GIE Perles de Tahiti Fades A—w—a—y….

So my French is a little rusty, but I found this article from Tahiti Presse with the help of the ever-vigilant Effisk, that spells the doom and gloom going on at GIE Perles de Tahiti.

Although the planned dissolution of GIE at the last general meeting was postponed, GIE cannot make its commitments with Japanese, Chinese and American partners. They’ve got no money. The tax suspension was their main source of income.

Well that’s a surprise. In the US there is a history of continued spending when the money stops rolling in. I guess GIE doesn’t have the power to leverage the future of the industry and print their own francs.

So what’s new on the table? According to the same article there was a proposed merger of GIE Perles de Tahiti and GIE Tahiti Tourisme. That doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Tourism seems to be a pretty big deal in Tahiti, and tourists love to come home with their pearls and bottles of vanilla. But the liquidation of GIE is likely to kill that idea.

There is a new player, however, GIE PNPP (led by Alfred Porlier) is proposing a new GIE PDT-like setup. They would supervise production, marketing and promotion. This all sounds vaguely familiar. Sort of a same-face different-name approach. Advice to GIE PNPP if this ever does take off, history has a strange way of repeating itself unless one learns from earlier mistakes.

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.”

Philanthropy’s not Dead Yet

I came across this press release today put out by this company called One Pearl. At first I just gave it a cursory glance, expecting it to be one of those shitty, free press releases that you find almost on a daily basis, put out by one of those Chinese Internet-pearl companies (poor spelling, poor grammar, nothing to say, yaddy-yaddy-yah). But this one actually got me to click through to the Web site.

At first glance, one might think this is just a PR stunt, but they really seem to be the real deal. One Pearl is owned and operated by a lady named Theresa Wing Hines. From what I’ve seen on the site, she appears to be the consummate philanthropist, targeting children in need. They donate 50% of sales to a lot of different charities, and their pearls don’t appear to be over-priced junk.

There is a pretty cool, convincing video on their blog. Check it out!

The 10-Year Giveaway

What’s the deal with the decade mark and free pearls?

Air Tahiti Nui has just announced that in celebration of its 10th anniversary, it has partnered with Robert Wan and will be giving away Tahitian pearls to every passenger flying to French Polynesia between now and January 15th of next year. Now I'm willing to bet they won’t be giving away the real gems. That would be a lot of fine pearls. I think it's brilliant marketing on behalf of Robert Wan, though. With the windows dark at GIE Perles de Tahiti, a new publicity strategy seems like the next logical step. But if you read the fine print, only passengers in first and business class walk off the plane with pearls. Coach passengers actually have to make their way to one of Wan's boutiques. Nice...!

Last year, Pearl Paradise also marked a 10th year anniversary and gave away free pearls. Too bad Paspaley didn't do something like that. I would be first in line. Maybe they'll give something away in Dubai in another 8.5 years. It seems to be the thing to do.

So what’s the deal matching 10-year anniversaries and pearls? I’d understand if we're talking 30th anniversaries. Isn’t the 10th supposed to be tin? A better fit, in my opinion, would be tin-cup necklaces!

Vietnam and Akoya

It is always exciting to hear news about the akoya pearl industry in Vietnam, the elongated country that straddles akoya and South Sea pearl producing latitudes. With such a prime location, one would assume the pearl industry there would flourish. But the Tonga Bay is almost as famous for the rarely-discovered Melo pearl as it is for its pearl-culture industry.

I ran across this story today, discussing Phu Quoc Island pearls and one large producer, Ho Phi Thuy. Phu Quoc is on the Western edge of Vietnam, in the Gulf of Thailand.

Ho Phi Thuy claims 1.5 million shells in the gulf, producing an annual harvest of 200kg. That may not be enough to make a large dent in the industry, but I found it interesting to note that nearly all of his pearls are exported to Japan. We might already be seeing his pearls in our run-of-the-mill Japanese akoya strands. I’ve heard Japan (and even Mikimoto) import akoya from Korea. It is no secret the Japanese have been buying akoya from China for years. And what has happened to the akoya produced in Australia. It stands to reason those have made their way to Japan too. It makes you wonder, what constitutes as a Japanese akoya strand these days?

According the same article, there are a lot of local sellers hawking pearls to locals and tourists alike. But none of them are the fine Vietnamese akoya. They are the crappy Chinese freshwater rejects ala Greenhills in the Philippines.

There are some who are selling Vietnamese akoya as Vietnamese akoya. Baggins of Los Angeles seems to be capitalizing on this new akoya genre. A few strands have even found their way to an online seller in Washington State.

I, for one, welcome the success of the Vietnamese. The akoya has fallen on some tough times recently with the diseases and price fluctuations in Japan, and the wrath of Mother Nature in China. It is about time a little luster happened upon the industry.

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now...?

So the Tahitians have decided to postpone the inevitable. GIE is not going to officially close their doors (unless they change their minds again) until December 31st.

An interesting move on their part. But why? Their funding is cut off. Their reason for existence is the promotion of Tahitian pearls and with an budget of zero PF francs, what are they going to do?

If GIE is broken, fix it. If it cannot be fixed, rebuild it. Give it a different name and develop a new, state-of-the-art promotional strategy. The days of ad slicks and champagne ass-kissing parties are over. The farmers need help!

The Cake is Baked

Apparently that AUD$3 million cake was in late planning stages at the time of my last post. According to a release by MMD Newswire, the cake was unveiled at a VIP Cocktail party last night.

Decadence That Takes the Cake

People eat pearl powder. I get it. People use it in makeup and lotions. I get it. Mikimoto used to swallow two pearls every day. I don't really get that. But who is going to eat a pile of diamonds, gemstones and pearls?

Julia Pergoliti of Cupid's Delight and Michael Dieckerman of Koro Fine Australian Jewellery are set to find out with the creation of the worlds most valuable cake. This AUD$3 million cake should, according to them, set a new Guinness World Record.

Now that is an expensive cake. There is no arguing that point. Those two are putting a lot of work into getting that world record, no doubt. But if I were getting ready to drop AUD$3 million on a gem and pearl-infused cake, I would do my research first!

In Osaka, Japan, a chocolate cake was on display with a supposed price tag of one billion yen, more than double the tag of the Australian pastry. It was called the most expensive chocolate cake in the world! Comments on the story seem to debate that price tag, but if I were dropping AUD$3 million, you bet your ass I would figure out the real story.

Japan has a history of expensive cakes with this $2.3 million-dollar whopper. Some people just have too much time/money on their hands!