Gem Focus May 2026: Akoya Pearls
Learn more about the classic pearls and their pricing in today’s market.
*Gem Focus & Market Pulse (Free Subscriber)Peeking Behind the Japanese Pearl Curtain
In today’s competitive market and social media-loving world, the historically tight-lipped Japanese pearl industry is opening up to attract new generations of collectors.
Featured ArticlesCultured Pearl Market Overview
Once a rare treasure attainable by only the elite of society, through a significant part of the 20th century, pearls held status as a fashion staple of the women in most economic classes, a trend…
Market TrendsLarge Bead Nucleated Round Freshwater Cultured Pearls, A.K.A. Edison Pearls
Fine quality nucleated Chinese freshwater pearls have earned widespread consumer appeal as one of the fastest growing sectors in the gem trade. However, visual similarity of these pearls to the once dominant seawater varieties like Akoya…
Market TrendsPearl Varieties
Pearls are a vast subject worthy of years of study. There are nacreous and non-nacreous pearls, each with subcategories of varieties. Prices, colors, qualities, sizes are seemingly endless and it takes great effort to learn about all…
Featured ArticlesThe Boom in Pearls
Pearl prices and demand continue to rise thanks to Asia’s appetite for the gems, designer interest, and the marketability of their one-of-a-kind offerings. Aziz Basalely’s most interesting pearl sale in Tucson wasn’t an oversize peacock-color Tahitian or…
Featured ArticlesPearl Buying Guide – How to Identify and Evaluate Pearls
Renée Newman, GG Paperback, 152 pages 6th Edition International Jewelry Publications, 2017 ISBN: 9780929975528 $19.95 Renée Newman’s Pearl Buying Guide is the 6th edition on how to identify and evaluate pearls mainly written for consumers. Her efforts to make gemological information…
Book ReviewGem Market Pulse February 2017: Chinese Freshwater Pearls
The U.S. colored stone trade expectations for the year 2017 shows are very upbeat. An update on Chinese freshwater cultured pearl pricing... Numbers indicate that online shopping had a significant rise during the holiday season compared…
*Gem Focus & Market Pulse (Free Subscriber)Connoisseurship: Grading Special Cases – Grading Pearls
Think of the beautiful glowing skin of a healthy baby or the dewy complexion of a beautiful young woman. These are excellent analogies because healthy skin has qualities similar to the skin of a pearl…
Featured ArticlesThe Making of a Pearl—Natural Nacreous Pearl
“This prince possesses the most beautiful pearl in the world, not by reason of its size, for it only weighs 12 1/16 carats, nor on account of its perfect roundness; but because it is so clear and…
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