Hi guys, I first thought that perhaps I will update the forum after I had received a test-report from the lab of my pearls. However given the interest amongst our members, here is an update of my trip to Exim (& Mr. Jhaveri). As correctly pointed out by Donzi, this is a very small store in a hustle bustle Bur-Dubai. Prior to strating by car we were in touch with Mr. Jahveri on how to get there exactly, as well I had the google map with me for directions to his shop. I was in constant touch with him (since that's what he suggested, to call me once we are at each major junction etc). Finally, he said the shop was right in front of the Pinky Restaurant (which was distinguishable with its pink coloured signs). We had originally planned to meet him in the morning, but he preferred the evening timeslot, by which we could spend more time with him (the store opens at around 11am & then is closed from 1:30 to 4:30pm). He reopens just after 4:30 & would be around there almost until midnight. Anyway, talk of his hospitality and gentleness, first things first (can I offer you tea or coffee or fresh fruit juice?), and of course he insists, so we have tea with him. His first Q was how did we hear of him & Exim. So, I mentioned about this forum & Donzi's expeditions. The store has a front-retail section wherein he sells jewelery & on the back side of the store, where Mr. Jayesh sits is his wholsale business in natural pearls.. He then introduced us to his son. I got the impression from his accent that he might have been educated in the west. Anyways, he was also very pleasant. After the introductions and all the pleasantries, well how can I help you? I mentioned about our interest in pearls, especially the natural ones, and I took out 3 sample pearls I had and requested his comments/opinion etc. He of course took out his 10X magnifying glass, gave one of the samples to his son as well for his opinion, checked the weights of each pearl (they were each of about 9 carats, 11mm in size), and after quite some time of checking-out the 3 samples, he hesitatingly said that he suspects that these might be freshwater pearls. He of course was not sure (may be he felt that if he said so, I would be devastsed!). Far from it, I wanted his honest opinion. He then also gave me the magnifying glass & honestly I could not conclude with any side-by-side comparison of my 3 pearls with his natural pearl of about 8mm (he asked me to compare). He then, along with his son - who also examined my 3 pearls for quite some time, concluded that a) based on sheer size of my pearls he had doubts if these were natural, and if the lab tests report that indeed these were natural and sea-water, then perhaps I had hit a jackpot. However, similar to our forum members' first impressions and Mr. Jhaveri's years of experieince in this whoesale pearls trading business, I have got to go with his first impression that my 3 pearls perhpas are freashwater, although he did say they were beatiful. Despite my insistence on him to give me an honest feedback, he seemed reluctant to conclude that my pearls were of freashwater origin. He siad the acid test is the lab report. He then pursuaded me to make use of the Dubai Gem Lab who would do the tests, quite similar to the Bahrain Govt Lab. This Dubai lab is very next to the main Post-Office in Bur-Dubai, and not too far from his shop. Mr. Jhaveri then showed us some fantastic antique jewelery - kind of a necklace with a fabulous natural drop-pearl, surrounded with small (perhaps 0.1 to 0.15mm each) diamonds and a solitary one diamond of about 1c - but not so good a colour (in fact it probably was K colour with yellow tinges). And he said this would be over $40k total, with most of the value being in the natural pearl. He then showed us some south sea (Australian) white pearl necklaces of about 15mm size (18"), with differing prices depending on quality and lustre etc. He also showed us fabulous golden coloured cultured pearls - about 10-12mm size & although lovely, he said these were Indonesian and not of that high quality. His final remarks were: a) good luck with the lab tests & report for my pearls, b) natural pearls industry was back on track & he would give a written guarantee to take back the pearls even after several years at ++ prices, since these would definitely go up in price, c) he would not offer the same price back guarantee for the cultured pearls, and d) he looks forward to future business for pearls deal with us.
Next morning went to the Dubai Lab (where they test all the precious stones (they have a separate counter for each of the four precious stones (Ruby, Sapphire, Emeral & Diamnonds & Pearls of course)). The lab is open from 7:30am to 2:30pm. Mohammed, the technician was very helpful, I had to fill-out forms etc and that it would take about 2-3 weeks for them to issue a lab report. Thing to note is that the lab would not send back to me my pearls by courier or mail - no choice except to collect in person (what a bummer)! My feeling/impression was that this lab is not as sophisticated as the one in Bahrain (just from Mohammed's comments - a) the final charge for the test will be only after they issue the report - why, because the equipment fails many times & the charge would be between 0 to 180 Dhirams (about $45), and b) he said, isn't Bahrain closer to you? - you should have gone there!), c) he also showed me a sample report and while the Dubai lab bases its report on the X-ray tomography, they would not release the X-rays to me (he said it's illegal!!). At best I would find out out the size/shape etc and importantly however, if the pearls are natural or cultured or fake and if they are freashwater or seawater. He said that they might, off-the record, state its origin, if these are found to be natural & seawater pearls.
So, like me hang-in there until Nov 22nd when the lab report is issued, but I am resigned to conclude (subject to this final acid lab-test) that what I have are freshwater pearls! I will hold my tears though for another 2 weeks or so. Hope this update is useful to all of you. Once the report is issued, I might even put a copy on the forum-post for all of our education purposes. I guess the experieince with Exim/Jhaveris was definitely refreshing and absolutely worth the trip (I understand Donzi that you may have placed an order with him? - best wishes!).
Cheers, and keep smiling!
