Price of pearls

Hi there, While we were discussing pearls, I forgot to ask if anyone
has noticed an increase in the price of freshwater pearls of late. I
went to a show last week and noticed that pearls I had been buying
for $6 to $8 per strand were now going for $12 to $15. Same dealers.
Above that, the increase was more severe. I will grant you that the
quality was good, but it was still sticker shock. I can’t buy into
the hurricane in Japan as an excuse because those pearls are still in
the mussels. Is this a case of current stock being more valuable in
anticipation of the hurricane crop??? What’s going on here??
Suzanne

Yes, the fw pearl price has increased dramatically this last year,
starting in Tucson Feb 2000. I agree with everything you say. Same
dealers, quality was up, and sticker shock. I only bought a few
strands in Tucson for wire-wrapping. I have about 100 lbs of old
stock from the past 10 yrs that I will string as necklaces. I think
all these pearls are coming from China, as they have in the past few
yrs. I don’t know the reason for the huge price increase but I won’t
be buying at these prices bec my customers won’t pay double $.

Carol

I’m not an expert on economics, but the anticipated loss of product
with current hurricanes would likely raise prices on current goods
with the logic that scarcity, even if anticipated equals higher
prices…for instance, many of us jewelers bought goods years if not
decades ago that we can’t replace now, and often we horde these
special stones, etc…saving them for “something” special, or feeling
inclined to charge a client more since it is not replaceable…well
wouldn’t the feeling be the same if you knew that in 6 months your
supply would go dry, even if it isn’t at that very moment.???

Another factor may very well be that now that Chinese pearls are
becoming established as worthy goods, the market will bear a higher
price…(demand of pearls has gone out the roof with the cheap chinese
pricing) particularly since the customer demands such more
material…

Maybe someone in the pearl production industry could address
this…I’d be interested to hear those thoughts.

Gianna, where fall is in, and the first rain fell and southern
californians still can’t drive in the rain…

Their problem is that they don’t have price standard. There are so
many FWP dealer in China and Hong Kong. and there are no association
and no meeting for them. Therefore producer can put any price what
they want.

The price would be gone down sharply, if the demand of FWP is short
or producer need money.

I would say I don’t want to mix up Chinese FWP and Japanese Akoya
pearls. They both are called “pearls”, but they are completely not
same items.

Yasu Matsuda KOBE PRECIOUS PEARL & CO., LTD. 2-2-10, Isobe-dori,
chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan website:
http://www.portnet.ne.jp/~kobe-p-p/homee.htm e-mail:
@kobe-precious-pearl Tel: 81-78-242-0003 Fax: 81-78-242-3455

I’ve followed this thread for a while trying to understand the market
price for different kind of pearls in the U.S. I do know that cut and
rough gemstones are very expensive over there but pearl prices in the
U.S. I know nothing about. Someone mentioned $12-15/strand for
Chinese fw pearls without saying anything about the quality or size of
those pearls. Can someone please give some guidelines regarding
wholesale prices. I ask because if you feel that you’re paying too
much I might be able to provide you with Chinese and Japanese (not
Biwa) goods at a lower price. Our company buys pearls in China and
Japan on a regular basis and I could always ask our buying agents to
order a bit extra if anyone on this list would be interested.

(I’m not very good at pearl prices myself since my concern is to make
designs for them rather than trading them)

Rudolf

R.I.G.A. - Russian Institute of Gemological Art
Gemstones beyond AAA
http://www.gemstones-by-riga.com