Small size of Akoya Pearls in Shortage

[Bigwellpearls]

Almost farmers in Zhanjiang and Beihai have quit culturing 4-4.5mm, 4.5-5mm, 5-5.5mm and 5.5-6mm Akoya pearls for three years. They don?t think they can realize profits when they cultivate small Akoya pearls.We have only 350 strands of 4.5-5mm Akoya pearls( round, white, cream, overtone rosy, good luster,decent nacre coating, clean surface), and some loose ones available in stock now.

Apparently, we concentrate on culturing 6-6.5mm, 6.5-7mm, 7-7.5mm, 7.5-8mm and 8-8.5mm Akoya pearls.

Our leading farmers reduce quantity of Akoya pearls, some farmers have changed to raise tuna, which is easier and at lower risk. Therefore, output of Akoya pearls has decreased a lot. Prices of buying raw Akoya pearls from farmers increase with the shortage of raw Akoya pearls.

 

[KAC]

4-4.5mm, 4.5-5mm, 5-5.5mm and 5.5-6mm

If we never see pearls of in those sizes again I won't be upset, to me nothing looks worse then a grown women in tiny pearls.

 

[jshepherd]

Hisano wearing a long 5 mm strand of akoya pearls paired with an 8.5-9 mm akoya strand.

It can work

 

[KAC]

alright I take it back, with a long rope of smaller pearls the volume of pearls will make up for the lack of size - it looks great on Hisano.

What I was talking about is when you see a 16 or 18" strand of small pearls on a grown women, not a good look IMO.

 

[newberry]

Hisano is a very lovely woman and everything looks good on her!!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

A good friend of mine was given a strand of 4mm gem quality Akoyas by her then-future husband for their wedding. She is slender and they still look great on her-- and of course they are a highly sentimental strand.

Proportion is key. Taller and larger women do look better with larger pearls, larger bags etc.

 

[Bigwellpearls]

Practically speaking, small size of Akoya pearl necklaces double to multiple together are popular in South Europe, India etc. It is a pity that few farmers in China intend to culture small size of Akoya pearls.

 

[Valentina]

Is this still the case? I am after pearl studs in around 5mm for my tiny-non-existent ear lobes. Any help as to where I could some good quality ones would be much appreciated.

 

[jshepherd]

It is the case in China, but there are producers in Japan that specialize in the smaller sizes. Hisano likes the smallest sizes too. I believe she has a pair of akoya that are between three and four millimeters. We don't buy them often or put them on the site because most people prefer larger pearls, and pearls that small can can cost as much or even more than larger pearls, which can be difficult to understand.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

My first pair of pierced earrings were 5mm Akoyas and they just came from a regular department store. Do they not sell these any more? They weren't expensive....

 

[jshepherd]

They used to be produced in abundance in China but not anymore. They aren't popular with producers in Japan either because most of the time pearls are sold by weight. But there are still a few in Japan that specialize in the smallest sizes, and they can actually nucleate with more than one nucleus at a time. I've started seeing them quite a bit more coming out of Japan now that China has stopped production.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Interesting!

Valentina, I do see some online if you Google 5mm Akoya earring studs; they are sometimes marketed as children's jewelry. I would not expect top quality.
Here is one such listing:
http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Wa...-Pearl-Stud-Earrings-5-mm/501882/product.html

 

[Pearl Dreams]

This afternoon I took my daughter to the local mall. Michaels (jeweler) had 5mm Akoya studs in varying degrees of quality; some were quite nice.

 

[Valentina]

I am in Australia. I know I could look in jewelry stores here but I would rather look to buy from somebody who actually knows something about the quality they are selling. If my limited questions on quality (thanks to this forum) can't be answered by a sales assistant / website I become suspicious. I will check out all the links referred to.

 

[Honey_and_Lemon]

Pacific Pearls has a tiny strand in stock, and If you browse yokota pearls japanese website (http://www.yokota-pearl.co.jp) you can see other sub 6mm akoya strands. IMHO pearls for earrings are prone to looking small, so I would think that 6-6.5mm Akoya would still look proportionate. A quick google search reveals that 5mm akoya studs do exist, but not from the traditional online pearl vendors.

http://seagems.myshopify.com/products/akoya-japan-baby-graduated

http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/yokota-pearl/a3b3a1a5a3.html (3.5 - 4.0 mm strands)

http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Wa...-Pearl-Stud-Earrings-5-mm/501882/product.html (5mm Akoya studs, though I have no experience with Overstock's DaVonna pearls)

http://www.zales.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3336408&kpc=1 (Blue Lagoon? by Mikimoto 5.0-5.5mm Cultured Akoya Pearl Stud Earrings in 14K Gold)

While $115 might be expensive, I'm sure the quality of the Blue Lagoon by Mikimoto would be good quality and you could check them out at a Zales store.

 

[denis]

denis broken bay pearls

denis broken bay pearls

Is this still the case? I am after pearl studs in around 5mm for my tiny-non-existent ear lobes. Any help as to where I could some good quality ones would be much appreciated.

if you have not found any as yet get in touch with www.brokenbaypearls.com.au who grow quality akoyas inaustralia

 

[Caitlin]

I went to their webpage and they have distributors. You can't buy from them directly, it appears.

Ordinarily we delete first posts with links, but I was so struck by this company, I want to make an exception. They claim they no not bleach or color their pearls and it looks like they are fabulous pearls. So check it out and report back.

I am just not sure you can buy online.....

 

[lisa c]

I couldn't get anywhere but a white page with the trade name on it with this link.

 

[Caitlin]

I'm sorry about that, but it still works for me.
Here is a lick to a different page. The page where they say they don't bleach the pearls
http://www.brokenbaypearls.com.au/story.html

 

[Amanda]

I followed some of their links to retailers, and found this statement too:

"Exclusive to Percy Marks in New South Wales and grown in the pristine Brisbane waters north of Sydney, these magnificent Akoya pearls are the result of 10 years painstaking research and development.

Unlike the pearls of Asia, the Broken Bay pearls are not bleached or artificially coloured. They are naturally highly lustrous and pure. These local pearls meet the highest standard of Akoya pearls produced anywhere in the world. "

I didn't know Australia produced akoyas at all.

http://www.percymarks.com.au/brokenBayPearls.html