Tom Stern's natural pearls

Yikes! maybe I should change my Avatar. At least its not the Gollem- and if you read my posts, you must know I consider dragons mythic beings anyway and no way are you ever going to find a real Dragon pearl. I just like dragons, (and mermaids holding pearls)....Maybe I do believe in mermaids....Maybe I am one.
 
Dubai World Pearl Forum, Report #1

Dubai World Pearl Forum, Report #1

Hello to all,

Just returned from the World Pearl Forum in Dubai, a truly great event, so informative in fact that over the next few days I will submit some of the notes I took during the talks.

First, and the motive behind the Forum, is the government's desire to restore the great pearling heritage of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. As much as 75% of its population at one time worked in pearling's many facets. Now, although Dubai is unquestionably the most modern city on earth, there lingers a sense of cultural confusion...and to preserve links to the past, The Rulers are making a strong push to replace Hong Kong as the site of massive cultured pearl auctions. This will take some time, but the Dubai Multi-Commodities Center is well funded, has good leadership, and will be persistant.

Second, one take home message came in the form of a talk by the Chinese Cultured Pearl Administration...I'll get the names when I unpack...which basically reinforced my opinion that the era of South Sea, Tahitian, and other cultured pearls will soon end. With a massive program, including factories the size of a steel mill, the Chinese have continued to increase the size and luster of their products with Genetic Modification and improved techniques. Their officials spoke with the same kind of sincere dedication as I've heard Chinese leaders speak of their space exploration program...so no one should underestimate their pearl program. The cultured pearl big businesses of the past 30 years will have to completely revamp their business model or go the way of the US auto industry...selling fewer and fewer overpriced products. However, the Tahitian and Australian companies are too small to afford the great research costs it will require to keep up.

The way the Chinese see it, they have a market for 600,000,000 women just inside China who they aim to drape with pearls, with the best of the best going for export.

Best regards,
Tom
 
Thank you Tom for your insights. I am constantly defending the quality of CFWP's to my customers and potential customers, and highlighting the fact that the Chinese, from government down to lowly farmers, are spending massively on the development of both the product, and the industry at large. Your comments validate my observations, and I look forward to some detailed notes at some stage if you can find the time.
 
DrTKStern said:
The way the Chinese see it, they have a market for 600,000,000 women just inside China who they aim to drape with pearls, with the best of the best going for export.
Click to expand...


'Best for export', sounds familiar. Is this how things work right now?
 
Report from World Pearl Forum #2

Report from World Pearl Forum #2

Dear All,

Mr. Weijian Zhang of Grace Pearl China spoke on Chinese Freshwater Cultured Pearls. He said that at this time there is no government control on volume produced, which last year reached some 3,300,000 pounds of pearls, equivalent to approximately 2,000,000,000 pearls, which may be enough to put a strand around the world . This massive production has resulted in a 50% reduction in the unit price of Chinese FW pearls.

He also said that Chinese 20mm rounds will soon be coming on the market. Please take note of this. I have seen examples of the huge Chinese FW, perfect spheres, and the price was so low that I hesitate to quote it because I'm wondering if it was a mistake, since it was less than 1% of the price of the saltwater cultured pearls of equivalent size and difference of luster visible only to someone who looks at thousands of pearls a year .

But my advice is do not pay much for a cultured pearl, hold your money, and see what is on the market in a year.

For comparison, Justin Hunter of Fiji Pearls...which operates in a very "green" way and uses much indigenous labor... reports production of the beautiful multi-colored pearls from the 330 islands of Fiji totals 330 pounds, or roughly 1/1000th of the Chinese production. While the Tahitian production from all farms totals 24,000 pounds. Robert Wan of Tahiti, a real visionary and warm human being, said their production has been intentionally decreased 50%.

The problem for them is that China now has 40 different colors of pearls, and only an expert can possibly detect the difference; and even then I wonder what a blind testing would reveal, as when California and French wines are tasted by experts who do not know the source of the vintage. With the new Chinese ones I've seen, my guess is that most of the pearl experts would do at best slightly better than a coin flip.

In fact, I may organize such a test here in San Francisco. I'll get examples of the best from each source, get 5 or 10 experts, display the pearls so the judges have no idea of the source, and see what results. Then I'll report it to all of you. Any of you experts want to volunteer to come to San Francisco to test your skills against the unknown?

Afterwards, we will drink plenty of Sonoma County wine, since those of us with land in Sonoma County believe Napa Valley wines are best used in lawn mower motors. As you might expect, the Napa Valley vintners think our wines should be used in motor boat engines, diesel.

Regards,
Tom
 
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Hello and thanks for some very thought provoking information. It is very generous to share your knowledge with this forum. Pearl guide has opened a whole new world to me.

I just wanted to check my "logic" here.

Am I correct in inferring that the 40 colors of Chinese pearls to which Dr. Stern refers are all natural in that they are not the result of treatment?

Also would the inference that among "natural" (i.e., untreated) Chinese colors there are colors, hues, and overtones that are almost identical to the various colors and hues overtones of the larger saltwater pearls (such as Tahitian, Indonesion golden, "white" hues, etc.)?

