[Valeria101]

... the scenario reminds me of a certain one-expert grading task force of significant success: Stephen Hoffer's.

[Caitlin]

Hi Valeria
Who is Stephen Hoffer? Too many of them to Google.

HI Peter
I love your idea, even presented as a playful one, it rings, klink, klank, klonk! Frankly I think it would be fun to grade pearls in terms of "Zeide's". Of course PPB's could not count on such a scale, so it could only apply to CFWP and naturals- until the others start tissue nucleating without beads.

I use the grading in the article to your left. I thought it was fairly well accepted- but maybe only here. This is really a problem for the pearl industry, in my opinion. Maybe the Chinese gov't could come up with something that would start there, in China, when the pearls are harvested and graded. I would think that the Chinese gov't would have the muscle to enforce it.

Meanwhile, it is a c**p-shoot for the customer! ( I self-censored because I couldn't think of a better word.)

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi All,

This lack of grading and quality transparency is irking me no end and particularly the lack of parallel grade levels for freshwater cultured pearls and PPBs which was one of the reasons why I consider freshadama such an appropriate term. I would greatly welcome some kind of global gem standards body being created and taking on the task. I certainly would not want to be involved in that, though. It sounds like awfully dry and stuffy business to me.

Zeide

[CiullaJewelers]

Originally Posted by Zeide Erskine

I certainly would not want to be involved in that, though. It sounds like awfully dry and stuffy business to me.

On this point, I completely agree with you.

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by Caitlin Williams

Hi Valeria
Who is Stephen Hoffer? Too many of them to Google.

Here's the bio. And a review of the book Hofer is best known for.

I don't know if either make it clear, but the reason why I mentioned him, was the color grading system developed with the pretext of the Aurora collection, and the attempts to expand it in the void of color grading for any precious stones (to date, only AGL gives lab reports with quantitative color grades, the rest are just identification reports; at least among the major labs).

Now, clearly Hofer's grading is useless for pearls. But there are similarities: his system came to fill in a void in mainstream service (=color grading), started on personal expertize and service for some pretty rarefied items (=fancy diamonds) surrounded by serious publicity and attempted the mainstream (say, the Hofer Color Cards, the book etc.). Tit for tat, natural or non-nucleated cultured pearls seem surrounded by more publicity than expertize; not unlike rare diamonds their grading is a nightmare major labs do not handle well. The role of a diverse collection as grading yard-stick makes a cute coincidence too.

All in all, from an outsider's point of view, there's change in the air for pearl grading. Somewhere... some day...

Zeide, please excuse the mound of speculations, if out of place.

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Ana,

I will continue to lobby for transparent grading until my dying breath or the establishment of such standards whichever comes first. There is still plenty of room for Mystiquery of all kinds, but wouldn't it be hilarious if Mikimoto had to buy certified freshadamas from PearlParadise to then sell them at exorbitant Mystique prices.

Zeide

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by Zeide Erskine

...wouldn't it be hilarious if Mikimoto had to buy certified freshadamas from PearlParadise to then sell them at exorbitant Mystique prices.

Not funnier than Tiffany selling GIA certified diamonds from their own mine, is it

On the side: in a recent post, some experiment with long-term cultivation of Akoya was mentioned. Now, assuming the results would have substantial advantage over whatever the current 'hanadama' cert does state at its upper quality limit, wouldn't be hilareous to line those up with Hanadama paper? Who would ever gain anything from that ...

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Ana,

Whether that will make a difference will depend on the quality harvested, treatment of the PPBs, sizes and a lot more things. It will, however, give them a better shot at Hanadama certification. If they come from a farm-direct source and their treatment is fully disclosed or preferably lack of such is documented, THAT would be an industry revolution. I guess Jeremy would have to tackle that one next year to keep up the pace of one industry revolution per year. For the year after that, may I recommend introducing tissue-nucleated Tahitian and/or golden South Sea cultured pearls? In short, over a span of several years gradually phasing out PPBs and increasing disclosure.


Zeide

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by Zeide Erskine

... In short, over a span of several years gradually phasing out PPBs and increasing disclosure.

That puts Pearl-Guide nicely ahead of the times, doesn't it!

'Nough is enough (futurology)... It is all great, less the slight frustration talking of all sorts of wonderful things present somewhere in the stratosphere of experimental farming: who even does tissue nucleation on Tahitian and South Sea !!?

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Ana,

They all used to do that (see Black Perles of Tahiti by Dr. Jean Paul Lintilhac) but the practice went out of favor about 10 years ago. It works just like in Chinese freshwater pearl culturing.

Zeide

[sahara]

I just checked this morning, now Purepearls.com has an elite collection freshwater pearl in addition to AA+ and AAA, and the PearlOutlet has what it calls gem quality freshwater pearls in addition to AA+ and AAA. The prices for these pearls are very similar to Freshadama of the same sizes. My question is are these "next level up" pearls the same quality as Freshadama?

I like to get a 16" Freshadama but apparently it is the same price as an 18" Freshadama at Pearl Paradise (they give you the extra as loose pearls but I am not sure what to do with them). At Purepearls the 16" elite collection is 10 % less than the 18" elite, so if it is the same quality as Freshadama I will go with Purepearls.

Thank you for your input.

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Sahara,

I have a very strong suspicion that they indeed are freshadama since I googled freshadama under images and got results from Amanda and PearlParadise.

Zeide

[Caitlin]

When i googled the term with images I got only purepearls and PP

When I google it on regular I got this: check it out
http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...erm=freshadama

These folks in England are using the term. Are they members here?

Wikipedia says:

and even more rare are the true gems that have recently been designated as freshadama by the trade.

The term is spreading worldwide. Who are these folks?

Here is an ezine with a mention right alongside hanadama

1.Freshadama pearls. Are freshwater pearls which are round and presents brilliant luster. They have the rainbow luster quality which can only be seen among .01% of cultured freshwater pearls nowadays.
2.Hanadama. These are flower pearls which have high quality. While the minimum nacre production is .4mm, hanadama can acquire an average of .6mm.
3.Conch pearl are very rare and all natural. You have to search for about 10,000 Queen Conchs to have one pearl. Only 1 for every 100 pearls is with good quality. Conch pearls are also known for their flame structure. Key West in Florida is the area with most conchs.
4.Black Tahiti Pearls. Mysterious and rare, these are the synonyms attached to black pearls. It is not produced in mass because it should be carefully examined and selected by color, size, shapes, and other quality. Their rarity adds to their cost, a piece can be 12mm in diameter.
5.Keshi Pearls. These fine gems are found in French Polynesia, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan or Australia. They are by products of pearl cultivation and described as accidental pearls. Tiny organisms accidentally grow inside the nucleus and thus create pearls. Keshi measures 4- 15 mm.

[jshepherd]

Amanda and I worked together securing the larst harvest. She is now selling them as her elite.
The Site is France is our French affiliate office.
I know about Wikipedia and the others. The listed auction is a fake - I have no idea who they are. But not to worry, if it every makes it over to eBay we will deal with it.

[Caitlin]

Freshadamas are quite the new thing.

I also found references to Ellen's giveaway in a couple of blogs and more- until I got tired of looking.

Congratulations Jeremy, Amanda, et al for a job well done.