Report from Hong Kong

[The Pearl Outlet]

Lies, all lies. I'll grab the tab tonight! No cameras.

 

[Raisondetre]

LOL This is getting funnier by the minute. Well, you don't want to see me hurl after 2 drinks ...

 

[DFrey]

Great reporting on the Hong Kong show, I can almost feel the hangover. Where are my aspirin?

DFrey

 

[jerin]

Hope to hear more from you all very soon!

 

[Nerida]

Great reporting on the Hong Kong show, I can almost feel the hangover. Where are my aspirin?

DFrey

Sorry DFrey - I don't have any left.... I am off to Shanghai in the morning to have a quiet few days before going home!

 

[Nerida]

Hope to hear more from you all very soon!

See - at least you know I've made it back to my room. Can't speak for the others.

Promise I'll talk about the pearls soon. Maybe in the morning. Maybe after I've had a quieter day...

 

[effisk]

Chandelier ?

The big cadalabra type of hanging lamp made of hundreds of cut crystals.

argh!

Chandelier

Lustre

That's the original definition of these words before they crossed the channel then the pond.

 

[Mikeyy]

Alright Nerida it's not going to work like that. We are not going to allow you to pretend to be a "Good Girl". And that you have been behaving so well. Maybe you didn't realize that we do have pictures of you at the bar. That bar fight didn't start on its own. I'm not going in to details here but most of those drinking games you were teaching us about I had never heard of. And it was the hard stuff. Let me just warn the rest of you. If you go out drinking with this dynamo be prepared for adventure. And a headache and a few bruises in the morning.

 

[GemGeek]

argh!

Chandelier

Lustre

That's the original definition of these words before they crossed the channel then the pond.

Very interesting! Lustre is such a lovely word!

 

[Nathan Reed]

The big cadalabra type of hanging lamp made of hundreds of cut crystals.

I meant "please elaborate on the chandelier incident".

 

[GemGeek]

That's what happens when you hang with geeks - we're too literal.

 

[Nerida]

Ah Mikeyy - never one to let the truth get in the way of a good story!
As you can see, we all had a great week - I've escaped now to Shanghai for a bit of a rest, I think!
The package tours we will put together for next year's show definitely will include a disclaimer....

 

[The Pearl Outlet]

Anyway... About the pearls and the show...

There were two shows this year (as usual) with one near the airport at the AWE (Asia World Expo) and one on HK Island at the CSC. If you've never been to one of these, then you've never seen this many pearls in one place. This dwarfed the JCK in terms of pearls. Out of all the pavilions at the two shows, I spent all my time in just the pearl pavilions.

There were tons of FW pearls, with sizes up to aroud 15mm. Even after searching for 4 days, I did not find a single strand of FW pearls over 12mm that were gem quality, and almost nothing even that one could consider AA quality above 13mm.

Lots of Akoya, SS, and Tahitian as well, though there were more FW than all other types combined.

 

[Mikeyy]

People I know that are operating booths say sales are a little slower then last year. And it did seem a little less busy then last Sept. to me. When I was here in march there were far more chocolate pearls around.

 

[Nerida]

My feeling with dyed FW's was that olive green had overtaken chocolate as the fashion colour of the show. Lots of bead nukes around, but just to challenge our perceptions of what they look like, have a look at these (very dodgy, taken with my phone) pics..

This strand is natural (multi)colored, 14 to 16.8mm - with a price tag of $120 000 US probably more of a display item than anything else..
Similar sized strands with "just" off surface and shape were around $5K or so.

AAh, photos won't load off my phone, will try again in the morning..


As you probably know, up to now I have been doing my FW shopping in China. There is totally no need - this show is the most unbelievable display of all pearls, with much of the rubbish that ends up in the Chinese markets simply just not here - the quality stuff is at these fairs in HK. This show is said to be the largest pearl fair in the world, and trust me, after several days of hardly getting out of the pearl pavilion to look at anything else, it certainly feels like it!! I am in Shanghai now to pick up a few bits and pieces, and comparing quality and prices to the HK fair , the value is also in HK.

PS so Mikeyy, if there are so many photos of me in the bar - where are they again??? I do have a couple of you....

 

[Mikeyy]

You wouldn't dare.

 

[pearlescence]

oh, we think/hope she would!

 

[GemGeek]

Octavia, a well-known lush, says go ahead - she loves pictures. Muah hah ha!

 

[pearlescence]

Publish - and be damned ?

ps - nice to see you Octavia

 

[Mikeyy]

Don't encourage her...