US Bans Myanmar Pearl Company

RAPAPORT... The US government has placed sanctions on Myanmar Pearl Enterprise, a key state-owned economic resource for Myanmar’s military regime, amid “violent” repression of pro-democracy protests in the southeast Asian nation.

The company is a “political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality” of the government in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, the Department of the Treasury said in a statement Wednesday. The order bans all transactions by US persons that involve any property or interests in the property of “designated or otherwise blocked persons” related to the company, effectively ruling it out from doing any meaningful business in the US.

The military derives “significant funding from state-owned enterprises in the natural-resources market,” said Andrea Gacki, director at the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). “Today’s action demonstrates the United States’ commitment to targeting this specific funding channel and promoting accountability for those responsible for the coup and ongoing violence.”

Myanmar Pearl Enterprise, which sells pearls through the Myanmar Pearl Event, is a key generator of government revenue. All Myanmar Pearl Enterprise assets in the US — or in the possession or control of US persons — are “blocked and must be reported,” the statement added.

World Jewellery Confederation Unveils Pearl Guide

The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) has released a comprehensive handbook on pearl classification that provides the trade and end-consumers alike with pertinent information on the pearl’s appearance, size and overall quality.

Published by CIBJO’s Pearl Commission, the first edition of the CIBJO Guide for Classifying Natural Pearls and Cultured Pearls is a 62-page illustrated document that gives an overview of various pearl categories around the world.

It likewise highlights existing parameters used to define and assess the pearl’s appearance, physical dimensions and quality.

Complementing the CIBJO Pearl Blue Book, which is viewed as the authoritative reference for technical standards and nomenclature in the pearl sector, the CIBJO pearl guide serves as a primer and education tool tailored for jewellery consumers and pearl lovers.

The guide lists, describes and illustrates the primary pearl-producing molluscs and the type of pearls that they produce. A comprehensive breakdown of saltwater and freshwater cultured pearl types in the market is likewise provided, including species, origin, characteristics and production. It details the system for classifying natural pearls from Akoya variants and supplies information about pearl treatments and other pearl types such as keshi.

A team at Paspaley Pearling in Australia wrote the original draft of the guide, according to CIBJO. The Akoya complex natural pearl classification section was prepared by experts at the Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (DANAT).

Baroque Pearls Fast Becoming as Fashionable as Natural Colour Diamonds

Baroque Pearls are rapidly becoming as fashionable as Natural Colour Diamonds and the increased popularity of Baroque Pearls is sending prices upwards. Similar to what happened with Natural Colour Diamonds in the 1990's where colour diamonds were previously seen to be an unwanted by-product and sold off cheaply to now collecting huge prices per carat for pink, blue and red diamonds.

  

No two Baroque Pearls are the same each being extremely unique in shape and character and when put alongside a traditional round pearl, they make them seem boring in comparison. Baroque Pearls are often much larger than traditional round pearls with sizes of 25mm in length commonly seen while a round pearl with diameters around 14mm or above are quite hard to find.

Current wholesale price for a 25mm Baroque Pearl is approximately $800 while a smaller 15mm Baroque Pearl is selling for $300. These prices are expected to soon escalate as popularity begins to pickup further momentum. Similar to Natural Colour Diamonds, only a tiny percentage of world wide production are Baroque so with limited supply and demand growing prices are expected to sky rocket in the near future.    

South Sea Pearl Trade for Loose Pearls is Picking Up!

Just want to thank our loyal customers for the support over the past few years while the world economic situation has been a bit difficult and South Sea Pearl sales have been a little slow.
 

We appear to be getting into better times now as our fair trade loose Pearl sales for South Sea Golden Pearls have increased significantly over the past few months and are almost back to what they were prior to the 2009's global financial crisis. Lets hope the wholesale Pearl sales continue to pick up so we can really help our struggling neighbours in Indonesia.

Pearl Grading For Fair Trade South Sea Pearls

South Sea Pearls are commonly graded to "AAAA" standards against the 4 virtues of fine pearls. These virtues are as follows:

A – Lustre Grade

A – Surface Grade

A – Shape Grade

A – Colour Grade

Only the highest quality pearls achieve an "A" grade rating for each of the 4 virtues and these are the only pearls which can be classified as "AAAA" quality pearls. For instance if a pearl being graded had an "A" grading for each virtue for lustre, surface and shape but had poor grading for colour. The pearl overall grading would be "AAA". If the pearl also had a poor grading for surface the overall pearl grading would be "AA".

