YOSHIHIRO HISADA1 AND TOMOSHIGE FUKUHARA1
1 Pearl marketing specialist, Hisada Pearls Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
A “gem” is a product of nature long sought and valued for its beauty and scarcity. There are four conditions for an object to be considered a gem: beauty, scarcity, hardness and durability.
The diamond is regarded as the “King of Gems”, and scores highest in all these conditions. Though the pearl does not meet the conditions of hardness and durability like other mineral gems do, the naturally formed softness is what makes pearls appealing, and has thus it has won the name “Queenly Gem”. A comparison of diamonds to pearls follows:
| DIAMOND | PEARL | |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty | 10 | 10 |
| Scarcity | 5 | 10 (natural) |
| Hardness | 10 | 3 |
| Durability | 10 | 3 |
Pearls are produced from pearl oysters both in seawater and freshwater. Their names are as follows:
| English or Common Name | Scientific Name |
|---|---|
| Seawater species: | |
“Akoya” pearl oyster | Pinctada fukata |
Silver-lipped pearl oyster | Pinctada maxima |
Black-lipped pearl oyster | Pinctada margaritifera |
“Mabe” pearl oyster | Pteria penguin |
| Freshwater species: | |
“Ikecho” mussel (Japan) | Hyriopsis schlegeli |
“Sankaku” mussel (China) | Hyriopsis cumingii |
“Karasu” mussel (China and Japan) | Cristaria plicata |
The world total pearls productions in 1997 are roughly figured out as follows:
| Pearls | Production | Unit price** | Total value (US$ million) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kan* | kg | Yen/Monme | U$/g | ||
| Akoya pearls (Japan) | 5,000 | 18,750 | 4,000 | 8.90 | 167 |
| Akoya pearls (China) | Unknown | - | |||
| Silver pearls | 680 | 2,550 | 28,500 | 63.30 | 161 |
| Black pearls | 1,500 | 5,600 | 11,500 | 25.60 | 143 |
| Freshwater pearls (Japan) | 50 | 190 | 2,000 | 4.40 | 0.8 |
| Freshwater pearls (China) | Over 1,000 tons? | - | |||
| TOTAL (except Chinese production) | 7,230 | 27,090 | 472 | ||
* One Kan = 1,000 Momme = 3.75Kg
** Expport Price
Japanese Yen 120 = US$1.00
