Innovation Continues in Chinese Freshwater Pearl Culture

[Raisondetre]

That's a great idea. I have seen first hand how it is in the clothing industry, but farming is a way harder existence. I'm still amazed at how cheap freshwater pearls are and I believe they are grossly undervalued. With the water pollution issue, there's a limited timeframe before they get wiped out.

I'm just curious - were the shells physically destroyed (I'm sure most would be), or is it that pearls harvested from dead shells (assuming you can find some) are not marketable? It's probably not feasible to go searching through piles of debris just to find a few pearls, but I have heard the term "dead" pearls, or is it just a gimmick? I know with rapid decomposition the acids will corrode the calcium carbonate though.

 

[jshepherd]

The pearls were harvested from the dead shell. There really was no choice. But the problem is that they had only been in the water since last Winter/Spring, so the nacre is still very thin, and the pearls are not considered marketable.

 

[Slraep]

Jeremy,

Can the thin-skinned things be used for reimplantation?

 

[Perle]

Jeremy, sorry to hear about that . . . .

Slraep, yeah, should make it the weekend project, but you know how that goes! Anyway, thanks for posting the link. Will try to view the film from another computer (one that actually works!).

Perle

 

[Valeria101]

The pearls were harvested from the dead shell. [...] they had only been in the water since last Winter/Spring, so the nacre is still very thin...

Sorry to hear bad news...

It feels a bit awkward to ask about the handful of wasted pearls in the picture, but this is the first batch of the kind I see and the range is intriguing #1. From the picture, it seems that the pearls started to have various colors - of which the bluish ones appear strongly colored, more blue than I had imagined possible. Are there blue akoya around in normal harvests or is it just the picture that exaggerates colors ? #2. Also, from the description I assume that these things have been implanted three moths apart at the most, yet some of the 'pearls' in hand appear little more than bare nuclei... and quite a few of them. Is the speed of nacre deposition so very diverse (inequal) between the shells of one harvest?

 

[jshepherd]

Jeremy,

Can the thin-skinned things be used for reimplantation?

No, they are done. The only re-implantation I have ever heard of was in Lake Kasumigaura; drilled akoya held into the body with a wire.

1. From the picture, it seems that the pearls started to have various colors - of which the bluish ones appear strongly colored, more blue than I had imagined possible. Are there blue akoya around in normal harvests or is it just the picture that exaggerates colors ?

No, every harvest has blue pearls. It is a very common color that is usualy "treated out". But in both China and Japan it is referred to as "natural color". The pearls are bleached out for the end consumer - that is what they want. When more consumers understand and accept the real beauty of the untreated akoya you will start to see a lot more of them, and the prices will jump.

2. Also, from the description I assume that these things have been implanted three moths apart at the most, yet some of the 'pearls' in hand appear little more than bare nuclei... and quite a few of them. Is the speed of nacre deposition so very diverse (inequal) between the shells of one harvest?

Nacre deposition is different from shell to shell. It is even different in the same shell when examining freshwater pearl harvests. A frehswater shell may have pearls as small as 5 or 6mm, or as large as 10mm. The akoya pearls that look like beads most likely have a layer of nacre on them, it is just thin. Until pearls are washed and polished the nacre will not give off much luster. Also, from what I understand, the shells were dead when the pearls were harvested. Pearls do not last long at all in dead mollusks.

 

[CLICLASP]

Hello,
Maybe I am mixing things all together but, what is so new in this cross bred of Hyriopsis schlegeli and Hyriopsis cumingi ?
Isn't what japanese did with in the Kasumiga lake to get those Kasumi pearls?
Thanks for more explanation

Besides, the way of culturing pearls, these fireball pearls look like having a smooth surface, Kasumi do not.

Tell me more...and thanks for bringing so interesting matters to pearl lovers

 

[jshepherd]

What is new is the fact that the Chinese are using Hyriopsis schlegeli, and Biwa pearly mussel production is not limited to Japan any longer.

It is true that the Japanese used a hybrid as well in Lake Kasumigaura. Not the same hybrid as that used in China, but an Hc/Hs hybrid.

The kasumis are not typically round and smooth. They can be, but they often have that wrinkled look to them. The difference may be in large part due to the way they are produced.

