Crisis in Paradise; Black Pearl Prices in Tailspin

[knotty panda]

Good question. If Josh is too busy to pop his pearly head in here, which sometimes occurs, feel free to e-mail him or whatever is necessary to get his attention. He will appreciate your interest. In my line of thought, government interference, they would have to be targeting a certain size to reject.

[Heidi]

Good idea - I will zip an email off to Josh asking him to chime in on this when he can. It's a topic of great import I think.

[knotty panda]

*edit* Is the apparent difference in availability due to externally applied controls (and how would we really know other than pestering Josh for his detailed experience since there's no DeBeers)?

Re: your edit. I believe the externally applied controls, the government, who suposedly monitors the nacre depth before releasing the pearls, is for sale to the highest bidder.

I have personally seen Tahitians with beads showing through in high-end retail stores here in the states. How is that possible if the government supposedly has strict controls on their export?

The answer is, it isn't possible.

So, what is possible? The rad tech looked the other way when someone's (the Wiz's) harvest was inspected, or the inspection was never done and the paperwork is up for sale. The little guy is forced to adhere to the government regulations while the Wiz gets breaks which, down the road, allow him to squeeze the little guy. It's a ploy that's been used forever.

Seeing beads in Tahitians wasn't a fluke. I guarantee I could go into that very same retailer and see them again tomorrow. I even asked how this could happen. I was told, "that's why they aren't $5,000."

The little guy is caught in the squeeze between playing by the rules and running up against those who don't have to play by the rules. They are forced out leaving a sole survivor.

[Nerida]

All of which shows that the small farmer needs to be responsible for his own marketing, don't you think? Relying on an umbrella body to do your branding for you is open for this type of market manipulation. "Government regulations" regarding nacre depth etc count for nix when you start seeing beads 'cos someone got lazy/greedy/whatever and that really pulls down every farm and every pearl marketed under the "tahitian" name.

[Slraep]

The answer is, it isn't possible.

The black pearls you have been seeing are possibly not from French Polynesia.

slraep

[Pearlgully]

The black pearls you have been seeing are possibly not from French Polynesia.

slraep

I thought that too. Also, I remembered that I'd read somewhere, (may have been on this forum but not sure now) that some Tahitians farmers might be illegally selling the pearls that didn't pass inspection to Japan.


Gail

[Ingykiz]

Well, one thing is for sure, we have our own tahitian pearl farmer with integrity*Josh* and we should support his continuing efforts. It is nice to have a member that can keep us informed from the inside.

[GemGeek]

I just assume since you started a new thread you consider talking about the topic?

I guess he might not know that we know Josh, that we know Kamoka is on Ahe, and that we have lots of photos from the Tuamoto Achipelago...

[knotty panda]

The black pearls you have been seeing are possibly not from French Polynesia.slraep

Considering it's a well-respected retailer, I have no doubt they are sold to the retailer as French Polynesian. Whether that is true or not, I can't tell.

[Pearling Technologies]

is it possible that overall harvest quality is low and as such also affects pricing?

[Richard W. Wise]

All,
I would welcome a post by Josh Humbert. I attempted to follow up with him after Tucson but received no reply to my email. I publish GemWise once every two weeks or so, I haven't posted teasers here for a while as they were not pearl-specific. Would welcome some of your comments on the blog.

I have made only one trip to the Tuamotus and that was some years ago. The first pearl crash was caused, so I understand, by too many farms producing too many pearls. There are very few options in those islands for income producing ventures. Now, the 8-10mm take a lot less time to produce than the 11mm+. Hence the oversupply in 8-10.

I have a number of older images of the pearl farms. If anyone would like to share a couple. I would love to post them to the blog with proper credit of course. Send to my email: richard@rwwise.com

[airdancer]

Strange that the Taihitian govt doesn't take the opportunity to run a cartel for the pearls to control prices. It makes it much easier, isn't it for pearl sellers?

[knotty panda]

Why? Because governments have such successful experiences running cartels? Because government interference in regulating supply and demand is a good thing? Because governments are just wonderful pearl farm managers? The goal is to untie the hands of the farmer, not strap him down.

[knotty panda]

I thought that too. Also, I remembered that I'd read somewhere, (may have been on this forum but not sure now) that some Tahitians farmers might be illegally selling the pearls that didn't pass inspection to Japan.Gail

DUH! Isn't that what I'm saying? The question is, who has that kind of clout to jump right over the government regulations? The small pearl farmers? Uh, no. Who can make the government conveniently look the other way? Who?

[jshepherd]

DUH! Isn't that what I'm saying? The question is, who has that kind of clout to jump right over the government regulations? The small pearl farmers? Uh, no. Who can make the government conveniently look the other way? Who?

I get the feeling you know the answer to that question