China trip

[JWei]

I was in China for two weeks. During this trip, I had visited some pearl farmers and factories. Here is some info about pearl market.

The price for the small pearls has been increased since the begining of this year and for the middle and large pearls decreased.

Some provinces have prohibited pearl farming in the lakes near cities and in large lakes.

Some pearl farmers have been experiencing difficulty time, especially for those farmers who can only culture pearls with normal quality.

Pearl factories can not find sufficient workers. On the other side, some have too much pearls in depot.

 

[GemGeek]

Thanks JWei, that's very interesting news. It's good that they are taking the pollution problems seriously, even though it will be tough on the market for a while. Drinkable water is so important.

 

[olmander]

Very interesting, JWei!

And how would you explain growing prices for small pearls and declining for large pearls?

What would be your prediction for the soming couple of years given the situation you describe (lack of working force, more regulation, excess of pearls on the factories etc...)?

One more thing: you say that some farmers who can only culture normal quality have difficult times. What do you mean as normal quality?

 

[Valeria101]

Pictures ? Of the pearls, of course

 

[JWei]

Generally, Oyster can purify the water. One oyster can filter ca. 30-40(?) liters of water per day.
The pollution is introduced by the farming method.
People in China begin to realize that it is very important to protect the air and water. I am glad to see the development in the last two years.

The small pearls become more expansive because the manpower are more expansive now. Small pearls need more manpower to process compared with large pearls. It is now also difficulty to find small pearls such as round pearls with diameter smaller than 2mm (because of new farming method?).

Predicting the price change is similar to predicting the stock market. I have checked my stocks, which are all red. So it is better for me to stay silent. One or two year later, one can find sufficient information to prove how the price has so changed.

I will open a new thread to show some pearls.

 

[jerin]

Hi Jun,

very interesting posts about the change in price for the pearls. Did you say there are pearls farmed with only 2 mm size?

That sounds not to be very economicially for a farmer! And I find it good to hear that the farmers now realize the importance a healthy environment, both in water and air!

 

[JWei]

Hi Inge,

the pearl farmer do not culture the small pearls intentionally. It is not economical. Generally in an oyster, there exist 15-40 pearls. Some are small.
The local government begin to realize the importance of protecting the water. So they prohibit pearl farming in the lakes, whose water maybe used as drink water.

 

[jerin]

Hi Jun,
thanks for the explanation. But if the farmers were to tissue only the mussels with lesser bits of the mantle (say only 15), then the mussels would deliver larger pearls in the same amount of time, wouldn?t they?

 

[JWei]

In one oyster, there exist pearls with different sizes, although they are nucleated at the same time. Now people try to insert fewer issues than before to produce large and good pearls.