Freshwater pearls are gaining more traction in the jewellery world, thanks to their rising appeal as versatile and sustainable jewellery options among a younger generation of buyers.

Industry stakeholders who graced the recently concluded World Pearl Conference in Zhuji, Zhejiang province, China from May 20 to 22, 2023, supported freshwater pearls’ increasing popularity. Zhuji is recognised as the world’s largest freshwater pearl distribution centre, according to CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation.

Official reports indicate that Zhuji generated RMB25 billion (around US$3.46 billion) in pearl sales in the first four months of 2023, up 60 per cent from last year’s total annual sales. Data from ezhejiang.gov.cn further showed that Shanxiahu, Zhuji accounts for 70 per cent of the global production of freshwater pearls. 

According to CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, who was a keynote speaker at the World Pearl Development Forum that took place on the sidelines of the conference, the growth potential of the cultured pearl jewellery category remains high. “This is because they are among the very few materials used by the industry that are potentially sustainable both from a social and an environmental perspective,” noted Cavalieri. “In fact, when cultured pearls are farmed in a responsible manner – meaning that the physical environment in which the oysters hatch and grow is pristine – then the quality of the end product is optimised. It is a win-win situation.”

Cavalieri also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ye Zhibin, chairman of the board of the National Gemstone Testing Centre of China, and Bi Lijun, general secretary and vice president of the Gems and Jewellery Trade Association of China, on knowledge and expertise sharing aimed at China’s adoption of international standards and nomenclature developed within CIBJO.