Pearls by Fred Ward

[richipat]

Just purchased this Gem Series book from Amazon and can't put it down. There are some incredible pictures. Good eye candy for "pearlifils."

Interesting little tidbit:

On page 37 (2002 revised edition) it mentions that in 1980 a Tahitian Black Pearl necklace with 27 pearls and ruby enhancer sold for less than $200,000. By mid- 1990's the same necklace was auctioned in New York for almost $800,000!!! and immediately resold in Japan for twice the auction price. Wow -- talk about a return on investment.

Good reading for newbies.

 

[jshepherd]

It is a good read. My personal favorite part of the book is on page 35. Ward was brave enough to tell the truth about the akoya industry years ago, yet people still deny it.

Quote from Pearls, by Fred Ward, page 35:

Chinese akoya are seldom seen marketed as such except inside China. Instead, such akoya full the vacuum of decreasing harvests caused by Japan's pollution problems. Japanese dealers buy Chinese pearls for about 30% less than Japan's akoya, mark them up, and sell them as Japanese pearls.

According to Chinese government figures, more akoya pearls were harvested in China (by weight) in 2006 than in Japan. Chinese also concentrate on small akoya, while the Japanese concentrate on larger akoya. What this means is there are 2 strands coming out of China for every 1 strand out of Japan on a per kilo basis. But no one really can tell because they are all sold as product of Japan (for 30% more). It makes you wonder who the real losers are...

 

[pernula]

Just curious, why do the Chinese focus on smaller Akoyas and the Japanese on larger ones? Do they culture longer for bigger ones or just use larger bead implants?

Thanks,
pernula

 

[jshepherd]

The just use larger bead implants. Overall the akoya in China will have thicker nacre than their Japanese counterparts with faster nacre deposition. There really is no point in culturing small akoya in Japan any longer as no farm can survive this way and compete with the Chinese.

It is important to note that the size of production is not left to chance. The farmers know what they are going to produce, and usually have an entire harvest within a single millimeter, give or take.

The Chinese have not yet mastered the technique to produce larger akoya, although they probably will soon, and production will completely cease in Japan. Currently the largest consistent size coming from China is 7.5mm, although this last year has shown some promise in the 7.5-8mm. The current typical method of operation uses 2 nuclei, one small and one slightly larger, in every shell. Some operations do use a single, larger nuclei to grow 7.5-8mm pearls as well. Other operations use multiple small nuclei to grow the increasingly popular 5mm and 4.5mm pearls. These sizes are getting very popular, and although they wholesale in China (to Japan) for around $70 per strand, the strands I have seen coming from Japan are in the $250 range.

 

[Valeria101]

Turning to the strand of baroque Akoya you have introduced here earlier...

... there were rounds in the same harvest, no? (imagining a wonderful slap on the face of thin-skin, run of the mill Akoya elsewhere)

 

[jshepherd]

Absolutely. But the pearls most special to me are the baroques that I posted on a while back. I have been working on those this week, by the way, separating, grading, and tagging. We are going to start shooting them today.

 

[youngster]

Please post some photos of those Jeremy. Would love to see them.