Latest Harvest of Freshwaters??

[pattye]

Hi Jeremy and all,

what is hot in the latest harvest? Lots of really big pearls? Super lustre? Great Purples?? Just curious if you or others have anything to report yet? Or am I asking to early for the season??

Pattye

ps When are the harvest seasons? when do the "new harvest" pearls hit the markets?? Someone may have talked about that, but it didn't stick with me.

 

[Caitlin]

The pearls that caught my eye this year at the gem show were some rosebud pearls and other baroque shapes with odd little bumps and squiggles. I got a few strands from Pacific Pearls for about $4-6 a strand depending on how many I'd buy. One strand only starts at $14-16. Anyway these are dyed light pinkish tans and have goldish mirror and some orient. I have been meaning to take some pictures and post them.
I have earthy, organic-looking necklaces in mind for them. I plan to use one as a substitute for the cedar beads in a Navajo cedar bead necklace.

 

[jshepherd]

The biggest changes have been happening in the South Sea realm (Pinctada maxima) where production has increased more than 40% over the last couple of years.

In the freshwater world things are always changing. The most notable recent thing has been sudden heavy production of large bead-nucleated pearls. They were an anomaly just two years ago, and now it seems as though everyone is producing them. When I gave a strand to Modern Jeweler last year to shoot for a story, I was inundated with telephone calls from wholesalers around the US looking for them. This year, in Tucson, several people I had spoken with now carried them. Most notably, Jack Lynch of Sea Hunt Pearls had some amazing pieces. He had called me after the MJ article looking for them, and less than a year later he is one of the top wholesalers.
The industry still has not been able to produce round bead nucleated to any degree. I know that some people claimed they had, like Maitlins, Ward, Erskine, etc., but it was just a rumor, and it is still not happening, although they are certainly trying.

Larger pearls are getting more and more round, and the volume in the large sizes has increased. We are seeing a lot more material in 13mm+ range that is very round. But it is still priced at a premium. That may take some demand of the large mainstay 10-12mm, however. The reason for the higher volume of larger pearls is due to the previous drops in market values. A lot of farmers left their shells out for up to 6 years.

The biggest changes happening on a business level is that harvest actually increased. Prices have also stabilized in most sizes in the lower quality ranges, but have increased 15-25% in the higher grade ranges. In addition, material sizing has dropped another .1mm notch. I do not even understand why they keep calling them full mm grade sorted any longer. For sellers who process their own materials like we do now, this either means switching completely to 1/2mm sizes, or maxing out our largest offered size at .6mm. For those who buy hanks in China, the difference in price will be bet with an additional 1 strand (in the 6-7mm range), but an overall drop in size by .1mm.

 

[pattye]

Thanks very much, Jeremy for such detail!
Will there be a way to identify the bead nucleated freshwater? Are they going to be sold as such? I'm guessing the cost will be higher, at least at first, and we can tell that way. Will color and nacre quality be different?
Are there 2 primary harvests per year?
Pattye

 

[jshepherd]

The bead nucleated freshwater are always easy to spot. They have a very distinct look to them, and cannot be mistaken for anything else. As they get more round it is possible for them to start to look like true round strands, but it would be very unethical for anyone to sell them without disclosing the fact that they are bead nucleated. I do not think that will really be an issue for quite some time, as true rounds of high quality will be more expensive than their tissue nucleated counterparts when they do hit the market.

I just did a search and I do not really see many online sellers of bead nucleated. I did find one here, however:
http://www.americanpearl.com/gallery-fwn25.html

 

[jshepherd]

I just realized that the bead nulceation is not disclosed on that page, but it most certainly is bead nucleated. That is the distinct look that almost all bead nucleated freshwater have. It is very similar to the free form baroque South Sea. It is likely that many people will actually mistake it for one.
For comparison, this is a South Sea. The similarities are very distinct:
http://www.pearlparadise.com/detail.aspx?ID=1127

 

[Mandy]

Wow, you're right, they are very similar. They're nice strands but I'd prefer a Tahitian or golden SS baroque instead even if they are more expensive!

 

[perlas]

Hi All,

How about for tissue nucleated pearls? Did production increase? I've noticed that the colours and quality are improving. Is this due to better technology (did the Chinese find a way of influencing color and quality?) or just a bigger harvest (thus increasing the odds to have great color and quality pearls)?

As for the bead nucleated fws, they can be dyed black. But from those who has a chance to look at a lot of different pearls, you can easily distinguish them from south seas and tahitians although frequently, they can be mistaken as south seas and tahitians by the average buyer. The quality of the fireball pearls are getting better. The first time I saw them, some nucleus are quite exposed in some pearls. Now, the tails are getting smaller. I saw a strand that appears oval but there is still that crumpled look at the semi-tail and it costs a lot.

 

[jshepherd]

Production actually did increase. But that was simply due to the recent rise in prices. If their ROI is sufficient, why should they take a chance on another year? They pull them from 2 years on. The better quality is simply due to better technology. Every year the pearls seem to get better. I am sure many of you remember what the vast majority of pearls looked like just 5 years ago. It would have been difficult (and extremely costly) to find enough gem quality loose to make a single strand back then.

I have seen a lot of the dyed fire balls. The amazing ones, however, are the natural colors. They have that shimmering look of orient that you occasionally see in the highest end of coin. It is so beautiful.