[Bigwellpearls]

To Promote Consumption for Good-to-Acceptable Akoya Pearls
Traditionally, most jewelers and wearers of Akoya pearl necklaces concentrate on loving grade AAA ones, namely, extremely lustrous, perfect surface and thick nacre coating.
Having been investigated, grade A of raw Akoya pearls account for the total harvest by 48% and grade AA, by 40%, grade AAA only by 12 % in China. Given the above-mentioned truth, it is high time that conservative jewelers in developed countries endeavored to figure out feasible marketing strategies to solicit new consumers who can afford grade A Akoya pearls.
I would like to appeal that we associates never let beautiful pearls be monopolized by only wealthy and privileged ladies, on the other hand, ordinary ladies should share the precious jewelry with the rich.
An Akoya Pearl Guild in China is badly needed to coordinate stubborn farmers and vendors/speculators who seek only first hand raw materials and sell to manufacturers.
Vigor He (HE JIAWU)
Managing Director of
Bigwell Akoya Farm & Pearl Plant

bigwellpearl@163.com

[Caitlin]

Hi Vigor He
Interesting post. Much of it is thought provoking and also, I might think, debate- provoking.

I think a guild is a great idea. Wouldn't it have to be government- run in China?

Are you a grower and manufacturer? I am so glad you decided to post. I hope you are ready to continue to be open to us and our diverse opinions about your product and how to market it. Not all of our opinions will be positive, but it is about the pearls, not you personally. I have much admiration for you for taking on English and opening a dialog. I hope you benefit from the exchange.

Ok Having been nice, here is my challenge:
Personally, I think cultured freshwater pearls are a better buy than A quality akoyas.

I know you guys have a lot of them in stock and are growing more, as we speak, but I do not like the bead nucleated akoyas at all. I am awaiting for farmers to tissue- stimulate some akoyas like the CFWP farmers do. I would buy off-round tissue stimulated akoyas, even ones with Circle' any day, over very round ones with a bead.

What do you think about that idea?

[Caitlin]

Tissue nucleated implies there is tissue deep in the middle of the pearls.
As it turns out, the tissue inserted in the cut must consist of at least some epithelial cells from the mantle, which then organize themselves into a sack which then fills up with nacre (Strack 2006 p 116 is a very nice diagram of this process)

so don't you think tissue-stimulated is a more correct term?

Edited to say the Strack said this very thing, that tissue-stimulated is a more correct term that she prefers, in her lecture Feb 3, 2007 at the AGTA show in Tucson.

[The Pearl Outlet]

Hi Vigor,

Good to see you on the forum. We met when I was in China this last May/June. One of the best places to move the lower quality strands are places like eBay, Overtsock and the Shopping Channels. But rather than trying to find channels for lower quality goods, I believe that farmers in China need to continue to pursue higher production rates of high quality goods by increasing nucleation times as well as improved methods and lower pollution standards.

I doubt an Akoya Pearl Guild in China will happen, but it isn't completely out of the equation.

[Bigwellpearls]

Hi Mr.Williams,
Thank you very much for your prompt and frank opinions.
The pearl guild should be run by local non-governmental powerful entrepreneurs.I am not only a grower but also a manufacurer of Akoya pearls. Not always cultured freshwater pearls are a better buy than grade A Akoyas, I think.after all, more lustrous in Akoyas.Your constructive proposals for improving techniques of culturing high quality Akoya pearls. beads implanted into oysters tissue will say end to them sooner or later?
Your ideas are provoking too.

[jshepherd]

Mr. He is trying to get into the Akoya game in Haian. He is a nice a personable guy, speaks English extremely well, and helps some factories sell at the shows. I do like him.
But I need to make one suggestion, Vigor, and I am stating it so that you are not later called out in a 'not so nice' fashion. You need to let people here on the forum and in the US know that you are a trader of Akoya pearls, and that you are attempting to find customers for factories. By coming across as a producer you will gain customers, but when they discover the facts, as all real buyers will, it will hurt your credibility. There is a large market for what you are doing, and you can be quite successful at it as it is so difficult for Westerners to contact farms and factories directly, so it would not be good to make such mistakes so early in the game.

