Following up on the previous blog about the term keshi, I was made aware that the Director of the Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF), Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki, recently announced that his institute has been receiving large quantities of saltwater pearls for certification in recent weeks.
These pearls are generally characterized by an almost perfect appearance. The pearls are often accompanied with reports describing them as natural pearls, but their appearance has raised doubt amongst many natural pearl dealers.
These pearls were tested with the most advanced forms of technology, including X-ray radiography, X-ray luminescence, X-ray microtomography and radiocarbon age dating, and many were actually identified as beadless cultured pearls. Although these beadless cultured pearls do not show one distinct feature that explicitly characterizes them as cultured, it is a combination of internal and external structures, which enable conclusive identification of this material.
The arrival of large quantities of these “new” saltwater pearls, whose quality is far better than that of many natural pearls treasured since centuries, represents a great danger to the natural pearl market. Following the sudden increase of this material on the market, the SSEF has taken a number of measures to protect the natural pearl trade. The SSEF has adapted its pearl certification policy and is collaboratively promoting transparent standards at an international level. A important step is the use of more rigorous and specified definitions for natural and cultured pearls. A natural pearl is a pearl which formed in a wild oyster (mussel) which is living in its natural habitat. It formed without any human intervention. Any pearl stemming from a pearl cultivation farm is a cultured pearl.
This, then, does more than merely beg for the pearl industry to start taking immediate enforcement steps against the miscreants who blatantly choose to mislead the public by deliberately misconstruing their products in a variety of false manners. There is ample enough deception afoot in the business to warrant a single, overseeing and policing entity to enforce compliance with stringent procedures to ensure complete transparency and honesty throughout pearldom. After all, if diamonds and coloured stones can do it, why can’t we?
These pearls are generally characterized by an almost perfect appearance. The pearls are often accompanied with reports describing them as natural pearls, but their appearance has raised doubt amongst many natural pearl dealers.
These pearls were tested with the most advanced forms of technology, including X-ray radiography, X-ray luminescence, X-ray microtomography and radiocarbon age dating, and many were actually identified as beadless cultured pearls. Although these beadless cultured pearls do not show one distinct feature that explicitly characterizes them as cultured, it is a combination of internal and external structures, which enable conclusive identification of this material.
The arrival of large quantities of these “new” saltwater pearls, whose quality is far better than that of many natural pearls treasured since centuries, represents a great danger to the natural pearl market. Following the sudden increase of this material on the market, the SSEF has taken a number of measures to protect the natural pearl trade. The SSEF has adapted its pearl certification policy and is collaboratively promoting transparent standards at an international level. A important step is the use of more rigorous and specified definitions for natural and cultured pearls. A natural pearl is a pearl which formed in a wild oyster (mussel) which is living in its natural habitat. It formed without any human intervention. Any pearl stemming from a pearl cultivation farm is a cultured pearl.
This, then, does more than merely beg for the pearl industry to start taking immediate enforcement steps against the miscreants who blatantly choose to mislead the public by deliberately misconstruing their products in a variety of false manners. There is ample enough deception afoot in the business to warrant a single, overseeing and policing entity to enforce compliance with stringent procedures to ensure complete transparency and honesty throughout pearldom. After all, if diamonds and coloured stones can do it, why can’t we?
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