Tahiti Pearl Consortium Takes Shape

Tahitian pearl producers have banded together in an effort to stablise Tahitian pearl prices around the world with the creation of the newly-established Tahiti Pearl Consortium.

The new consortium is comprised of four different syndicates attempting a ground-breaking new idea. They are going to try working together. The syndicates are comprised of Wan, Tehaamatai and GIE Poe O Tahiti Nui’s Syndicat Professionnel des Producteurs de Perles, along with Chenne’s SPPMF (Syndicat des petits et moyens producteurs de Polynésie française), the Syndicat des exportateurs de perles de Tahiti which represents pearl traders, and Japan’s Tahiti Pearl Promotion Society.

The way this is going to work is Robert Wan will sort, grade, price and sell the pearls for all four syndicates. Considering the TPC claim that the syndicates account for 80% of French Polynesia’s output, this should go a long way in stabilising pearl prices on the global market.

Robert Wan endeavors to tender the pearls, all 80%, at tri-annual auctions in Hong Kong and bi-annual auctions in Kobe, Japan.

An interesting twist to this new plan, the consortium has devised a way to renew funding to the Tahiti Pearl Promotion Society of Japan (TPJ), which had a large part of its funding cut when the export tax was eliminated in October of last year, by allowing only Japanese buyers who are members of TPJ to attend. The plan does not exclude other international buyers, but historically, the bulk of buyers at Wan’s auctions are Japanese.

This is a bold plan and a bold move by Wan and other producers and industry supporters. Whether it will work still remains to be seen. But while they are at it, they should work to reign in producers who have embarked upon a dumping spree in Asia, which is killing the market value of Tahitian pearls in the world and speeding the demise of this industry already on the brink.