PEARL REPORT 2021

PEARL REPORT | 46 | 2021-2022 MARKET INTELLIGENCE conch pearl and diamond necklace, which was snapped up for HK$687,500 (around US$88,600) at Phillips Hong Kong in May 2019. Several melo pearls have also been making waves in the auction arena. An extremely rare melo pearl of 224.30 carats bearing a vivid orange hue achieved US$722,500 at a Christie’s sale in Dubai in October 2010. Two enchanting melo pearls – weighing 105.72 carats and 130.31 carats – meanwhile sold for HK$360,000 (around US$46,404) at Christie’s Hong Kong in November 2006 and CHF 82,250 (around US$91,550) at Christie’s Geneva in May 2000, respectively. Despite encouraging signs of market interest, traders and jewellers raised the need to further educate the trade about these pearl types to help spur demand. Pearl essentials According to Zhou, most pearls have the same material composition, which is mainly a form of calcium carbonate called aragonite. Traditional pearls are classified as nacreous because their stacked aragonite tablets are arranged in a “brick-and-mortar” structure. Non-nacreous pearls’ aragonite tablets meanwhile are arranged differently, giving their surface a porcelaneous sheen and a highly attractive flame-like structure. Zhou said GIA is seeing a steady rise in the number of unique pearls being sent to the GIA lab for testing. “They seem to have become more popular in Asia in recent years,” he revealed. Over the years, the institute has received several standout non-traditional pearls, including a round-shaped melo pearl of more than 250 carats; necklaces containing more than 100 truly remarkable conch pearls; as well as a 150-carat horse conch pearl and a 420-carat abalone pearl, among many unusual and notable specimens submitted to GIA laboratories. “Many of the non-nacreous pearls exhibit certain characteristics that can easily be identified such as the unique pink colour found in conch pearls and the purple colour found in quahog pearls,” explained the GIA official. “Melo pearls are usually orange in colour with an attractive flame structure on the surface. At times, their sizes, shapes and even flame patterns can assist in species identification.” Appearances however may overlap for some pearls, making detection difficult. Conch pearls can display a variety of colours besides pink, and those can be hard to separate from other types of non-nacreous pearls. A pair of earrings adorned with rubies, diamonds and melo pearl centre gems by Assael 一對 Assael 的紅寶石、鑽石和美樂珠耳環 Conch pearls from Kashikey Kashikey 的海螺珠