Kasumi Pearls

[CLICLASP]

Hello, I am a french collector, What makes a Kasumi pearl from Japan more or less valuable except the surface of course ? is the color to be considered or not? are purple rarer than blonde or not? and so on...I have red from a GIA issue that these Kasumi pearls are nucleated with a pearl already made, does that process make drilling more difficult or not ? thanks a lot for replying .

 

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi,

Kasumigaura pearls are nucleated freshwater pearls. The rarest color (but still quite frequent) is neon green. The fact that they are often nucleated with akoya rejects does not affect the drilling. I do not see any reason why one would buy inferior pearl plated beads from Japan rather than solid-nacre cultured pearls from China. There is no color difference, there is no luster difference, and the Chinese pearls are far superior quality, often (but not always) at a lower price. The price difference is solely due to marketing and has only marginally something to do with higher labor costs. But why make AMC cars with symphonic violinists and sell them for Rolls Royce prices when one can get a Rolls Royce to boot. Symphonic violinists do not make better cars, they are just presumed to be paid better than regular automotive workers in England.

Zeide

 

[purepearls]

Zeide is absolutely right! At this time, the Kasumigaura pearls are ,for the most part, inferior in quality to the Chinese strands in cleanliness, luster, and color and the Chinese strands are often far less in price than the Kasumigaura pearls. As a pearl connoisseur, I can see where you would be interested in buying the Kasumigaura pearls. However, I would strongly consider waiting to see if the quality will improve and the prices will drop. There is a large possibility that they will be forced to drop prices due to the current trends of the Chinese pearl market.

 

[Shin_Mura]

Hi,
Just a friendly comment about purchasing those Kasumi Pearl. I was happened to see some of those amazing purple pearls in the Jewelry Show in Hong Kong on March. There were at least two booths selling those purple pearls, which one of them with the name Kasumi and other one with the name as Edison Pearl. The Kasumi one was selling in a price which I can get a strand of AA grade white south sea strand, but the Edison pearl was in a lot more friendly price. I was trying to do more research on both pearls, but actually found out the company who selling the kasumi pearl was also sourcing from the Edison pearl?s company, but the owner was insisted to put it was from Japan.(But their stuff said they were from China)
Right now there is so many questions in my head, is the kasumi pearl = Edison pearl? Or there is kasumi pearl from JP, but the owner of the company were trying to fool the customer with some cheap Edison pearl?
(**That company is selling their goods with Princesses Diana?s image illegality )

 

[pearlescence]

Hi
real Kasumi pearls come from lake Kasumi-ga-Ura,(see more at http://www.kojimapearl.com/about-the-pearls/kasumi-pearls/ or use Google) they are rare and expensive.
What I think you have seen are bead nucleated freshwater pearls which look very similar. At least the Edison pearls are - Edison is a brand name given to these sorts of pearls by the pearl company which has pioneered this method of culturing pearls.
Edison pearls can be very expensive. not very good Edison pearls can be cheaper. There may well be other companies doing much similar pearl growing now..but I would be a bit suspicious of a company which has to use an image of Princess Diana to sell their pearls.
Once Grace had launched bead nucleated pearls they did seem to appear everywhere and everyone had them but they are still leading the game in terms of size and quality, hence the huge prices
I have some of these kasumi-ish pearls and call them 'gold leaf pearls' as they look as though someone came along and put bits of gold leaf on them
There are others which mimic white south sea pearls remarkably well

 

[cyndayco]

Wendy, are there kasumi pearls that don't have that "gold leaf" surface? I found these "kasumi" pearls on eBay. Do they fall within the same bucket?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271360453603?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271361240479?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[pattye]

cyndayco,

Those 2 strands of pearls you've linked to above are neither the Japanese Kasumi, or the Chinese kasumi like pearls. The seller has just used that term to draw attention to the sale.

https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4912Here is a thread started a couple of years ago with comparison photos that may help.

 

[cyndayco]

Thanks for the link. Very useful.

Over the holidays, a vendor on the beach was offering me pastel, almost translucent "baby south seas". Now I know they were round and off-round Chinese Kasumi-types, albeit low-quality ones.

 

[KarinK]

Wendy, are there kasumi pearls that don't have that "gold leaf" surface?

Pattye is, of cpurse, absolutely right about the listing. I just wanted to add that there are Kasumi pearls that don't have the gold leaf effect. Sarah (Kojima Pearls) has some and I have one from her that is a non-typical (but very beautiful) Kasumi. She uses the term 'boke' for soft, off-focus luster. I think you need to know and trust the vendor for these, though. They would be hard to spot.

Examples: http://kojimapearl.myshopify.com/products/near-round-japan-kasumi-dusty-mauve-color-pearl
http://kojimapearl.myshopify.com/products/3-peice-lot-of-boke-japan-kasumi-pearls
http://kojimapearl.myshopify.com/products/3-piece-lot-of-peach-drop-shape-japan-kasumi-pearls
http://kojimapearl.myshopify.com/products/soft-glow-pink-japan-kasumi-pearl

- Karin

 

[kojimapearl]

