[jshepherd]

Just in case anyone misses the email:

http://www.pearl-guide.com/innovatio...-culture.shtml

[Caitlin]

I just read it. Thanks! I like the pictures too.

That is the most beautiful coin pearl I have ever seen.....

[Perle]

Great article, Jeremy!

"Importing the giant clam or its derivatives is illegal in the US and other countries that are signatories to CITES, an international treaty intended to protect endangered and threatened species. China is not a signatory."

Did I understand that right? Uh oh for the Ikecho (fireballs)?!?

Perle

[jshepherd]

Thanks!

That would be their dirty little secret. They are using a protected species to create those beauties.

[GemGeek]

Oh, the guilt! I purchased my Ikechos for resale, but haven't got them drilled and set yet. Now, I might be forced to keep them

All kidding aside, I really do feel bad. It doesn't seem right that Giant Clams might be harvested out of existence just to make giant pearls. When I purchased them, the talk had been that they were using cultured pearls to nucleate them.

Blaire

[jshepherd]

Yes, the talk was "pearls". I believe that myth was very intentionally perpetrated. But from the first strands I picked up in 2002, I knew there were no pearls inside. I broke a few for the original Modern Jeweler article. Folks on the ground in China confirmed that although they had tried, they had no success with pearl in a pearl culturing. We discussed this with several growers, and asked the question to a few companies as well.

Well here is the good news on the ikecho. It is here, you can sell it. There is nothing wrong or illegal about that. You can even buy the shell here in the US if you find it at a furniture store, for example. What is restricted is the harvesting, import, and export.

Truth be told, I do not know if anything will change, even with the cat out of the bag.

[boo]

Thanks, Jeremy - I enjoyed the article very much!

[youngster]

Interesting. Thank you for posting the link Jeremy.

[GemGeek]

They had a pearl forum at the GIA Symposium a year ago and I'm surprised the nucleus issue wasn't revealed then. There were all kinds of rumors.

The president of Honora showed a bootleg film clip from China with an outsize mussel. I was impressed until I saw Jeremy's films on YouTube. They are outstanding

Blaire
Woo Hoo - 11 days to Tahiti!

[Raisondetre]

Fantastic read.

To be honest, the Chinese will make use of any opportunity to make money, endangered species or not. The overwhelming majority of Ikecho producers will not care if it's on the brink of extinction. What will curtail it is the lack of demand.

Ikechos are not readily available to me, but I don't think I'd support it. They are beautiful though.

[pattye]

Fascinating, Jeremy!

Thanks very much for sharing your research. What is the coin pearl nucleus made of? Can other types of mother of pearl be used for that--ones that are not endangered?

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[pernula]

Jeremy: Thanks for sharing the article with us here. It is fun to read and very informative.

In another thread, several forum members think CFWP is undervalued. Reading the article makes me wonder whether the price might actually drop with more and more large beautiful pearls being produced?

Regards,
pernula

[pernula]

Originally Posted by Raisondetre

To be honest, the Chinese will make use of any opportunity to make money, endangered species or not.

I think it is fair to say a minority of every culture and every country would make use of any opportunity to make money, ethical or not. What the article illustrates is that there are a majority of Chinese farmers who persevere and are innovative in their quest to produce high quality pearls and create a better livelihood for themselves. The minority who may be using endangered species in their production needs to be educated, so are consumers who do not know the “dark secret.” Perhaps new laws should be passed and enforced. This article by Jeremy and Doug Fiske is a first step in that direction.

Regards,
pernula

[Slraep]

As wonderful as the article is, it has upset me. I recently acquired a pair of fireball earrings. Yes they are very beautifully lustrous and BIG. I would not have bought them if I had known the Chinese were using a threatened species to nucleate with. I guess nothing is sacred or safe anymore (even though our environment is steadily crumbling around us) when the mighty dollar is involved. Oh well, what's the extinction of one more aquatic species, eh? As long as we have the wonderful flameball pearls, eh?

Slraep

[suzannelowrie]

Dear Jeremy: If large FW pearls are clam-shell bead nucleated, then they might also be nucleated by colored clam shell beads. That would explain how www.diamondinapearl.com carves a pearl to reveal a "gemstone" core. They are really revealing a dyed clamshell core. Is this possible using "comet" pearls? When the tail of the comet is carved away, will the layers underneath be equally lusterous as the layers on top or less lusterous? This might be a way of marketing comet pearls that currently have little value-- as art-carved pearls. Another question, if overprocessed FW pearls lose their luster, will body oils or other oils bring back the luster? Is there anyway of recovering luster once it fades? The pearl merchants in Zhuji I spoke with thought the luster could NOT be brought back. The "Japanese-water" dip allowed the pearl to become lusterous for a short time after processing in hydrogen peroxide, but two dips don't work, they said.