Although other grading methods are used by various companies around the world, we have found this grading method is the one most commonly adopted by the international pearl auctions. For our Fair Trade South Sea Pearl inventory, we utilise this same "AAAA" standard to grade the pearls. Take a look at our web-store at http://www.south-sea-pearl.com.au/ to compare prices for the various pearl grades. 

What is Fair Trade & What Are Fair Trade Pearls?

Fair Trade & Fair Trade Pearls

According to the Fairtrade Organization website http://www.fairtrade.net/ “Not all trade is fair! Farmers and workers at the beginning of the chain don’t always get a fair share of the benefits and Fair Trade provides a tool whereby consumers can put this right. It is based on a partnership between producers and consumers by offering producers, at the start of the chain, a better deal to allow them the opportunity to improve their lives. While Fair Trade also offers consumers a powerful way to reduce poverty through their every day shopping.”

Fair Trade Pearls, in the context of the Fairtrade definition, is providing improved opportunity for the very poor traditional pearl farmers, at the start of the pearl supply chain, and the Indonesian workers employed on large foreign owned pearl farms surviving on less than $200 per month.

Currently there are no Fair Trade standards applicable to Pearls. The companies working in this field are not yet able to gain recognition for there contributions in assisting the people and communities at the beginning of the pearl supply chain. Our company is pushing for standards to be introduced, so that the people living in poverty in the pearl farming communities around the Indonesian archipelago, can have a opportunity for receiving improved benefits.

We are proud of the fact that our company practices the principles and concepts of Fair Trade Pearls, in all trade that we undertake with the people and communities at the start of the pearl supply chain. Our profit margins are much lower than other less ethical organisations, but we are satisfied being able to contribute to a better life for the communities surviving on the pearling industry.

Fair Trade South Sea Golden Pearl Samples

Indonesian South Sea Pearls are famous for their high quality, luster and golden colour. Below is a series of photographs showing the various Fair Trade golden South Sea Pearls we have in stock. All the pearls have very high lustre and the shapes range from round / near round, oval, drop, baroque and keishi.
 

These South Sea Pearls, which have all been sourced in line with Fair Trade practices and principles from the traditional Indonesian pearl farmers, along with other's of various size, colour and quality, are available for purchase through our online store or directly at our offices in Perth (Western Australia).

 

Every purchase you make will assist with improving the life of the traditional Indonesian pearl farmers due to the good price levels we have paid to source these pearls and by the increase in trade we can provide them.

 

Online purchases and payments for Fair Trade South Sea Pearls can be completed via the secure Paypal system on our website. Additionally, for bulk purchases, we can negotiate a discounted rate and will provide details upon enquiry. You are cordially invited to visit our website at http://www.south-sea-pearl.com.au/ and email us at owenhenderson@pt-thd.com.

 

Indonesian Pearls 101

In the warm tropical waters surrounding Indonesia the farming of South Sea Pearls produces many pearl varieties. The more expensive pearls are perfectly round in shape with strong metallic lustre and perfectly clean surface that is free from blemishes. The less expensive pearl varieties include Keishi, baroque, semi round and oval shape pearls. The pearl colours common in this region are gold, white, silver and pink.

 

 

Keishi pearls are those that are produced as a byproduct of seeded pearls. While the seed is being placed into the oyster grains of debris fall into the oyster and the same material that produces the pearls is deposited onto this debris to produce uneven shaped normally small keishi pearls. Baroque pearls are formed in a unsymmetrical manner which produced a pearl with noticable irregularities. The most common irregularity is the circle baroque which has a distinct circle pattern around the pearls perimeter.
 

The other major factor about South Sea Pearls is that they grow larger than other pearl varieties due to the warm tropical waters. Commonly Akoya pearls will reach a maximum size of 10mm while it is common to see South Sea Pearls 14mm or larger. As pearls are sold by weight it is worth noting that a 14mm pearl weight is approximately 4 grams while a 12mm pearl weight, which is only 2mm smaller in diameter is around 25% less in weight.