Wow this is a great thread. ...however it starts out with ***several falsities!****
Japan Kasumi pearls are NOT nucleated with Akoya pearls. They are nucleated with shell nuclei! Referring to them being "plated beads from Japan" is simply an uneducated statement.
The skill of these Japanese farmers is the ONLY reason that similar looking pearls are now available from Chinese fresh water pearl farms at all!
In my experience people buy Japan Kasumi pearls because they enjoy having all varieties of pearls in their collection and they realize the provenance of Japan Kasumi pearls to be quite unique and valuable.
Citing the difference in cost as being a "nominal" cost of labor is an unfortunate perspective with obvious holes in it.
There are currently 3 farmers producing pearls at Lake Kasumi ga Ura Japan.. That's 3.. Only 3!
There's at very least 3,000 people employed to produce the Chinese fresh water pearls which look similar.
For a very long time Japan Kasumi was the only fresh water pearl you could buy with such size and color.
Thankfully for the consumer market now you can buy them for a fraction of the cost from Chinese waters. We have sold Japan Kasumi pearls for nearly 20 years and will continue to do so as long as they are being produced. We also sell all varieties of Chinese fresh water pearls. We believe that there are pearls for everyone and now they are much easier to afford for most people.
Generally we only sell baroque pearls from Lake Kasumi ga Ura JAPAN.. so those are most of the photos that you will see on line. I have seen, and sold round and highly lustrous Japan Kasumi pearls and although the sizes coming out of China today are not paralleled from the Japanese waters, the quality is. This is also a very hard thing to compare given the overwhelming QUANTITY difference.
I am constantly dismayed that the Chinese fresh water pearls are being referred to as "Kasumi" pearls, but this is not a battle I can win .. and although I don't much care for the term "Edison" pearl, at least it is not confusing people as to the origin of their pearls. So as a general rule, if you see Kasumi pearls being advertised, do some research before you assume they are from Japan.
Amanda:
I do not hope that these Japanese farmers lower their prices, I hope that they continue to grow beautiful pearls against all odds.. I hope that buyers educate themselves and rejoice at all of their current options. Farmers like those at Japan Kasumi are the heart and soul of the pearl market today and without them, there would be no Edison pearls... and nothing to call "neon green" ...
Thank you Wendy, Karin, and Pattye

 

[pearlescence]

Hi Sarah et al.
I'm moving to use the term 'ripple' for all the freshwater kasumi-ish Chinese pearls to avoid confusion. I've seen them called keishi, nuclear (!) as well as kasumi. I'd describe the lustre as more satin than hard metallic. I've started a whole section on the P website for these pearls and it will be re-filled in the next week or so. I drove over 500 miles yesterday and so I'm being nice to myself today!

 

[kojimapearl]

the skin deep beauty of short sighted Chinese pearl farmers ..grrr!

the skin deep beauty of short sighted Chinese pearl farmers ..grrr!

Hi Wendy, Yes I too like the term "ripple" to describe these pearls.
So I've been deep in the pearl drilling cave for the last couple of days.. and ran across an interesting and frustrating comparison between the Japanese Kasumi pearls and the Chinese "ripple" pearls?. On the left of the photo is a grouping of fresh pearls from Japan Kasumi ga Ura that we picked up on our last visit with the farmers in late February? on the right of the photo is a grouping of Chinese pearls which look almost exactly alike? the difference is the nucleus. The Chinese pearls are nucleated with a sort of rock formed into a sphere which eats drill bits in seconds, and conveniently makes the pearls heavier, (as the are sold by weight, I can only imagine that the farmers and the brokers are the ones who benefit from this). Being the person who makes the custom orders with these on the other hand, it just makes me angry that the farmers of these Chinese pearls are so SHORT SIGHTED, and solely concentrating on turning a quick profit. I had read about these terrible nuclei on PG before and luckily hadn't had to deal with that particular nightmare too often. These are not giant clam, they are truly like a rock, maybe a silica of some kind?
The Japanese Kasumi pearls on the left are nucleated with a shell bead nucleus, as the have been for decades.. and the drill bit sails through, leaving clean holes and a happy Sarah.
At some point in my drilling and stringing I realized it's much like people whose beauty is only skin deep?not great friends in the long run !
Other than that, having a ball sorting pearls and making jewelry?. with the music, on "annoy the neighbors" volume!
Cheers, Sarah

 

[Marianne]

At some point in my drilling and stringing I realized it's much like people whose beauty is only skin deep…not great friends in the long run !

So true, Sarah, so true...

 

[Orient]

The Chinese pearls are nucleated with a sort of rock formed into a sphere which eats drill bits in seconds, and conveniently makes the pearls heavier, (as the are sold by weight, I can only imagine that the farmers and the brokers are the ones who benefit from this). Being the person who makes the custom orders with these on the other hand, it just makes me angry that the farmers of these Chinese pearls are so SHORT SIGHTED, and solely concentrating on turning a quick profit. I had read about these terrible nuclei on PG before and luckily hadn't had to deal with that particular nightmare too often. These are not giant clam, they are truly like a rock, maybe a silica of some kind?
The Japanese Kasumi pearls on the left are nucleated with a shell bead nucleus, as the have been for decades.. and the drill bit sails through, leaving clean holes and a happy Sarah.

Very interesting comparison for those who don't handle the two types of pearls as often as you Sarah. Do you have any damaged pearls that can be sacrificed to see what the material used in the Chinese pearls really is? Would be very interesting! Thanks.

 

[pattye]

Sarah, Very sad to hear. And who knows how the nuclei in the Chinese pearls will hold up over time?

 

[AMc]

Excellent thread and very informative, thank you so much for chiming in Sarah, it's great to hear from you! Wondering from your experience (and that fantastic photo)- is it easy telling the difference between CFW Ripples and Japanese Kasumi? Just a matter of weight/heft in your hand?

 

[BAS]

I wonder how these heavier, stone-like nuclei effect the poor creature laying the nacre?