Nacre depth requirement scrapped from January

[Chroman]

I think educating the public on the true beauties of these pearls is the way to get more sales.

Totally agree. Given the dull lifeless pearls that seem to find their way into mainstream stores, I'm not terribly optimisitic that market forces will raise the most beautiful pearls to the top. I'm sure there are beautiful pieces with slightly thin nacre, and dull pearls with thick nacre.

Probably preaching to the choir here though

 

[pearlescence]

Edison pearks are thought to be the best bead nucleated but Grace does not certify each one and indeed they sell to other wholesalers who sometimes call them Edisons and sometimes don't.
Why should tahitians be different to every other pearl in the market? Qualitative restrictions haven't worked to protect french polynesian pearl farms.
The average customer doesn't care about 0.8mm of nacre. So what if it's half the price and 0.6 they will think. And why not?

 

[SunSeeker]

This is really disappointing news. Thanks for the translation and the commentary.

 

[Chroman]

I wonder if this could open up new sales avenues for farmers. If there's less buerocracy in the way of getting your product to market, would things be any easier for something like direct sales of the best of a harvest? Or are auction lots so much the norm that nothing is apt to change for sales?

 

[pearlescence]

Farms have been free to sell direct and some do (Kamoka for example, and Robert Wan has a huge marketing organisation which usually features him surrounded by beauty queens) There will be a different bureaucracy, now involving committees setting quotas. It might even be more of an encumbrance as committees so often are.
I suspect things will carry on much as normal at the consumer end - there will be a range of quality and price and the discerning buyer will find the good pearl expert to work with. Those who want pearls at the cheapest will find their way to eBay etc - but maybe they will get poor tahitians rather than poor dyed freshwaters...?

 

[Katbran]

I had missed this thread as I was away June-July and only managed a hit and miss sort of visit here. This is really interesting. I thought I'd read that they already had a bit of overproduction happening and Robert Wan was holding back to try and slow down the number of Tahitians hitting the market in hopes that other farmers would follow suit. If that is correct then at first glance this doesn't seem like it's going to help- though maybe it helps the smaller producers who then get a faster turn around if they can sell with less nacre?

Is there more information on this ? Be interesting to know what prompted the change. Other than levelling the playing field with other countries that don't have the same standards.

 

[pearlescence]

One of the reasons for changing a law os that it isn't working. Clearly dud pearls are already getting to market so all the law does is penalise lhe law abiding. As with all other pearls it will be up to consumers what they buy.. plenty of pretty rubbishy freshwaters get snapped up every day via tv shopping for wg

 

[battah]

I had to come find this thread - at Intergem this weekend, I saw a lot of Tahitians that reminded me of this discussion. They seemed to have very thin nacre, and in most cases the bead showed in every pit. I mean, Intergem (at least out here) has never been the place to buy Tahitians, but it sort of jumped out at me this time. Typically the ones here just don't have great luster, but this time they had better luster with what looked like thinner nacre.

 

[Caitlin]

Those horrible Tahitians have been smuggled out for a long time.

On one of the Tucson Pearl Walks, Judi McC, Jeremy, and I went to the "tent shows" at GL&W, where there is an acre of freshwater pearls- commercial grade.

Judi took a photo of one of the Tahitians we saw there. It could not have been uglier, but that was close to 10 years ago.The photo is on Pearl-Guide somewhere, maybe in a Tucson Gem Show thread....

I agree the ugly ones will start showing up on eBay! A dab of near-matching nail polish covers a lot of holes.

I did that to my cheapo enormous Ripple pearls and wore them to H and J's wedding. Other wedding guests complimented me, but didn't notice the holes (which were gaping -in a couple of cases, the bead showed before I painted it) until I pointed it out and joked about it with them.

The colors were great on these beads, but the holes made them cost about $100 on eBay. Since that is the only ripple necklace I'll ever be able to afford, I embraced its flaws.

I just love those bi-color, ringed pearls from Tahiti - maybe more will show up.

 

[battah]

The colors were great on these beads, but the holes made them cost about $100 on eBay. Since that is the only ripple necklace I'll ever be able to afford, I embraced its flaws.

I love that you did that! I have a strand of grey freshwater klonks with way too many pits and have been trying to figure out some way to make something with them - I can't bring myself to toss them. Painted pearls could be fun...

 

[amti]

I have seen sellers state their pearls were not altered or repaired and never knew how repairs were done. This is interesting to me too. I wonder what other methods there are. I'm not skilled enough to attempt this myself but I can see how really dexterous people can make a great living doing this. Is there a way to tell if a pearl has been repaired?

