Black South Sea / Tahitian Pearls
Production has been decreasing each year which has led to smaller quantities of larger Tahitian pearls 13mm and above. Smaller sizes have remained stable. A new technology has seen farmers using large baroque nuclei in the last few years to produce large baroque pearls identified by their high lustre and dark colours. There has been very limited production of these baroque shapes to date.
White South Sea Pearls
The quantity of pearls being produced in Indonesia and Burma has been increasing whilst Australia has been concentrating on larger sizes over 11mm due to their higher cost of production.
Akoya Pearls
The demand for Akoya has remained high, mainly from China. The production and prices have remained stable in the 8mm and 9mm. Decreased production in the smaller sizes 6mm and 7mm have led to price increases of at least 20%. Under 6mm sizes are much harder to source as farmers are concentrating on the larger sizes were the profits can be made. Even the cost of processing a 4mm strand (cleaning, sorting and drilling) is double that of an 8mm. Very few people are now producing the traditional 3.5-7.5mm graduated strands.
