| I just returned from our Akoya pearl farm last week with the new 6.5mm pearls. Our stringers were working all weekend so we finally have a good supply in stock again.
After examining the entire harvest we chose 720 strands that were suitable for sale in our stores. The pearls are basically flawless with a high shine and great luster. The rest of the pearls were sold last week in the Hong Kong show (quite easily I might add), in the $40-$50 range.
The other sizes of pearls were also prevalent, with the exception of 7mm pearls. We were only able to select about 300 strands that met our quality specs. I do believe in the next year this will become a problem with so many farms nursing a crop of 6.5's and not a lot focusing on 7.0's.
I can say one thing for certain, the 6.5mm Akoya shortage is coming to an end! |