 

[pearlescence]

It will be interesting to see what is about in Hong Kong next month - and even more so next year

 

[Sanippy]

A question for the pearl vendors out there. Going forward if farmers choose not to x ray their pearls, how will you be able to ensure that the pearls you purchase at auction and sell to the end consumer as a certain grade i.e. AAA are indeed the same quality as previously sold?

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Is there a way to tell if a pearl has been repaired?

Perhaps it's an ambiguous way of describing value added methods. Say a dimple or a pimple might be drilled or positioned to not be visible in a setting. Maybe a chipped, broken or cracked pearl sawed in half and set as a mabe or geode. Possibly some pearls of low quality or with abraded surfaces having designs carved into them.

 

[pearlescence]

South Sea, Akoya, freshwater pearls all sold without x-rays.
Plenty of non-x-ray non compliant pearls get to market with the rule.
In any case, the certificate - like any piece of paper - can be faked, applied to pearls which aren't in the lot assessed - the (fake) Mikimoto clasp can be put on cheap pearls. I have certificates. I could say that any Tahitians have passed under one of them. (I don't!)
Plus it was a bit arbitrary and out of date: a pearl which had just too thin nacre on one side but really thick on another would fail. The new 'souffle' type hollow tahitians were all fails/banned
So realistically it was a nice idea to keep standards up, and in an ideal world it would be great, but pragmatically...no, and stifles innovation too.

 

[Sanippy]

Yes, but regardless of the certificate I would assume that the pearls sold at the reputable auction houses would at the very least have met the nacre depth requirements. Now there is no guarantee. I agree that there will be some lovely pearls out there that would previously have been destroyed. And I'm glad that they will be available! But my question is whether in the absence of x-raying, Tahitian pearl vendors can absolutely ensure that the quality of the pearls they market as AAA in 2017 are consistent with those sold as AAA in 2016.

In relation to your akoya, freshwater and SSP comment isn't it true that it is easier to see nacre thickness in a light coloured pearl? In this regard, it may be easier to determine the quality of these pearls by eye in comparison to dark Tahitians. If a pearl has high luster is that a strong enough of an indication that the nacre is thick?

 

[MSC]

But my question is whether in the absence of x-raying, Tahitian pearl vendors can absolutely ensure that the quality of the pearls they market as AAA in 2017 are consistent with those sold as AAA in 2016.

In relation to your akoya, freshwater and SSP comment isn't it true that it is easier to see nacre thickness in a light coloured pearl? In this regard, it may be easier to determine the quality of these pearls by eye in comparison to dark Tahitians. If a pearl has high luster is that a strong enough of an indication that the nacre is thick?

Curious about these questions as well.

 

[perlas]

Yes, but regardless of the certificate I would assume that the pearls sold at the reputable auction houses would at the very least have met the nacre depth requirements. Now there is no guarantee. I agree that there will be some lovely pearls out there that would previously have been destroyed. And I'm glad that they will be available! But my question is whether in the absence of x-raying, Tahitian pearl vendors can absolutely ensure that the quality of the pearls they market as AAA in 2017 are consistent with those sold as AAA in 2016.

In relation to your akoya, freshwater and SSP comment isn't it true that it is easier to see nacre thickness in a light coloured pearl? In this regard, it may be easier to determine the quality of these pearls by eye in comparison to dark Tahitians. If a pearl has high luster is that a strong enough of an indication that the nacre is thick?

Very good point from Hanadama. Tahitians being generally black and the luster being on the surface, I think it will be difficult to see the nacre thickness by eye. In drilled pearls, one can look at the drill holes to check nacre thickness, same as in akoyas. Whatever type of pearl, the drill holes are a big help identifying thin-nacred pearls.

 

[Pareltje]

Is it true that a baroque shape indicates that the nacre is thick?

 

[jshepherd]

The certificates from the Tahitian government are almost never for individual pearls. They're for lots. The reason you never see them in Hong Kong is because the sellers in Hong Kong are the ones who exported them or imported them from Hong Kong. The sellers in Hong Kong have to open the lots in order to sell them. You only see the certificates currently if you directly import pearls from Tahiti (which is why you had the certificate with the pearls from Josh, Wendy).

The certificates are never faked because they come from the government with the pearls in packages that are sealed with the certificate inside, and that government seal can't be broken until the pearls have left Tahiti. It basically gives the buyer assurance that the pearls passed both the nacre test and the surface test, because the government does an X-ray assessment and a surface assessment before sealing the lot.