Hello, I am a french collector, What makes a Kasumi pearl from Japan more or less valuable except the surface of course ? is the color to be considered or not? are purple rarer than blonde or not? and so on...I have red from a GIA issue that these Kasumi pearls are nucleated with a pearl already made, does that process make drilling more difficult or not ? thanks a lot for replying .

Hi,

Kasumigaura pearls are nucleated freshwater pearls. The rarest color (but still quite frequent) is neon green. The fact that they are often nucleated with akoya rejects does not affect the drilling. I do not see any reason why one would buy inferior pearl plated beads from Japan rather than solid-nacre cultured pearls from China. There is no color difference, there is no luster difference, and the Chinese pearls are far superior quality, often (but not always) at a lower price. The price difference is solely due to marketing and has only marginally something to do with higher labor costs. But why make AMC cars with symphonic violinists and sell them for Rolls Royce prices when one can get a Rolls Royce to boot. Symphonic violinists do not make better cars, they are just presumed to be paid better than regular automotive workers in England.

Zeide

[purepearls]

Zeide is absolutely right! At this time, the Kasumigaura pearls are ,for the most part, inferior in quality to the Chinese strands in cleanliness, luster, and color and the Chinese strands are often far less in price than the Kasumigaura pearls. As a pearl connoisseur, I can see where you would be interested in buying the Kasumigaura pearls. However, I would strongly consider waiting to see if the quality will improve and the prices will drop. There is a large possibility that they will be forced to drop prices due to the current trends of the Chinese pearl market.