[Caitlin]

Here is the oft-mentioned picture of comparison strands of a gem quality freshwater and a Hanadama akoya.

Mikimoto has developed a Mystique based on the model of De Beers diamonds. What you are paying for is the paperwork and the clasp because the pearls aren't all that great. I think the best pearls go to the really, really high end people. And the stores get most of the non Hanadamas.

Both Mikimoto and Jeremy get their pearls from China as the akoya farms around Japan have failed and gone out of business.

Jeremy, Amanda (Pure Pearls) and Terry all go to China to source a lot of their pearls. Terry (The Pearl Outlet) also carries some of the most marvelous akoyas-grown in Viet Nam, a brand new source. I am especially struck by the natural Akoya colors, white, blue, and pink, silver in multicolor strands that Terry found. The Vietnamese are producing akoyas with quite thick nacre compared to the Chinese. This may change in the future when the bean counters say they will make more money if they leave the pearls in the water for less and less time.

I personally like the gem quality freshwater pearls best, because they look the most like high quality natural, wild pearls from all the centuries before Mikimoto, because they don't have a bead inside. That is changing too as the Chinese have developed techniques to get nuclei in the mussels to reduce the time in the water.

OK, time for the test. Which one is the Hanadama and which is the Freshadama?