jshepherd
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2004
- Messages
- 6,154
When does 8 mean 7.7, 7 mean 6.5, and will 9 ever really mean 8? Sound confusing? Welcome to the materials game in all 5 of the freshwater pearl producing provinces of China.
Cultured freshwater pearls are the only category of pearl completely controlled by a single producing market - China. Within China the market is controlled by a select group of companies that have the final say on nearly all aspects of production, pricing, and sizing. Controlling nearly all material (hama age pearl) in China are Grace, Ruan, Tian Di Run, Shanxiahu, and Sanshui, and Tear of Angel.
While prices are expected to fluctuate as demand and supply changes, there is one aspect that is very difficult for many of us to comprehend and begrudgingly accept. This is the constant change in material sizing.
Several years ago it was decided that in lieu of raising material costs it would be possible to simply drop material sizes by .1mm. This is similar to not getting a full gallon of gas - you are only paying for 9/10 of a gallon. So for a time, all pearls that were marked 7-8mm were actually 6.9-7.9mm in size. This was not a big difference although it padded producers pockets by an easy 10%.
Because of the ease of the .1mm transition the size was dropped again. Now 6.8-7.8 was considered 7-8mm. Finally it was decided that 6.7-7.7 was 7-8mm, and this is where it stayed for some time.
Although this was very difficult to work with as the only way to buy real size strands was to cooperate with a factory to separate material sizes to speciation, it was possible. But this also meant investing in a full line from smallest to largest, with the last mm ending at .7mm. This was facilitated by the fact that of the .7-.7 size range the materials were split 25/75. This means that if the lot was 7-8mm, 25% of the pearls were 6.7-7.2mm, and 75% of the pearls were 7.2-7.7mm. This of course offered another corner to cut, and last year this secondary sizing range was dropped to 50/50.
This year feels like a turning point truly for the worst. New materials are now separated by .5’s, a full .2mm drop. This means a strand of pearls that is 7-8mm, is really only 6.5-7.5mm is constructed to scale from new materials. If a strand is 8-9mm, it is really 7.5-8.5mm.
Now this aside one would assume it would still be simple to separate materials into true sized lots and create strands with the 50/50 split. But they actually took it even a step further… it is now 75/25. The most massive drop ever.
Why does this happen? Can it be anything more than greed or an inherent lack of business ethics? Is it to pay mortgage on the half dozen vanity buildings of Zhuji? When will 7-8mm actually be 6-7mm?
I apologize if this is a bit difficult to understand. But now you will all know why strands of freshwater pearls you order from China will seem a bit smaller and a bit lighter this year.
Cultured freshwater pearls are the only category of pearl completely controlled by a single producing market - China. Within China the market is controlled by a select group of companies that have the final say on nearly all aspects of production, pricing, and sizing. Controlling nearly all material (hama age pearl) in China are Grace, Ruan, Tian Di Run, Shanxiahu, and Sanshui, and Tear of Angel.
While prices are expected to fluctuate as demand and supply changes, there is one aspect that is very difficult for many of us to comprehend and begrudgingly accept. This is the constant change in material sizing.
Several years ago it was decided that in lieu of raising material costs it would be possible to simply drop material sizes by .1mm. This is similar to not getting a full gallon of gas - you are only paying for 9/10 of a gallon. So for a time, all pearls that were marked 7-8mm were actually 6.9-7.9mm in size. This was not a big difference although it padded producers pockets by an easy 10%.
Because of the ease of the .1mm transition the size was dropped again. Now 6.8-7.8 was considered 7-8mm. Finally it was decided that 6.7-7.7 was 7-8mm, and this is where it stayed for some time.
Although this was very difficult to work with as the only way to buy real size strands was to cooperate with a factory to separate material sizes to speciation, it was possible. But this also meant investing in a full line from smallest to largest, with the last mm ending at .7mm. This was facilitated by the fact that of the .7-.7 size range the materials were split 25/75. This means that if the lot was 7-8mm, 25% of the pearls were 6.7-7.2mm, and 75% of the pearls were 7.2-7.7mm. This of course offered another corner to cut, and last year this secondary sizing range was dropped to 50/50.
This year feels like a turning point truly for the worst. New materials are now separated by .5’s, a full .2mm drop. This means a strand of pearls that is 7-8mm, is really only 6.5-7.5mm is constructed to scale from new materials. If a strand is 8-9mm, it is really 7.5-8.5mm.
Now this aside one would assume it would still be simple to separate materials into true sized lots and create strands with the 50/50 split. But they actually took it even a step further… it is now 75/25. The most massive drop ever.
Why does this happen? Can it be anything more than greed or an inherent lack of business ethics? Is it to pay mortgage on the half dozen vanity buildings of Zhuji? When will 7-8mm actually be 6-7mm?
I apologize if this is a bit difficult to understand. But now you will all know why strands of freshwater pearls you order from China will seem a bit smaller and a bit lighter this year.
