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:
Quote:
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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.
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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...