Jewellery News Asia

[jshepherd]

I think Jewellery News Asia likes us (Pearl Paradise) this month. Here are three articles:

Natural pearls now sold online

06/07/2006

Everything is sold on the Internet, including, now, even natural pearls. PearlParadise.com in the US started offering natural pearls to the public in June.

With annual sales amounting to US$11.8 million in 2005, the pearl jewellery website has designed a special page for its natural pearl collection, selling natural abalone, conch, clam and penn pearls and targeting pearl connoisseurs. The price range is between US$286 and US$3,095 per pearl.

Partnered with a natural pearl dealer in California who has been selling natural pearls for more than a decade, the company has secured a stable supply and reasonable prices for natural pearls, president of PearlParadise.com, Jeremy Shepherd, said.

 

[jshepherd]

I am not certain why this was not all in the same article, as each of these are individual.

PearlParadise.com offers Hanadama

03/07/2006

While selling high-quality Chinese freshwater pearls as Freshadama, PearlParadise.com also offers Hanadama, which means flower pearl and is the name given to the highest-quality akoya pearls according to the standards of Pearl Science Laboratory of Japan.

"Each Hanadama strand we carry is accompanied by an individual numbered certificate from Pearl Science Laboratory of Japan stating the pearl grading," company president, Jeremy Shepherd, said.

The strands are available in three sizes. A strand with 7.5mm to 8mm pearls sells for US$2,565, one with 8mm to 8.5mm for US$3,420 and 8.5mm to 9mm for US$4,750, all at retail, he said.

 

[jshepherd]

And the one I am sure most of you will be happy to see. You should feel proud, Zeide. The term freshadama will now be a standard term in Asia!

Top-quality Chinese freshwater pearls, which are usually sold as half-drilled, are made into necklaces and are available on the Internet via PearlParadise.com, a specialist pearl jewellery website based in California, the US.

The company calls its high-end Chinese freshwater pearls Freshadama, after the Japanese Hanadama - a name given to the highest-quality akoya pearls in the industry.

"Freshwater pearls in this category feature truly round pearls with high lustre, which represent only 0.01 percent of the total Chinese freshwater pearl production," president of PearlParadise.com, Jeremy Shepherd, said. "The collection is designed to raise Chinese freshwater pearls in the public perception to the level of Chinese or Japanese akoya pearls."

The 18-inch Freshadama necklaces, available in 7mm to 8mm, 8mm to 9mm, 9mm to 10mm and 10mm to 11mm and in white, pink, peach, lavender or multi-colours, sell for US$310 to US$2,240 at retail.

Earrings in the same size and colour ranges are also presented, with retail prices ranging from US$54 for a 7mm to 8mm pair to US$140 for 10mm to 11mm.

The company also offers some wholesale but Mr Shepherd said. "We do not have enough to flood the market, but by selling them to wholesale clients we are impressing them - showing that we can provide better pearls than even their suppliers in China."

He said the company has made about 1,500 necklaces out of the loose pearls he collected in April in Zhuji, Zhejiang Province, China. "However, even after that we do not consider them all to be in the Freshadama quality range. After they were finished we sorted them again to pick just the top pieces, and obtained about 500 best-quality strands."

New sourcing method
On his last trip to Zhuji, Mr Shepherd went looking for something different - loose lots of undrilled pearls rather than strands of pearls. "I was looking only for loose lots of gem-quality pearls - the best possible. I have a good friend at a leading Chinese freshwater pearl producer in Zhuji, and we invited factory after factory to come and show us their loose lots, typically 5 to 10 kilograms maximum. We spent about an hour separating to determine the actual percentage of true rounds with the highest lustre and orient, after which I negotiated a price for them all.

"These are the loose pearls that the factories sell by selection, and that are used for earrings and pendants. However, I was able to secure deep discounts because I purchased nearly all of the pearls and because my friend was in the industry and we knew the actual factory price on every lot before I started negotiating."

The company had the pearls processed in Zhuji, and then used 90 percent of the pearls for strand matching, with 10 percent reserved for earrings.

 

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Jeremy,

Considering that David Yurman and other designers get away with charging US$2,000.00 retail for 7-8mm freshwater pearls that are not even all that great, methinks thee art underpricing themselves into a range that may look suspiciously low to upscale shoppers. The perfect solution: Put sterling silver clasps with diamond chips on them. Actually, most of these outrageously expensive "designer pieces" remind me of another term that I recently coined. I dubbed the bite-size cheeseburgers that are now available in leading California supermarket chains "Oakie sushi." By the way, am I going to get royalties for this use of my language skills?

Zeide

 

[jshepherd]

Your royalties will just have to be paid out in Freshadama, Zeide! Don't worry, this year is a test. You may get your wish come November-January .... Freshadama Hama Age!

 

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Jeremy,

Now that's a thing to look forward to, raw freshadama. I insist on getting a strand to gauge the quality.

Zeide

 

[jshepherd]

With royalties you will always be the first in line, Zeide. Btw, did you ever have that last piece strung?
Looks like we will be able to get our hands on another 30 kilo this month. 8 months after harvest, did not expect it, but I have been looking. It may add under 7mm to the repertoire, but unfortunately does not go over 9 milli - where the real demand has been.