Pearl Factory

[Pickapearl83]

Are the pearls sold at The Pearl Factory truly cultured akoya

 

[CortezPearls]

Hi pickapearl83!
I cannot vouch for what they are doing today, but I have seen them use low-grade Akoya pearls since the 1990's.
Last year I visited their booth in the San Francisco pier area and I barely glanced at it, but I think I saw what seemed to be dyed freshwaters. I could be wrong...will return shortly (mid May) and will check it out!

 

[Pickapearl83]

thank you. I have always questioned the source of the pearls and legitimacy. thanks again.

 

[jshepherd]

It's hard to say without seeing the pearls. Most of the pick-your-oyster pearls are freshwater, but companies can purchase akoya in the shells if they pay for it.

All of the pearl parties I've seen online (this was trending big a couple years ago) showed freshwater pearls coming out of akoya shells. On a visit to Hawaii a few years ago, I saw vendors I "harvesting" freshwater pearls from akoya shells. I just did a search for a video online and found this one - https://fb.watch/rR0hH4z5l-/

At second 27 you can see a bowl filled with natural-color and dyed freshwater pearls - no akoya.

The biggest giveaways are shape and color. If the pearls are slightly off-round or slightly oblong, they are almost certainly freshwater. If they are harvesting peach, lavender, dyed neon and black colors those are freshwaters.

I think the most important thing to remember is that this is a show, or an experience. They pearls are placed into the shells at factories. They did not grow inside the shells that are being opened.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Just to add a note here...Matt Harris of Matt Harris designs posted a note on Instagram about these pearl openings and his alternative to them. He will be doing openings at an actual Tahitian pearl farm and buyers will receive the genuine Tahitian as well as the shells. I think that's a pretty cool idea and with Matt, you can be certain you are getting what you are paying for as he is a CPAA board member. Kamoka also posts some wonderful videos of pearl extractions from oysters...sometimes they even show what finished jewelry was made with the pearl, which is also really cool.

 

[jshepherd]

Just to add a note here...Matt Harris of Matt Harris designs posted a note on Instagram about these pearl openings and his alternative to them. He will be doing openings at an actual Tahitian pearl farm and buyers will receive the genuine Tahitian as well as the shells. I think that's a pretty cool idea and with Matt, you can be certain you are getting what you are paying for as he is a CPAA board member. Kamoka also posts some wonderful videos of pearl extractions from oysters...sometimes they even show what finished jewelry was made with the pearl, which is also really cool.

I just saw that this morning! I look forward to watching this!

 

[CortezPearls]

With the present cost of Akoya pearls, as well as the better qualities being produced: it makes a lot of sense for them to employ small freshwater pearls!

 

[pearlescence]

Do a search on Aliexpress for 'wish pearl'. thousands of brightly dyed freshwater pearls in obviously dead shells. Totally yuck.

 

[BWeaves]

YUCK!

 

[pearlescence]

It is, totally, yuck.

 

[CatMom]

Nope

 

[jshepherd]

I took this photo at Mikimoto's experimental farm in Ise, Japan about 15 years ago. My hands were a little dry These are natural-color akoya pearls that were freshly harvested.

I shot this photo during a trip Xuwen, China in 2007. I had never seen baroque, natural-color akoya pearls before this. An interesting tidbit of history ... a month later I posted a thread on the forum asking people to guess what type of pearls they were.

 

[pearlescence]

I can remember how things changed from one Hong Kong show to the next. First show ..a few strands of natural colour akoya tucked apologetically to the side and incredibly cheap. Next show...bosh...lots and lots of natural colour pearls with soaring prices. Japanese sellers had spotted that people were turning away from the current garishly dyed freshwaters and loving natural colours.