Natural South Sea pearl found

[kenneth.thorman]

Hi

My Thai family have requested that I post this on the Internet.

A Thai fisherman around Ranong in Thailand (close to the Burmeese border) have found a pearl which have been purchased by a Thai for 20.000 baht (~500USD). This Thai national have (apparently) had it brought to Bangkok and apparently checked, he is providing a certificate.

I have been living in Thailand for some time and know that Thailand is known for all kinds of schemes for copying and duplicating, so I am very sceptical of anything. However I am not going to buy this pearl. My Thai family have as noted before requested that I post this on the Internet to try see if anyone is interested due to them receiving a commission if they can sell the pearl.

I do not know anything about pearls, I do not have any interest in selling this pearl apart from my Thai family receiving that commission which according to the seller would be a percentage of the selling price.

First of all when I heard what the selling price was I was pretty surprised since I thought it a lot of money but again since I do not know anything about pearls I looked on the internet and found prices like 40 mill (Pearl of Allah) and other very high amounts.

Anyway I am attaching some pictures of the pearl. Some members of the family borrowed my digital camera and went to see the pearl. At the moment I am visiting Thailand and am living in Phang Nga (about 100km north of Phuket) and the drive to Ranong (around 350km) is managed in a day.

Disclaimer. I do not know is this is a fake, it might be a piece of plastic for all I know. Anyone interested should either be a pearl expert, or bring a pearl expert. If they want to take the pearl to a testing facility they should provide an extra flight ticket for the Thai owner since he does not part with the pearl. They should probably also bring a Thai - English (or what ever language you want the translation in) since the owner only speaks Thai. I do speak both languages, but do not want to partake in the deal in any way. You should bring people that are loyal to you either due to you paying them money or due to being friends/family etc...

Asking selling price is highest bidder or a minimum of 7 mill baht (around 180.000-200.000 USD).

UPDATE:
I was contacted by my sister in law, that in turn was contacted by the owner of the pearl. The pearl has not been sold yet, and this has led to a drop in the price. The current price is 57.000 USD.


I have never seen a pearl in this color.
Is this a hopeless / outrageous price?

The pictures have on purpose been scaled down due to low bandwidth connection. Higher quality can be provided.

Added question:

Does natural pearl (if it truly is real) appear as round/spherical as this one, most of the ones I have been able to find on the Internet looks like The pearl of Allah (goats brain) or a lump of melted wax. Almost looks too good to be true?

When looking at the pictures in large quality there do appear to be a minor defect on the pearl surface though.

Added comment:
The attached picture DSC02160.JPG contains a picture taken of the certificate provded by the owner of the pearl.


High quality images can be found here:
http://www.tmdata.dk/documents/private/pearl/default.aspx
as well as a translated sampled of the lab report


Regards
Ken

 

[Valeria101]

I can't see the picture. Hope you can attach it.

How about size? And what color is it? Shape?


Now, large natural pearls do get astronomical prices at auction, but still... those numbers seem crazy.

It is fairly easy to get this type of references - prices realized by pearls at international auctions. And if you are looking for large, important pearls only, there really are not that many being offered each year. Allot in the high five figures, some higher. You'll see. You know your pearls while I do not, so it is up to you to select the right price reference.

Both Christies and Sotheby's make it very easy for you to obtain a rough valuation for an exceptional piece of jewelry from them. All you have to do is e-mail pictures. If there is interest on their side, you'll hear back with some numbers and perhaps an invitation to consign They're good at this, believe me.

About identification. Yeah... you would be well served by a lab report. AIGS in Bangkok is fairly well known. SSEF or Gubelin or AGTA are the choice addresses for important gems. At least AGTA has a 'take-in window' in Bangkok. SSEF was planning one. Shocking as it might seem, all of these take in things by mail. If you trust your pearl might be of the six-figure kind, the cost of proper ID and valuation should be a trifle And the only way to go about such business... that I know of.

My 2c.

Hope to see the pearl!



PS. Hell if I know what's up with that 'Pearl of Allah' thing. Absolute record for a pearl item: 7m or so for the 'Baroda' necklace. Six times that is... just a random number on a piece of paper. The highest price paid for a pearl at auction was around $600,000 for a historic piece. There really are just a few market places where such prices are realized no matter what the object looks like.

 

[kenneth.thorman]

The connection is playing up so attaching the images took longer than expected. Should be a 56K GRPS connection but here in the Phang Nga mangrove forest the connection rate is nowhere near that.

Added response to Valeria101:
#1. As my interest in this is rather minor I would prefer my effort stayed the same. So just to summarize the easiest way to get a price reference would be to send Christies and Sotheby's an email with some pictures. What does consign in this context mean?
#2. Further more how would you go about doing this practically. Thais also being used to all kind of schemes are normally very sceptial. So I think telling the owner to send the pearl via postal service and then awaiting some eletronic amount of money would be out of the question (I think he want/wishes for somebody comes flying down from somewhere, this someone who is a pearl expert and speaks perfect Thai, carries all the money in Thai currency and says "OK I'll buy it"). Would he have to bring the pearl personally to Christies and Sotheby's?


