I don't know. How about this part...
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These strands of pearls have been examined by members of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and are warranted to be genuine, and have passed through United States Customs as a registered import of pearl specimens.
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That is not really on the "up and up". The part about the GIA is not true, and pearls are not imported as "registered import of pearl specimens".
Or this part...
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All of our pearls are real cultured pearls from Haikou Island off of the coast of China. We work closely with our Chinese partners on the South China Sea to bring you the best pearls at the best prices available. Because the natural luster of our pearls makes the pearls just sparkle, we call our pearls Spark Pearls(tm). We have an Authenticity Certificate which is available for $8.00 to you. Below is a sample of the certificate.
This strand of Cultured Freshwater Pearls (we call them Spark PearlsŪ) is certified to be made from REAL OYSTER PEARLS, and was obtained from the oyster farms of the province of Hainan Island, in the People’s Republic of China, where the process of culturing pearls was first developed.
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Haikou is not an island. It is a city
on the island of Hainan.
Freshwater pearls come from mussels, not oysters. Hainan (which is an island, not a province) only has limited akoya production (very limited), but no freshwater production, and the akoya production is far removed from Haikou. The freshwater pearls sold there are shipped in from north. Freshwater pearls do not/cannot come from the South China
Sea.
Also, there is nothing to suggest Hainan is where pearl culture developed in China. In fact it could not have been the place as I assume they are referring to Chinese blister pearl technology.
For the most part, however, it just looks like the writers are misinformed.
P.S. Edit!
I could not resist this, from the culturing technique of pearls page. Classic example of copy/paraphrasing that goes bad!
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In the roaring twenties (1920s), Kokichi Mikimoto found a way to entice oysters to produce round pearls on demand. His fellow China men, Tokichi Nishikawa and Tatsuhei Mise had previously discovered ...
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