UNSTARTLING NEWS FROM GIA

Submitted by Bafoon

I am continually trying to keep a clean nose and clear mind, especially in these turbulent times. But it becomes even more difficult when trolling for pearl news in these days of polluted waters, depleted of oysters and any hopes for the future, and polluted politics (likewise depleted of good sense and hopes for the future).

But when the Fall 2008 issue of GIA’s Gems & Gemology sandwiches some five-plus pages (and these are monstrously large pages) into their quarterly pronunciamentos under the title of THE COLOR DURABILITY OF “CHOCOLATE PEARLS” BY BALLERINA PEARLS, I had to hurriedly scan the piece to input this earth-shattering pearl news.

These, dear reader (if you are unfamiliar with both the term and the product) are the results of black-lip Tahitian oysters whose increasing short-cultured by products have been treated with a proprietary bleaching process to turn their natural coloration into a range of hues ranging from Hershey’s milk chocolate to baby-poop brindle brown. Why any woman would drape these bilious colored things on her ears, neck of fingers escapes me.

Anyhow, GIA (with probably nothing better to do) turned seven of these well-treated things over to the nerds in white lab smocks to gently torture by exposure to heat, gentle household chemicals, daylight and cosmetics with very unstartling results: “[their] durability... is comparable to untreated Tahitian cultured pearls.” The lab rat authors then add the proviso that abrasive household cleansers were not tested. Duh! Rubbing your pearls with Ajax or Bon Ami powder cleanser with bleach is not a highly recommended pearl cleansing technique.

Dramatic, eye-opening analyses like these can be yours for only US$75-$85 a year.

P.S. In case you feel I am being unduly dour at the top, a good friend of mine (and a sometime contributor to this site ) received a very brief note from an acquaintance who regularly trolls Asia and the Indo-Pacific regions in search of cultured pearls who reported–upon a recent return from Tahiti– Our business will never be the same any longer.... From now on, people will be happy to sell 30-to-50% of what they used to sell... and this for some years to come. Perlemeister adds: “This dude has managed to stay abreast and ahead of changes in the industry for several decades, and we ought to heed his warning about the days to come in the cultured pearl business.”