As a pearl lover, I found this article interesting and wanted to post
it to my blog. For great, affordable pearl jewelry, check out my
favorite store, www.moonriverpearls.com.
by Vanessa O'Connell, The Wall Street Journal
From Chanel to Fortunoff and Tiffany, jewelers are rolling out new
designs, colors and techniques in an effort to make pearls fashionable
again. The moves come as Chinese producers have figured out how to
improve the quality of their less-expensive, mass-produced freshwater
pearls in recent years. Chinese suppliers are now producing freshwater
pearls that have the smooth, round look of pricier saltwater varieties
-- as well as pearls in the shape of potatoes, petals and coins.
But while the influx of inexpensive Chinese pearls has caused prices
to fall across the globe -- by some 40 percent for a strand of 6.5-
millimeter saltwater Akoya pearls since the late 1990s -- the overall
market for pearls still remains soft.
To drum up demand, designers are shifting away from the more
traditional looks found at auctions and in grandma's jewelry box.
Bulgari recently brought in a series of new pearl styles to the U.S.,
such as necklaces with two or more pendants of unequal lengths.
Fortunoff, once known for formal jewelry, is selling multistrand
stretchy bracelets of freshwater cultured pearls, dyed to various
shades of gray. The jeweler will carry color-treated chocolate-brown
Tahitian pearls for the first time in its holiday catalog.
Tiffany, known for its high-end diamond jewelry, is now incorporating
Chinese freshwater pearls into expensive pieces like a $9,750 diamond
dragonfly bracelet. Other designers are mixing pearls with both
precious and mundane objects. For example, Prince Dimitri, creative
director at Assael International, is mixing pearls with wood in
bracelets. Donna Vock combines fine pearls with unusual gems like mint
tourmaline and chrysoberyl.
"We are selling a different type of pearl jewelry today," says Lisa
Kazor, a senior vice president of Neiman Marcus who oversees the
chain's designer and precious jewelry. "It's younger. It's more
modern. It can be worn to more places."
Jewelers have an incentive to use more pearls since lower prices
translate into bigger profit margins than other gems such as diamonds,
which have shot up in price recently. And unlike diamonds, considered
a more standardized commodity, pearls now come in so many different
styles that retailers have more opportunity to make a profit, gem
experts say.
China has been ramping up production and quality of freshwater pearls
for the past five years or so. Producers have quickly figured out how
to make a bigger percentage of pearls round, or almost-round, by
"nucleating" freshwater mussels with tiny spheres made from off-shape
freshwater-pearl rejects. The country is currently producing around
600 tons of pearls -- far more than all the other pearl-producing
regions combined, according to estimates by Gemworld International, a
Northbrook, Ill., consulting firm to retailers and wholesalers.
Quality has improved so dramatically that some experts say some
Chinese pearls are indistinguishable from fine Akoya pearls.
The Chinese have also introduced pearls in different shapes and sizes.
Initially, Chinese mollusks produced small, crinkly pearls known as
"rice crispies" only in white. Now, they're making 10-millimeter round
pearls and some more unusual shapes. They've also expanded the
spectrum of colors by cultivating pearls in orange, peach and lavender.
Designer Laura Gibson is using twice as many pearls as she did five
years ago, stringing them on silver chains with stones such as citrine
and hessonite. The colored pearls "add beautiful texture and contrast
to smooth stones and faceted stones," she says, without jacking up the
price.
Fortunoff has shied away from color-treated pearls in the past, but
techniques have improved in the past year, says Esther Fortunoff, an
executive vice president. The chain has increased its pearl styles by
40 percent over the past five years.
Designers today are eager to distance their jewelry from classic
necklaces and bracelets, which generations of women are unloading at
auction lately. Doyle New York had to withdraw some classic pearl-
strand necklaces from auctions in April because bids came in too low.
Designer David Yurman says he likes to blend South Sea pearls with
freshwaters, and for his spring collection is interjecting pearls with
color gemstones.
Consumers looking for nicer pearls as an investment should stick with
the rarer saltwater varieties -- such as Tahitian, Akoya and South Sea
-- rather than freshwater, advises Heidi Harders, president of Chicago
Gem and Jewelry Evaluation Services. Tahitian pearls are the most
promising investments now, many experts say, since prices are climbing
fast due to efforts by producers to control production. South Sea
pearl prices are climbing, but the future is difficult to predict,
because Chinese producers are working on mimicing them en masse.
No comments:
Post a Comment