freshwater nucleated pearls, maximal size

[newyorkdude]

Hello, from a new member.
I have a question for the assembled:
I heard recently, in speaking with a 47th St. gemologist, that the Chinese are now working on nucleated freshwater pearls, with sizes going up to 15 mm, which puts them in tight competition with south seas. They have still not come up at market, but does anyone out there have any direct knowledge of this product? I did what I could to research online, and found a cable tv merchant who offers 13-15 mm off-round freshwater pearls at $399/ strand. Not sure about luster/ surface quality.
I know about the flame-pearls but I believe this is about something different altogether.
Thanks, all!

[jshepherd]

What you are referring to are the new Edison Pearls produced by Grace Pearl out of China. These are currently on the market, but only in freshwater natural colors (in any large quantity) at the moment. The whites are going to be available very shortly as well. The other types of beaded pearls, the fireballs and the Kasumi-style, are all precursors to the round beaded Edisons.

This is an example of a smaller Edison strand.
http://www.pearlparadise.com/100125-...klace3813.aspx

[pearlescence]

And this is an Edison strand so far as I know, from last year, before they were called Edison!
http://www.pearlescence.co.uk/produc...oducts_id/2764
The colours and nacre are beautiful. I sat for about three hours and selected each pearl individually from a big boxful on my last day at the sow. Even drilled them myself

[newyorkdude]

Thanks.. I was pretty sure that she mentioned 15 mm size, though. On these Edisons, the luster is extraordinary. Looking forward to seeing the whites. What is the thickness of nacre on these babies? Are the chinese freshwater pearls ever going to
break the size barrier, move on to 15 mm range? This is what I saw, on JTV.com website, which had me thinking:
http://www.jtv.com/13-15mm-Round-Whi...efault,pd.html

[jshepherd]

Yes, 15 mm Edisons are already available. In the larger sizes, however, the quality tends to trend down. The piece from JTV you linked to, I would be willing to bet the same value, looks absolutely nothing like the round to near round clean pearls in the picture.

[Caitlin]

What do you mean by "doubleknotted"? It's in the ad for your edisons. Actual double knots because the pearls are so large?

[jshepherd]

As soon as Hisano's stringing video is finished, I'll make sure and post a link. We decided to do one with her because the camera-phone video I shot in China has nearly 80,000 views on YouTube now.

[Caitlin]

I am so glad Hisano is making a knotting video!!! Whose idea was that, anyway?

[Nerida]

The JTV piece is made of regular tissue-nucleated pearls, not bead nucleated, and definitely not 'Edisons'.. Yes Jeremy, it would be interesting to see what the pearls actually looked like once bought and paid for.

[Adeline Leigh]

I just saw that video and the ginormous orbs were distracting me from Hisano's expert stringing skills. And I blame those delicate keshis (I counted 14 strands) wound around her tanned wrist too... Now I've got to go watch the video again. Happy inconveniences

[lisa c]

Hi, where is the link for the stringing video? I can't seem to find it on the PP youtube site

[jshepherd]

Hisano's video isn't ready yet. We saw the first rough cut yesterday, but it was missing the close ups and the voice over, so it will probably be a couple of weeks before hers is ready. This pearl stringing video on YouTube is one I shot with a camera phone in Zhuji, China four years ago. It has nearly 80,000 views.

[jshepherd]

Here is a still shot from the video we shot with Hisano. I'll probably get in trouble for this photo

[Caitlin]

Oh. The pearl. It must be on the other hand! I once had a diamond much like that. I loved it. I hope this one signifies everything good about marriage, forever, for the two of you!

[pattye]

Probably about 200+ views of that video are mine! I have watched over and over, and LOVE the sound of those Klonks! Please let us know when Hisano's video is ready.