On akoya pearls, Mikimoto, Stanley Market, et al...

I have always liked a decent sized strand of pearls. I've loved it since I was very small. A single strand, or double strands of pearls, is such a classic act. Nothing beats that, as a lady would. Amazingly, pearls go quite well with all sorts of apparel, even with jeans. With a strand of pearl, it's covert way of demanding respect from men.

Since I'm not a big person, 7.5mm to 8mm is optimal to me. I like that feeling of nice, lustrous pearls with different hues. I have a few different strands that have the lovely shines of rose, tinge of blues, and a couple others of yellow, and pink.

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I grew up in Hong Kong, and pearls, as it was in any other place in the world, were expensive. I remember tourists from around the world would crowd around the Stanley Market at Stanley beach, or Tsimshatsui, where there were lots and lots of jewelry stores and independent jewelry stores. They would have strands and strands of pearls of different colors, sizes, with different prices for tourists to choose. While locals never really shop at those places (too overpriced for the locals), I always and still find it fun to window-shop at those places. It's rowdy, and the pearls were so beautiful...at least as I remember it.

But my memory must have failed me. Last year when I went back, I took a trip to Stanley Market again, more for nostalgia. I have since regreted it. The beach itself is completely gone now. It's score one for nature, and zero for mankind, due to wave erosion. Instead, a man-made storm wall was put, right where the original beach started; hence, no more sand. The main street of old has shrunken into a small, short stretch of street that houses probably a dozen of so of eatery and pubs. That was one big disappointment.

The other disappointment is the Stanley Market itself. I've heard that these days, that the old mantra of Hong Kong being the "shopper's paradise" for tourists is no more. Instead, things have become so cheap in China everywhere. A walk down the Market confirms that reality. The Market itself has shrunken so much that it took me probably less than 15-20 minutes to stroll through all the shops. There are no more cheap things to be had.

What surprises me was the quality of the pearls that I found. I have fond memory browsing all those loose strands of beautiful pearls, with different shapes and sizes. What I found instead, was loose strands of pearls of such poor quality, with prices so high that you can probably buy a strand of second-hand Mikimoto on ebay.

The first thing that came to my mind was, how could these shops ever compete with the products coming from China? I also wonder out loud how long they can survive the global war of dumping of cheap pearls from China?

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I didn't know much about pearls when I was little. I just like its roundness and lustrous shine. I still remember those pearl earrings of my mom, that would go with all kinds of clothing. You can easily dress up or dress down with it.

As I was growing up, I learn a bit more about akoya pearls, and Mikimoto. Akoya pearls from Japan still hold its dear place in most women's heart (as myself), and its value generally holds up pretty well. As the article in Reuters rightly points out, given the brutal competition that Japanese Akoya pearls has from freshwater pearls from China, much as those shops in Stanley Market, I've been wondering how long these Akoya farmers and the distribution channels can survive the onslaught.

I don't think that many people actually realize the differences between true Akoya pearls (that uses saltwater oysters which can produce at most 1-2 pearls at a time) and freshwater pearls from China (that uses freshwater mussels which can product up to 50 pearls at a time). Just the terms "cultured pearls" or "akoya pearls" are enough to confuse most people. (Every darn ebay sellers from China claims to be selling akoya pearl. Go figure.) Granted that the roundness, luster, and thickness of nacre will make a whole world of difference, most consumers simply don't care enough about it to pay 1000x times more for a Mikimoto strand, versus a cheap one from China.

To find out for myself, I bought a couple of strands from a few sellers (from China) on ebay. Most of those are less than subpar quality (I can't believe they can describe those pearls as "round" when they're more oblong, with odd shapes and all sorts of blemishes). But surprisingly, I also bought a couple of strands that are almost perfectly round, with very nice luster to boot and very few and minor blemishes. As the article points out, the Chinese have managed to grow freshwater pearls better everyday. All these, plus special order of 14k clasp for just $30, for a single 18" strand of 7.5-8mm AAA quality pearls. How could anyone beat that?

Those ebay purchases started me on some soul-searching. I was asking myself, do I buy the pearls as heirlooms (for my daughter and beyond), or do I simply want someone nice to wear? I have a few heirloom strands already. But with the price of one, I can buy myself 20-30 nice looking strands, with lots of change left over. I must admit, while I don't like the idea that the Chinese freshwater pearls dumping the market, thereby cheapening the image of pearls, I can't deny the mass market allure of such low price points that are very reachable to most everyone.

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I just hope that Akoya pearls and Mikimoto will live on. I really do.

For now, I just can't see how. It looks like, for every market that the Chinese steps in, they manage to dump and flood the market, so much so that they kill everyone who care enough to produce quality goods with craftsmanship. For that, there will always be certain spite associated with the the Made In China label, however pretty the products might look.