What happened to natural pearl production?

[olmander]

But isn't it exactly what happened now? I read that natural pearl production practically does not exist anymore. Is it true?

I wonder how little average consumers know about what they are buying. One of the more or less knowledgible shop owners here around told me that Chinese production is literally killing the Japanese Akoya production. I was surprised: Akoya is Akoya and it is still dominated by Japan. But he said that people come and want just a nice stand whatever it is, and Chinese ones are of course cheaper. I happened to be the first customer in the last half-a-year who wanted precisely this and this and of this particular size and asked more questions than he could answer. Is not it a shame for such an interesting and exquisite market as pearls?

[jshepherd]

Natural pearl collection has all but ceased in most of the world. There are some areas where natural pearls are still considered the only "real" pearls. But a lot of people do not realize that those areas are where a large portion of current cultured pearl byproduct goes (keshi pearls).

What the merchant was probably referring to when describing the effect of Chinese production on the akoya market was the effect of the Chinese freshwater. The quality of freshwater has gotten so good that it has in effect displaced the need for anything but the highest quality akoya pearls. Freshwater pearls can be as round as akoya, can easily be as lustrous as common akoya, and can even surpass some of the finest akoya in beauty.

The Chinese production of akoya pearls has both hurt and helped the Japanese industry. In the beginning it only helped the industry as all Chinese akoya production was sold through Japan as "Japanese akoya pearls". The bulk of Chinese akoya is still sold through Japan and sold as Japanese akoya, but a lot is now making its way onto the market bypassing Japan. People that are "in the know" buy akoya for quality, not origin. They know that you can buy Chinese akoya that are superb in every way to Japanese akoya for a lot less. This does not mean that Chinese akoya are better than Japanese - they are not. But they are the same pearl and quality for quality akoya from China are the better deal. Especially considering most Japanese strands under 8 mm have Chinese akoya mixed in with them - as much as 80% according to many in the industry.

[Valeria101]

But isn't it exactly what happened now? I read that natural pearl production practically does not exist anymore. Is it true?

Wanted to ask this too ... all the press about natural pearls just be doing something to awareness and demand, but there's no more supply aside antiques that run short in the quality that matters. Wouldn't call that lopsided situation a 'market'. But, could anything like the story of colored diamonds happen to natural pearls? I.e. something counter-intuitive but rare riding the huge popularity of something with sustainable supply...

Trying some pearl S.F. here: any chance old sources of supply might restart? Any chance natural pearls could be produced by rearing shells but not tempering with the pearls (no nuceation, tissue or otherwise)? Some other wild, weird way to rekindle supply of naturals?

You can prescribe strong, black coffee too

[Slraep]

Trying some pearl S.F. here: any chance old sources of supply might restart? Any chance natural pearls could be produced by rearing shells but not tempering with the pearls (no nuceation, tissue or otherwise)? Some other wild, weird way to rekindle supply of naturals?

You can prescribe strong, black coffee too

Hi Ana,

Wishful thinking. The minute you rear something out of its proper environment it ceases to be "natural". Ideally we would have to start from the beginning and get our oceans back into tiptop shape so that wild bivalves can go nuts and breed like crazy again. Now that gargantuan clean-up of an undertaking should have been started 20 years ago. So you understand why I despair. Unfortunately there is no wild and weird way to rekindle the natural supply that I can think of, not even bivalves buzzed on caffeine. (You meant the bivalves, right?)

Slraep

[Slraep]

That one coffee-spilling little statement! No, I meant me (= wake up to reality).

That one went right over my head. But maybe you've inadvertently stumbled onto a pearl making stimulant par excellence--- by pumping strong black organic coffee into lagoons or ponds. Perhaps that's what Prof. Berni's secret is !! He's Italian so maybe one morning he accidentally spilled some of his triple expresso into the bivalves' tank while waving around his cup trying to explain something to one of his students??

Coffee contains oxalic acid which binds calcium ions into insoluble compounds. I'm not sure if that's good or bad yet. It binds calcium but lowers the Ph level of the water. Hmmm...you could be on to something Ana. I'll have to ask Douglas(the eco-pirate) about this.


Slraep

[Caitlin]

Originally Posted by Valeria101

Trying some pearl S.F. here: any chance old sources of supply might restart? Any chance natural pearls could be produced by rearing shells but not tempering with the pearls

I have had some thoughts/fantasies along those lines. The Persian Gulf's pinctada beds are the most plentiful in the world and they have been fallow for over 50 years. I have often thought that they would provide rich pickings if they were harvested now.

I was wondering if a high tech MRI or xray could see any pearls through the shell. If so, that would be a way to allow non-pearl bearing pinctadas to be replaced back into their beds. Then if the cultured pearl techies were to remove the pearl, it could even have a tissue nucleus put in and gently replaced back into the gulf. Also, shells with tiny seed pearls could be also be marked and replaced.


Assuming the warships have not ruined the waters, the pinctada beds, which are shallow enough for human divers without equipment, could just be tended, rather than putting the pinctadas in baskets and suspended. Organic pearl cultivation? Free range oysters? It sounds do-able to me.

[GemGeek]

Paspaley had equipment that they put on their flat-bed boats to x-ray the shells to see if the implants were still inside and how much growth had occured. The oysters were in nets that were passed across a table through the machine.

They also had cleaning machines where the nets were passed through a high-pressure water spray, above and below, to blast off the build-up of foreign matter on the shells.

Cool, huh?

[Caitlin]

I am not surprised and in fact, I feel highly gratified that it is already happening. It think it is a good use of technology and could be used in the Gulf region too.

[GemGeek]

Technology has really helped to improve the quality and size of pearl harvests. That's a good thing!

[DrTKStern]

While natural pearl production amounts to but a fraction of decades past, sigificant numbers of fantastic wild ocean pearls currently come from Papua New Guinea and Borneo. With increasing development and oil exploration of these areas, before long these grounds, too, may cease to produce.

Tom Stern,MD
Prince of Sabah and Sulu

[NaturalPearls]

Natural pearls still exists in our region, not as much as before though, but there are few,we were able to find a perfect round one, with a pinkish shade in Bahrain 2 months ago.

Never buy a pearl without a certificate, and if it comes from our region, Bahrain, Kuwait, Emirates, etc. Try and get a certificate from our Labs, preferebly Bahrain. 90% of the natural pearls we sell in our shop comes with certificate. even the $1000 dollar pearl necklaces.

[Valeria101]

Any chance you could posts some pictures of your pearls? Anything you might find interesting would do

[NaturalPearls]

This is one of the big pieces we have, this pearl has 15.56 cts and certified from Bahrains Laboratory.

[Valeria101]

That's crazy!

These new natural pearls must be the last of precious 'stones' to show up online. There's virtually nothing about them; you are breaking the ice here.

I hope you don't mind a silly questin: any idea how 'old' such a pearl is? (i.e. how many years it took for it to grow inside the shell) Just curious... relating growth time and size come sup so often about cultured pearls, but so far I never had a chance to ask whether the 'age' of natural pearls is known at all. It seems so extraordinary to have anything natural growing for so long while remaining so flawless.

[GemGeek]

Lovely! We wouldn't mind seeing more examples!!!