Regarding the quality of the Akoya, you need to account for the pearls that would not grade as A, and be not salable n the US, and hardly so in China. The actual A grade is quite salable, and this is what is marketed to the markets and at the jewelry shows. Some AA grade may be found as well. The A grade and AA grade account for the vast majority of Akoya pearls found in most jewelry stores across the US. So it is selling, although it tends to paint Akoya in a poor light.

Anything below A grade will not sell to a knowledgeable buyer looking for quality, but it will sell to a buyer looking for very low end. Much of this product in his area is currently sold to locals (last time I was there a group from a television shopping show purchased a very large amount), to Korea, and to Japan.

What China needs to do is follow the lead of Xuwen Jihui Pearl Farm (Xuwen Pearl Paradise Pearl Farm) and culture pearls longer than 9 months. By simply adding 6-8 months the ratio of A grade and lower would drop tremendously, and market prices would rise. Would it not be great to have the low-end in the highest demand simply because it is difficult to find?

[Caitlin]

Hi Jeremy,

is Haian a place? A trading center? I am losing track. I wish someone would write an article on the pearl trade centers- where they are, what they sell. I may or may not go over there next year, but I'd like to have a good picture in my mind of what is going on and where it is going on.

[jshepherd]

Haian is directly across from Haikou which is on Hainan-dao. Grab a map

[Bigwellpearls]

Hi Jeremy,
Thank you so much for enlightening me.You never know who is a true both farmer and manufacturer of Akoya pearls and freshwater pearls in China.Once in a blue moon, a newly-born true farmer and processor of Akoya pearls who has good command of spoken and written English has made his debut in Haian.He owns only 10 percent of the partnership enterprise which is specialized in culturing and manufacturing native Akoya pearls. Never listen to somebody,even a good-for-nothing who is jealous of other's success and claim without shame all Akoya farms along Beibu Gulf as the owner.Exactly,it is rather difficult for Westerners to find a direct true farmer and manufacturer of Akoya pearls and freshwater ones in China.
Look forward to meeting with you frequently in the future.
Kind Regards,
Vigor He

[jshepherd]

I do understand this, Vigor. But I also know quite a bit about your business - You are an English teacher and factory interpreter - you sell for several factories - you have no ownership in a farm or factory - and we have a very good mutual friend.
I really did not mean what I said in a bad way, I actually like you, it was meant to help you, and make you successful. I think people would be wise to deal with you as you can speak English well, and you know many Akoya factories. It is nearly impossible for most Westerners to deal with these sources.
But you must understand. Dealers from from here are constantly barraged with emails, faxes, etc., from traders claiming to own farms and factories. I would assume most dealers on this forum get at least one email every day. But the fact of the matter is, these emails and contacts are always from traders. The traders that pearl sellers deal with are the ones that are completely honest and upfront. And if they discover that not everything was as it appeared, credibility disintegrates. There are very few factory traders in your area, and this is your strength - you are a trader, not a producer. You should capitalize on this. If you create a farm and factory name that has a mere virtual existence (via email and on this forum), it will collapse on you.

[Bigwellpearls]

Hello again Jeremy,
I completely agree to your frank comments.
Nowadays strange emails about promotion of pearls swarming into sellers' email boxes bother their normal life and business practices from time to time, making some jewelers get confused.Seeing is believing. It is indispensable for a brave businessperson to conduct an on-spot investigation on their credibility and capacity.
Vigor He
bigwellpearl@163.com
MSN:vigorhe@hotmail.com

[jshepherd]

I see you understand our situation well here. And I do hope that you do not take offense to my comments, but this forum is a platform designed with the specific purpose of educating the public and exposing industry and online artifice. By claiming to own a farm and factory that do not exist (Bigwell and Confon), you are lumped into the group we, on this forum, are here to expose. By making statements of the percentages of AAA and AA quality that are grossly innacurate, you are again lumped in.

We welcome you to the forum. You will learn a lot about the industry in which you are attempting to enter, and you have the potential of offering a viewpoint to us that the forum is lacking. But, you must be completely forthcoming and resist exaggeration to be taken seriously, and to not be discredited here. Nearly all traders from China have been discredited here because this forum is filled with professionals that know their stuff. A trader will find it very difficult to deceive here, and I personally do not think one has gotten away with it yet.

Post 100% honestly and directly. Then the customers will come to you - trust me. Like I said before, you are the only trader of your kind in your area. You have a very good chance of success.