Richard, I did not read the book and can not judge about its quality, but one argument in your review made me quite excited: this is about pricing.
You write:
His first and most egregious error occurs in his introduction. “Pearl pricing”, he says, “is totally subjective …The same strand can go for three thousand dollars or thirty thousand dollars.” Nonsense! Oh yes, there is a fool born every minute, but the fact is that pearls trade in a fairly orderly market. So, absent the fool, no such gap between bid and ask prices exists (or the buyer would be soon out of business). Bloom would have been correct if he had said that there is no universally accepted hierarchical grading nomenclature. That is to say, one dealer may call the finest pearls “AAA”, while another may simply start with a single “A”. However the basic criteria: size, symmetry, surface, luster, orient and overtone are universal and used by all.
It may work for the US, but it definitely does not work for Europe. Maybe there are four fools instead of one born here every minute, but the pearl market works in a different way here. As far as I know, hardly any jewelrer here uses the 'A' to 'AAA' grading, and if size and luster are indeed essential, symmetry, orient and overtone are definitely less important. It is just about NICE pearls, charming clasps, interesting designs. Perfectly round and lustrous but dull grey (in my opinion) Tahitians, or large SS pearls with a lot of blemishes would sell quite well if they are put in an extravagant setting.
I am just back from Munich, with its amazing concentration of wealth and expensive shops. Pearl strands and colliers in the shopwindows are priced unbelievably high if somebody (like me in this case) understands a bit in grading. OK - they have more diamonds in clasps, which makes them more chic. Add the import tax on non-European goods, which is sometimes 30% extra to the original price. Add the expensive location at Maximillianstrasse. Add the layout in the shopwindow where this pearl collier is surrounded by extravagant diamond and emerald bracelets for the price of a good car. And here we are: apparently there is no problem with the customres there because I see these shops at the same place for 20 years, and they are not empty.
One of my favourites there is 'The Vision of Pearls'
http://www.feine-perlen.de/, it is far(!) too expensive, I know, - but there is fantasy and elegance there, and even if I can not afford buying there it is always a pleasure to see their new designs. Overpriced? - that's for sure. But sometimes people choose to overpay for something that make their backs more straight and walk more confident.
