Tags
Freshwater Pearls, Nick Kwan, Pearls, Roz Kwan, Shop NBC< Far East Market, style, Tahitian pearls
Over the last few days, I was brainstorming for some new topics for this week’s blog topic. I can honestly …
31 Monday Oct 2011
Tags
Freshwater Pearls, Nick Kwan, Pearls, Roz Kwan, Shop NBC< Far East Market, style, Tahitian pearls
Over the last few days, I was brainstorming for some new topics for this week’s blog topic. I can honestly …
19 Wednesday Oct 2011
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Akoya Pearls, Far East Market Shop NBC, Freshwater Pearls, Golden South Sea Pearls, Nick Kwan, Pearls, South Sea Pearls, White South Sea Pearls
Yesterday afternoon during our Jubilee, we launched a brand new addition to our collection- an 18” South Sea Pearl necklace and 10-11mm earrings. When we talk about South Sea pearls, we are talking about pearls that are distinct, classic, exotic, rare, bold, and of course- beautiful! These gems are cultured in the plankton-rich waters of Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They are prized for their impressive size, which can reach over 20mm, bright luster, deep orient, vibrant undertones, and sometimes metallic skin. When cultured correctly, it is not uncommon to have pearls reach over 10mm in the first culturing with a 4mm bead nucleus. Combine all of these characteristics, and we have a very rare pearl that has yet to be duplicated in any other species of pearls. However, with 3 distinct areas of culturing, who has the best South Sea pearls in the world? Typically, Australia and the Philippines have the most expensive pearls, but does expensive equate to being the “best” all of the time? If you are a Far East Market shopper, I am going to bet that you are going to say no! Disregarding price, Australian and Filipino pearls feature thick nacre coatings, which give them the characteristics of high grade pearls. These 2 regions are also where some of the industry leaders in South Sea pearl culturing reside, which is evidence enough that the pearls from these areas are gorgeous! Let’s move along to Indonesia’s pearl culturing. Indonesia as we know today is the leader in South Sea pearl production. The pearls cultured in Indonesia have in the past been priced a little bit lower than Australia and The Philippines- due in- part to the larger volume that is cultured in this region. Again, price is not and should not always be the determining factor to purchasing beautiful jewelry! Indonesian pearls feature similar colors and bright luster just as Australian and Filipino pearls do. So what is the big difference? Today, as South Sea pearls gain in popularity (especially the golden South Sea), one thing has become more and more common. Pearls from Indonesia are making their way to Australia and the Philippines and being sold as pearls from those respective regions. This is very similar to Akoya pearls in Japan and China. About 10 years ago, the Chinese Akoya pearl became a viable alternative to the highly regarded Japanese Akoya pearl. Japanese pearl processing techniques are recognized as being the very best for saltwater pearls. Combine this with a less- expensive, but high- quality pearl and you have a match made in Heaven! Japanese pearl processors started going to China to purchase highly graded pearls to process them in Japan to create “Japanese Akoya Pearls.” As a result, today, many Japanese Akoya pearl farmers only culture 8mm plus sized Akoya pearls, leaving the 3.5-8.5mm sizes to Chinese farmers to produce.
Is there a “best” region to culture South Sea pearls? It is all left up for interpretation, as beautiful pearls come from all 3 regions, and high-qaulity pearls can never be guaranteed or cultured in great abundance! However, one thing is for sure, there is no line in the ocean!
Posted by Kwan Collections | Filed under Jewelry, Travel
13 Thursday Oct 2011
Jade has always been prized in the Chinese culture and is also the stone that my parents used launch their business over 35 years ago. As a result, I have a deep fondness for jade. I love seeing the artistry of a carved piece of jade and the beauty of a deep green or lavender jade cabochon. Sometime late last year, my Aunt in Hawaii sent me an interesting e-mail. The e-mail drew comparisons between the price of jade and the escalating prices of precious metals. Like any other e-mail forward, it requires some digging to make sure that it really is factual. Starting at an early age, my parents always taught my brothers and I about the rarity and high value of “Imperial” green jade or the jade with the deep apple green coloring and deep translucency. Upon reading this e-mail, it made sense that the value and rarity of this type of jade would be comparable to gold and other precious metals. At the end of the message, without much more thought, I filed it away. However, what I saw in Hong Kong a few weeks ago absolutely blew me away, and ultimately brought me back to this e-mail that my aunt sent me. The prices of jade, not just the deep “Imperial” green jade, have gone through the roof! When walking around Hong Kong, I saw what both my father and I have never seen before. Pieces selling for nearly 1 million HK
dollars ($128,513) but many more selling in the $200,000- $300,000 HK range. Many of you are probably expecting that these pieces were very large and must be set in 24K gold with a lot of diamonds. The piece of jade for 1 million HK was about 2.25” from top to bottom and about 1.5” wide and set in an 18K white gold frame with only a few small diamonds scattered as accents. This is a piece that I would typically see for less than half of that price. Even more incredible was when I looked at some carved jade animals that were similar to the pieces that my mom has brought to you in the past and last month during her carved jade show. The prices for those were up to 10 times of what they were not too long ago! What we are seeing in the jade market right now is a shortage of jade material. The rough that must be used to make carvings and even bangle bracelets is getting more difficult to find. The already rare “Imperial” green and natural lavender jade is even more elusive! As a result, we are seeing higher values placed on jade- even higher per gram and ounce sometimes than precious metals such as gold and platinum!
One thing I love about the jewelry business is that we depend on things that we
have absolutely no control over. We see things that are unique and different every day, and many times we see things that we will never see again. We depend on nature to find what equates to a needle in a haystack. Imagine how many years it takes for a mineral deposit or how many conditions must be completely perfect to create a gem! We have absolutely no control over these
things, but it is the work of nature that creates these beautiful treasures! As always, we will not sacrifice our quality and we will continue to look for the best pieces of jade for you!