Testing the waters - is there a market for natural pearls in the US?

[newtopearls23]

Hello world!

I'll keep this short. I'm from Bahrain, live in NYC. Wondering if anyone thinks there is a market for natural pearls from Bahrain here in the US. I've been toying with the idea of jumping into the world of natural pearls, but everyone I've spoken to here in NYC at least only deals in cultured pearls which leaves me wondering, is there even a market for it?

Attaching pictures of a ring I bought in Bahrain last month in case anyone is curious.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts!

 

[CortezPearls]

Hi there @newtopearls23 and welcome to our pearl forum!
Well, there is a Market for Everything and Anything in the United States...but you may have to "carve it out".
There is a natural pearl market in the US (and all over the world) but it is much smaller than the cultured pearl market for obvious reasons.

Lovely ring by the way.

 

[KarinK]

I am thinking that there is a lot of work involved in convincing people they are buying actual natural pearls. There are SO many scams that it would probably take a while to build a reputation for being honest and selling the real deal and I am not sure how you would do that. You would also need to be very sure yourself that you are selling actual natural pearls.

 

[Savannah82]

Hi there, I am sort of new here too and hope that you can carve out a market here in the states...because I have a necklace that I got as a gift while I was living in Bahrain back in the 80s that I would like to sell. I've had it verified by GIA and they found an "undetermined fresh water pearl in the 18th position from the gold clasp." I've been told this is known as a "poison pearl" indicating it's the signature of the original stringer. Anyway, if you are interested, I could post to you photos of the GIA certificate and the pearls. Wishing you luck habibi.

 

[CortezPearls]

Hi there!
Never heard of the term "Poison Pearl" before, and one of my main areas of interests in pearls is history. The closest I could come up with is: "Some poisons are baffled by pearls".
Would it be possible to add a photo of the certificate? Would love to review it.

Also: freshwater pearls found in areas not really known for being almost devoid of freshwater sources (such as the Arabian Peninsula) would be quite interesting to see! Pearls from the Persian Gulf (saltwater) are easily recognized and understood. It could have been a pearl from the Indian sub-continent, sold to traders and that found its way to Bahrain.

 

[Savannah82]

Hi there!
Never heard of the term "Poison Pearl" before, and one of my main areas of interests in pearls is history. The closest I could come up with is: "Some poisons are baffled by pearls".
Would it be possible to add a photo of the certificate? Would love to review it.

Also: freshwater pearls found in areas not really known for being almost devoid of freshwater sources (such as the Arabian Peninsula) would be quite interesting to see! Pearls from the Persian Gulf (saltwater) are easily recognized and understood. It could have been a pearl from the Indian sub-continent, sold to traders and that found its way to Bahrain.

Hi there!
Never heard of the term "Poison Pearl" before, and one of my main areas of interests in pearls is history. The closest I could come up with is: "Some poisons are baffled by pearls".
Would it be possible to add a photo of the certificate? Would love to review it.

Also: freshwater pearls found in areas not really known for being almost devoid of freshwater sources (such as the Arabian Peninsula) would be quite interesting to see! Pearls from the Persian Gulf (saltwater) are easily recognized and understood. It could have been a pearl from the Indian sub-continent, sold to traders and that found its way to Bahrain.

Attached is the GIA certificate as you requested. Let me know what you think. I've been scouring the Net trying to find info on stringers signatures of old, with basically no luck. Am going to pay a visit to the library so I can sit down with old books. I was told this necklace came from the vault of the late Shah of Iran. Sure, I thought, but the more I research, the more I'm beginning it definitely came from a very old "vault" of someone.

 

[CortezPearls]

Makes sense as a natural pearl oyster pearl necklace from Pinctada imbricata from the Persian Gulf.
Maybe this "poison pearl" was used by the original pearl merchant or the necklace stringer as an identifying mark of sorts, or maybe they just had this natural freshwater pearl (probably originating from the Indus River if it is an old necklace) in the mix and had no way to identify it as different, so maybe it is not foul play at all.
It's an interesting item...all natural pearl necklaces are interesting, but those with "lineage" (originally belonging to famous or known persons) are many times more interesting.

 

[jshepherd]

Hello world!

I'll keep this short. I'm from Bahrain, live in NYC. Wondering if anyone thinks there is a market for natural pearls from Bahrain here in the US. I've been toying with the idea of jumping into the world of natural pearls, but everyone I've spoken to here in NYC at least only deals in cultured pearls which leaves me wondering, is there even a market for it?

Attaching pictures of a ring I bought in Bahrain last month in case anyone is curious.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts!

There isn't much of a market in the US yet, but the potential is there. Bahrain has been working on rebuilding their natural pearl industry for a few years but hasn't started marketing them yet in the US. Rappaport has been selling lots, but I don't know how well that's been going. There can't really be any demand in the US if almost nobody knows what they are. It would take a full education and awareness campaign to make the market viable.

 

[CortezPearls]

There isn't much of a market in the US yet, but the potential is there. Bahrain has been working on rebuilding their natural pearl industry for a few years but hasn't started marketing them yet in the US. Rappaport has been selling lots, but I don't know how well that's been going. There can't really be any demand in the US if almost nobody knows what they are. It would take a full education and awareness campaign to make the market viable.

I AGREE 100%
There is a NEED for a very deep educational campaign, both with retailers and consumers. It will take too long to do it otherwise.