Regards
Ken

 

[Valeria101]

OMG! You've got a Melo pearl! And ... it does have a lab report stating as much already (OK, almost: 'Natural, Non-nacreous pearl').

Now... just ignore the previous post. I was thinking of nacreous pearls - the typical Pinctada Maxima produce. This, is a whole different thing.

There are a few threads around here about Melo pearls, but not much about their commercial value.

Frankly, their valuation is total mystery for me. There seem to be very few being bought and sold overall... which means you may need patience. However, I do remember a couple of fairly high prices for pieces small enough to be worn in jewelry and particularly colorful: from a couple thousand for a ring piece to mid five-figures for a necklace combining Melo and Conch pearls (Sotheby's, Hong Kong).

 

[Caitlin]

The Pearl of Allah is vastly overpriced for what it is, an ugly clam pearl. The 42, million or 63 million or whatever prices were always a hype. It sold once for $200,000 and I think that was way over priced.

 

[kenneth.thorman]

What is a Melo pearl?
And whats up with OMG? Is it that rare and special?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Regards
Ken

 

[salem]

OMG stands for "Oh my God", just to show her shock at a Melo pearl. I kinda feel sorry for you jumping into this. Some of the experts on here should be around soon to offer some advice on value. I know Jeremy Shepherd sells exoctic natural pearls, so he may be helpful. Personally, I thought it was a conch at first, but seeing how round it is I would quess Valeria's opinion is more likely correct. It is very lovely, and good luck on your search.


Ooops, just re-read your post, I guess you already know the OMG meaning. Yes, natural pearls are very rare, but I don't know specifically about the melo.

 

[KAC]

yes its a melo melo pearl and looks like a very nice example. There really isn't any standard value for these pearls as there is not that many on the market. Really in the end this pearl will be worth what ever someone is willing to pay - which will vary widely.

 

[GemGeek]

There have been cases of fake Conch and Melo Melo pearls. But the pattern looks like the real Melos I've seen up close. If it's genuine, it's sure to be of great value to a collector. The best thing to do would be to send it to a gem lab that would be trusted by the purchaser.

Nice color, and heavens, is that BIG, or what???

Good Luck,
Blaire

 

[Valeria101]

What is a Melo pearl?
And whats up with OMG? Is it that rare and special?

I is always a surprise to hear about these pearls. There aren't many around, although how many exactly are being collected is quite a mystery. There doesn't seem to be allot of demand for them either, but that doesn't make them inexpensive. Just slow selling.

Meaning, 'Wow' was for an unusual thing. Not for the next $200k pearl.

The hardest part about finding out the value of this pear is finding interested folks - buyers or sellers for that matter. Exotic pearls seem to get everyone's attention when they are mentioned, but there are so few offered for sale, I have no clue what buyers might be prepared to offer for them.

Gloom aside, even I can remember a few jewelers who do make a case for Melo pearls.

Pala International is one:
http://www.palagems.com/melo_myanmar.htm

and these guys:
Dr. Wolf Bialonczyk at Gemstones & Melo Pearls
http://www.melopearls.com/index.php

Even gemological information about these pearls is scarce... A recent report about non-nacreous pearls including Melo Melo, comes from Vincent Pardieu, now working at the Gubelin Gem Lab. The report about Melo can be found on his website: www.fieldgemology.com . You could probably get in touch with Vincent, if you wanted.

http://www.fieldgemology.com/showpic.php?sub_id=71&type=school

This really is all that comes to mind.

Along with the congratulations for owning such a remarkable piece. You may own it for longer then you might have hoped, but ...

'Guess it does show I am no expert in these things either, so take it all with a grain of salt.

 

[jshepherd]

It definitely looks like a Melo. Jeremy Norris would best be able to valuate the pearl by photo. Did I read this right, however? The seller wants $200,000 US?! That seems to be about 10 times what he would likely get given the situation. Those are fantasy prices...

 

[kenneth.thorman]

The seller is a Thai fisherman, well actually 3 thai finshermen that banded together their savings to buy this pearl from another fisherman. They are more than likely just putting a price. I do not know where they have this price from. Maybe from the place that checked the pearl. I am asking in this forum to get an idear if this price is realistic.

Regards
Ken

 

[purepearls]

With these type of pieces, the value is what someone is willing to pay for it. There really is not a set retail value for rare, natural pieces such as these. Though I feel it is way overpriced, the actual sale price depends on how motivated the potential buyer is for acquiring it. Sometimes, the best way to get a good price for pearls like this one are auctions. The companies involved in auctions such as Sotheby's know exactly how to get the right clientele and ramp up energy for the piece. They can often get the owners a much better price than the they would have on their own, granted there is a commission involved.