I am so new to this area-- I realize that I could be taking some unjustified inferential leaps here.

Thanks very much for any corrections to these inferences.

Regards, Beth
 
Dr. Tom,

The problem for them is that China now has 40 different colors of pearls, and only an expert can possibly detect the difference; and even then I wonder what a blind testing would reveal, as when California and French wines are tasted by experts who do not know the source of the vintage. With the new Chinese ones I've seen, my guess is that most of the pearl experts would do at best slightly better than a coin flip.

In fact, I may organize such a test here in San Francisco. I'll get examples of the best from each source, get 5 or 10 experts, display the pearls so the judges have no idea of the source, and see what results. Then I'll report it to all of you. Any of you experts want to volunteer to come to San Francisco to test your skills against the unknown?
Click to expand...

That is something this curious amateur would very much like to see! Oh yeah, and drink a little wine, too!

Extremely interesting information, 40 different colors, hmmmmm-----

Beth, there do not as far as I know appear to be equivalent colors to the Tahitians--deep greens, charcoals, etc in freshwaters--unless dyed. And dyed do not look the same in the ones I've seen so far. The purples and pinks of freshwaters are not found in the saltwater pearls. There is the rare exotic pearl that might be a pinkish SS, but would be very uncommon. There are some purple freshwater with green overtones, but very different from Tahitians.

Thought provoking, to be sure! Thanks again, Dr. Tom!
 
I think I could spot the difference between salt and freshwater pearls - any salt pearls seem to look and feel harder and more metallic
very subjective impression though
20mm rounds in natural colours from China....I'm starting to drool now ...although I have had in some 16mm to 17mm roundish natural colours this year, also big black ones
 
Thanks so much, Tom, for the reports. Is it really true that the Chinese can truly produce a FW pearl that cannot be effectively distinguished from a South Sea or Tahitian pearl? I know the size is there, but I have not seen a FW pearl that has the same luster but then I am not over there pawing through the best of the best in hand. Certainly the smaller pearls (such as Freshadama at PearlParadise) are lovely, lovely pearls but they do seem to have a softer luster from the Akoya counterparts. It is all very intriguing!
 
I'd like to participate! Even better, bring the pearls to Tucson next year and we would have an audience. Wherever and whenever you hold it, I'd love to write an article on the blind evaluation. Gems & Gemology...
 
Thanks for the report, Tom. Am I correct in taking it that 20 mm pearls would have a bead inside like the Fireballs? In this case it is exciting to hear that the Cinese must have overcome the problems with the "tails". Please let us know if you hear more about their advancements.

It is also very exciting to hear what the experts conclusions will be and what reality tells...
 
World Pearl Forum Report #3

World Pearl Forum Report #3

Hi, All,

No summary of the World Pearl Forum would be complete without mentioning the great speech by Mr. Jeremy Shepherd. His talk surely opened the eyes of listeners to the huge growth potential of online sales. And adding to the impact of his content, his vigorous personality came through to rivet the attention of the 200 or more in the audience.

For sure I'm going to organize a blind judging of cultured pearls in 2009, in San Francisco. Now, there were cultured strands for sale in Dubai for $300,000+; and they were so remarkable they deserved worship. It would not be fair to use them.

For the competition, I'll limit the retail price to $20,000 for an ocean strand and will call upon wholesalers to contribute material for the test. For the Chinese FW, I'll set the limit at $1,500 for the strands, so the judges will be comparing similar pearls coming from a significantly different price point. Any comments on this? Should the price points be higher? Lower?

To make it real science, the judging will have to be double-blinded, which means that in addition to the judges not knowing which pearls are CFW and which saltwater, also I will not know, to prevent the possibility of me giving subliminal cues during the judging. I will ask two attorneys to select and number the items to be judged.

Best regards,
Tom
 
You go, dude! I agree it is exciting!

A pearl rodeo with double blind cowboys! A few more events and it could go on ESPN as "pearl wrangling"

I had to come back and add it is the "Great American Pearl Round Up".

A competition to be awarded "The Americas Pearl Cup of the discriminating eye"

Don't mind me, I am just excited. Couldn't double blind also include a few amateur pearl freaks as a control?
 
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I think I posted a photo of 20mm perfectly round bead nuc CFW at the HK show last September... they were amazing.
2 strands of bead nukes I bought on my last trip to China include some beautiful, but marked, circled pearls, no more tailed than similar SS strands, and also some very round white bead nukes. Not great lustre, but 12 - 14.5 mm and still very nice. I will try to take some pics today for this thread, wherever it ends up.. Neither of these strands were expensive - well under $100US each..
The study sounds interesting Dr T - super keen on the results.
 
Dr. Tom,

I will start saving right now for my plane ticket to SF, like Caitlin, and beg you to allow another amateur pearl freak to look at such amazing pearls in person---it's a wonderful idea!

Also many thanks for the report on Jeremy's talk--we knew it would be great!
 
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