Get ready for those new mini-beaded freshwater pearls!

Thank You Jeremy! Your article is great, as are the ones by Justin, Laurent and Philip Bouasse. Bonus points for the special guest appearance by those lovely Little H earrings!! Downloaded the issue to read again in depth (and to look up Golden Sheen Sapphires ... ).

Thanks again to the link; much appreciated :)
 
Jeremy, you'll see very young photos of our friend Jo Ellen in Charley's article on endangered species products, page 82!
 
There were sacks of really rubbish 8mm round nucleated pearl strands at Grace maybe three years ago. (def in the new office)Some were blinking. I think they were trying to sell them for $10 a strand. I got a few for curiosity, probably still around somewhere. Presumably they have upped their technique!
 
pearlescence said:
There were sacks of really rubbish 8mm round nucleated pearl strands at Grace maybe three years ago. (def in the new office)Some were blinking. I think they were trying to sell them for $10 a strand. I got a few for curiosity, probably still around somewhere. Presumably they have upped their technique!
Click to expand...

They are intentionally cultivating them now with a new technique (it's in the article). These aren't mistakes and are not the same thing.

Katbran,

It's not just Grace growing these. Now that they've created a technique to derive more profit from a shell already in use growing another type of pearl, farmers who grow beaded pearls are trying maximize what they can get from their harvests. I do think they will try to challenge akoya though.

There is an article in Facette that just came out too. They are calling them mini Ming.
https://www.ssef.ch/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018_SSEF_Facette_24.pdf
 

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I wonder if 7mm is as large as they are likely to get?
Do you know if they have tried using larger beads, so that they could produce an 8mm pearl, say?
 
Pearl Dreams said:
I wonder if 7mm is as large as they are likely to get?
Do you know if they have tried using larger beads, so that they could produce an 8mm pearl, say?
Click to expand...

I haven't seen the procedure in person, but I assume the size is related to the area between the valves at the edge of the mantle. They are only growing them as long as the larger beaded is finishing (the last couple of years), so most that I've seen are smaller than even 7 mm. There was only one dealer at the show in March who had a good selection of these strands. They were just testing them out though and they were expensive.
 
Great article, Jeremy! Do you think that tissue-only nucleated FWP will end up going by the wayside eventually? I happen to love the baroque solid-nacre FWP, so if production were going to dramatically be reduced I'd plan on stocking up!
 
Ah..I wonder in that case if what were sold to me a couple of years ago as ming keishi were these? 5 and 6mm rounds. A bit of a translation glitch keishi/mantle placement.....?
 
These are definitely not mistakes! They are ultra-glamorous and a breeze to wear. :)

babies.jpg
 
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