 

[knotty panda]

Here's a little article on Kari's site. http://www.karipearls.com/largest-roundest-most-perfect-melo-pearl-in-the-world.html I wish she spent more time here. She gets the dag-gon-dist information! Anyway, here's a Melo Melo for $5M which didn't sell, so it got marked up to $7M, if I read the article correctly. I sort of skimmed it.

 

[Caitlin]

I think the pearl has an incredibly good flame pattern compared to Mr Chen's golf ball. (see kari's article and pictures) I would approach the largest most respectable auction houses with this pearl. They will be honest about what they think you can get. And they will reject it, if they think it won't sell through their networks.

Try a few top of the line jewelers like Tiffiany's who design for upscale customers. ..... It really is large, probably the maximum size to be wearable. It may be a bit too big for most people to wear......

If it is too big for fancy jewelry places to be interested- then it is only good for display; in that case maybe there is a museum collection who has a benefactor. Or a private collector. But it is no record breaker in size, compared to Mr's Chen's ping pong ball.

It may take some research to sell this, but you will be able to if you get creative.

Don't underestimate the coverage this forum gets -a lot of people will read about it, so I would check up now and then and give this thread a bump by telling us your progress..... Whereas I couldn't guess if you could get 200k for it- you certainly will get far more than 500 dollars!

 

[Caitlin]

I just thought of this. You should try to determine a per carat price for it- as they do for abalone pearls.

Now don't ask me how to do the research, but obviously you really need to do research.

We have 2 natural pearl buyers who read and sometimes contribute to this forum: both are honest and knowledgeable. Jeremy Norris and Wes Rankin. I think Jeremy posts undder jnorris and Wes under Pacific pearl something.

Good luck

 

[pernula]

The largest Melo pearl and the pearl in Ken's pictures both look beautiful. I wish your Thai family and the fishermen good luck.

I just have a few comments about the story of the $5 to $7 million offer. It may well be true but something is nagging me about it. Like the Pearl of Allah, someone supposedly made an offer for it. It wasn't actually appraised or documented to have sold for that amount. Circulation of the story of the offer benefits the current owner, but not really anyone else.

Also, I find it hard to believe a vice president of Sotheby made a private offer for it. Auction houses have legal responsibilities both to the sellers and buyers. If you decide to use auction houses, you don't want to feel uneasy that employees of those auction houses are eyeing your items and trying to make private deals with you. How can you be sure then that there is no conflict of interest? Most large companies will have policies in place against such conflict of interest.

Just my two cents.

Regards,
pernula

 

[Caitlin]

The Pearl of Allah (PoA) was first marketed in 1939 at $3.5 million with no takers. When it finally did sell in 1980, it was for $200,000- far less than 10% of the asking price. If I did the math right that should tell us something.

keystone price X10? Is that how you say that?

Since then there have been several updated "appraisals" and lots of press releases about huge offers not accepted, but the truth is that even when the court ordered it sold in 1990 to pay back an investor, it did not sell at all, so a 1/3 owner/investor's children are still waiting for the most recent court ordered buy-out to happen- let alone a return on the original investment. At this point it has traded hands only once since 1939, in spite of the fact it has been up for sale continously since 1939.

Stay tuned for the full story on the PoA. There is more than one lesson to be learned from it.

 

[GemGeek]

I sent this page link to Pala International, which was previously mentioned. They cater to collectors of fine gem specimens. They may be interested, or may have some good advice. Maybe Bill would want it for his personal collection.

 

[kenneth.thorman]

Hi

First of all I would like to thank everyone for your interest and your replies. When I initially was looking for a place to post this I had no idea where to post and just did a search on Google for "pearl expert". This site came up and it seemed like a good fit. I guess I got lucky . I did not expect this post to actually spark much of an interest but I was wrong.

Just to give you an update on what I have been doing.

I have sent an email to both Christies and Sotheby's asking for their guidance if there would be any possibility of selling this pearl. I am still awaiting a reply from Sotheby's whereas Christies have replied back requesting that the images be attached to an email due to them being unable to view images from websites. This is my next step.

I have also with a reference to Valeria101's post #10 I have contacted Pala International, MeloPearls.com as well as tried to get into touch with Vincent Pardieu from the Gubelin Gem Lab. I have not received any replies yet.

I am sorry for not posting this progress before as I can see you all have been very helpful and one have even contacted Pala International on my behalf (thank you very much), but my connection has been playing up (again ).

Even though my initial hope was that this would not be a complicated sale (I was sceptically about the price from the start though) so I would not have to spend much time on this, it have shown to be rather interesting and I am learning a lot in the progress. All in all thank you for introducing me to the world of pearls in encouraging way. You have all been most helpfull.

Regards
Ken