The following comments come straight from Jeremy Shephard of Pearl Paradise. He wrote on 1/27/2008 in a former thread:
I caught this one!
Yes, the freshadama have been bleached. We have collected and sold unbleached loose grade in the past. These pearls are a bit creamier but hold strong luster indefinitely. We discussed this one a year or so ago here and we had a lot of people calling asking us for the untreated stock. I explained the reason for bleaching as increasing the percentage of freshadama-marketable pearls. This is what gives nearly all freshwater their bright white color and sharp, newly processed-like luster.
The colors, however, are not enhanced. The white pearls with rose overtones (freshwater) have not been pinked.
The true exotics, the ones that (in my opinion) will put even the freshadama to shame, should be released within a week! Those pearls have not been bleached and the browns and greens and gold colors show that in a remarkable way.
__________________
Jeremy Shepherd
President and FounderPearlParadise.com, Inc.
PS
You can find pics of the aforementioned exotics here in the guide.
barbie