Biwa should be used as an origination designation.

Right, chemical composition is outside this pearl topic. At least, both 'Biwa pearls' and 'Paraiba tourmaline' names imply origin as a quality marker. 'Guess that in this context both origin and composition are (imprecise, unreliable and heavily politicized!) proxies of quality.... but that's generalizing a bit too much, admittedly.

Not sure what 'the industry' or anyone else could do about the usage of any such 'proxies' in sale tactics though. Mostly because they are informal - there is no coordinated marketing campaign that pushes them but word of mouth and tradition. Clearly, that sort of folklore can be managed at the high end and it is - by regulating the use of terms in lab reports and whatever industry self-regulation there is (earlier on there was a thread here about the latest CIBJO pearl book - an example of what I mean by 'industry self-regulation' here).

Just a thought... Of course, it would be nice to have no disinformation and 'noise' in sales communication at any level. Fighting that sounds like fighting the proverbial wind mills though

It really is quite nice to see even a relatively small island of disclosure promise like this forum.

Who knows, maybe sometime there would be some Pearl-Guide self-imposed GRADING system too Now, wouldn't that be cool!


--------------
PS: Re. chemical composition and pearl - it is thought to be a marker of origin to some extent (at least to determine freshwater vs. saltwater by Mn content and some pigments)... Not sure if any such research was ever done for Biwa, and w/o formal certification based on such ID, the point is moot.

 

[DFrey]

Hi Valeria,

The Lake biwa pearls were pretty nice and the rectangular ones that i had were nicer that any thing I have seen from China. Not as big but superior pearls. Some of the Chinese have way better orient, but the ones I have seen lack the smooth surface that the Biwa production had. Lake Biwa produced some really nice fat "Keishi" pearls in the 10- 12 mm range squareish, roundish with smooth and interesting surface , high luster and some orient. These seem to be rare birds in the current Chinese production. I looked recently in the pearl market in Zhuji city and couldn't find anything close to what i wanted. I think they are out there but just not very common, and I didn't have the time to spend to search them out.

Copper Bearing Tourmaline.... unless you are a " collector" who cares is my current attitude. Go for the top colors from Afghanistan, Namibia, Nigeria and other places.The neon colors are there just not the Copper.
dfrey

 

[Valeria101]

Copper Bearing Tourmaline.... unless you are a " collector" who cares

Te, he! Yeah! It looks like even fewer than that care - 'wonder if without the CRANKING sales horn from jewelry television and the like this Cu thing would not have remained a footnote in history. Like the vanadium thing for emeralds. Like the iron thing for ruby and sapphire (even thought that one has a clear link with quality!). Don't think the blow-horn made chemistry matter in its own right, but it must have been tons of otherwise hopeless merchandise sold on the claim, judging from the loudness of the pitch Hard to generalize, but unescapable.
... enough detour from pearls, I guess....

Thanks or the review of Biwa originals!

 

[DFrey]

Something that is better about the current chinese production versus the Lake Biwa production is I don't remember the Japanese producing the intense colors that some current Chinese freshwaters have. Maybe I just never saw the Japanese production of intense colors but I remember the colors as being mostly pastel like to medium color intensity that were available to me.

dfrey