The Timeless Allure of Pearls

The Timeless Allure of Pearls
Born perfect, forever fashionable By Pierre Akkelian

In the midst of a global crisis, the pandemic created unforeseen avenues for certain sectors. While it severely disrupted most businesses, our industry found an unexpected spotlight, with fine jewellery evolving as a top non-essential purchase during the many lockdowns. The pearl market, in particular, witnessed a dynamic shift. The heart of this pearl revolution lay in China, where the great majority of freshwater pearls— the most widely sold variety in the world—are cultivated. Stringent lockdown measures imposed by Chinese authorities disrupted not only daily life, but also the pearl production cycle. With travel bans and quarantine protocols in place, the intricately interconnected networks that sustain the global pearl industry came to a grinding halt.

Read More - https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/publications/de/202310/?page=21

 

"...to mitigate sinking prices of Tahitian pearls during the pandemic, the government introduced policies, limiting pearl production to 20 per cent of the pre-COVID numbers, thereby creating shortages and today's rapidly raising prices."

Twenty per cent--- that is a remarkable reduction in Tahitian pearl production during the pandemic! I expect there was also a reduction on production of other kinds of pearls. No wonder prices have risen!

 

A huge spike in demand this year, coupled with a massive drop in production ... it's sort of the perfect storm!