It has been said that kasumi pearls are grown within the mussel, not the mantle. Without the CBSB method, this is really the only way to bead-nuke a freshwater mussel with a large spherical bead. There is simply not enough room between either valve otherwise.

But without a sack, such as the gonad, to hold the nucleus in place, the nucleus would travel around the inside of the shell and likely be expelled. So I believe that the nuclei are attached to some sort of wire while the pearl sac develops. This would explain why x-rays of kasumis have shown drilled akoya pearls in the center. The nucleus would need that hole.

I could be wrong about that, but it just makes sense to me. I wish we had some kasumi people here to tell us more, and to properly compare and contrast the Japanese and Chinese methods.

 

[Slraep]

Besides, the way of culturing pearls, these fireball pearls look like having a smooth surface, Kasumi do not.

Hi CLICLASP,

Fine grade Kasumis do have a smooth surface. We just almost never get to see them. And if we are lucky to, they are astronomically priced. I recently saw a rare necklace of purply pink smoothies that was going for $50,000.00US. They told me it was a more than decent price, too. Ouch. A pair of 12mm smooth pink Kasumi stud earrings cost about $3000.00Can. quite a few years ago. I have never seen any smooth earrings since. If you search Japanese web sites, you will find some, but again, at wallet breaking prices.

Slraep

 

[Valeria101]

...without a sack, such as the gonad, to hold the nucleus in place [...] I believe that the nuclei are attached to some sort of wire while the pearl sac develops. This would explain why x-rays of kasumis have shown drilled akoya pearls in the center.

Could round (truly ball-bearing round, no wrinkles no nothing) pearls be still produced this way? They surely are out there.

I wonder if the one strand I have seen was the same Slraep mentions - the price tag matches The new non-nucleated pearls of matching colors are seriously exciting! Surely I only ever get to know about the tip of the iceberg...

 

[Slraep]

Hi Ana,

It could be the same necklace. This particular one I have seen in person, but there are other smooth necklaces pictured on various Japanese sites. I've also seen a good amount of smooth Kasumiga pearled rings. All quite expensive. I think it is a bit of a myth that Kasumiga pearls are bumpy, swirly nacred things. The fine or gem grade are all smooth and with consistant beautiful colour(no brown or bronze areas). If any kasumiga is lumpy, bumpy, swirly and unevenly nacred(you can see the underlayer in areas) and has yellow or brown spots, it is not a top grade Kasumi. Top colour seems to be a med. purple pink, on Japanese sites anyway.

Slraep

 

[jshepherd]

Sure, top-grade Kasumis are smooth. But they are also extraordinarily expensive. For the most part they have that wrinkly texture.

A friend of mine is trying to dig up some information about the culturing technique.

 

[GemGeek]

I've never seen smooth ones. I thought their charm was in their wrinkles. Here is what I have seen: http://www.kojimapearl.com/japankasumi.php
I may have gotten this link from your site months ago. I was saving it so I would remember to seek them out in Tucson

Do you have a photo of smooth ones?

Cheers,
Blaire

 

[Valeria101]

Do you have a photo of smooth ones?

No... and it has been a while since the encounter with those pearls in NYC.

However, you may have seen those fabled colors without the bumps already in the deep colored violet and purplish pink and rose freshwater pearls. Coins and drops and ovals are already well out in the open.

I do not know if the round kasumiga are also light colored - the strand I am talking about was a mix of saturated, intense, deeper shades between pink and purple. Longer (20-22 inch, I believe but cannot remember exactly, it went well down my chest) 10-11mm pearls. Don't worry, I wasn't shopping for pearl in that price range Just got the good fortune the see nice things every now and then. [PS: that fowning emoticon looks like an angry round kasumiga pearl! LOL!]

 

[GemGeek]

We're seeing pearls in everything now, even smileys!

Okay, if anyone comes across a website with a photo of smooth kasumi pearls, please pass it on

 

[Slraep]

Here's a ring. Don't know where the pic comes from besides my kasumi file.

Ana, the necklace I saw was the sam size except shorter, around 16-17 inches long.
Yes, there are light coloured kasumis, including white. But the more saturated(but not greyed) the pink purple or peach, the more expensive.