Let's start with a group of interesting psychological experiments.
The first experiment: open a bottle of wine, pour three cups, mark different prices, and then let the experimenter taste (they do not know that the three cups of wine are of the same origin and the same species) to choose the best wine. As a result, the highest bidder received the highest number of votes. This shows that the price will affect our judgment on the value of things. We tend to think that the more expensive things are, the better.
The second experiment: Let the experimenter taste three wines of different prices and varieties (they do not know the price), and choose the best one. The one who gets the highest vote is not the most expensive. This shows that expensive is not necessarily the best, or expensive is not necessarily suitable for you.
Among many pearl varieties, freshwater pearls are undoubtedly the cheapest. According to the psychological principle revealed by the first experiment, cheap freshwater pearls must be the least favored, which goes without saying. I have been engaged in the pearl industry for more than ten years. In my early years, I mainly engaged in freshwater pearls. I have seen many prejudices and discrimination against freshwater pearls. A common scenario is that customers want to look at high-quality pearls, take out the best seedless fresh water drops, and the quotation is half or even one-third of the same size and quality sea pearls. The customer is surprised and asks, "Freshwater pearls should not be so expensive?!"
With the same size and quality, seawater pearls are several times more expensive than freshwater pearls? Is it because the seawater pearl has an extra core that costs a few cents? Many people don't know about pearls. They only care about the variety, but not the quality. Seawater pearls are expensive and must be good, while freshwater pearls are cheap. They are low-end goods.
I have no intention of beautifying freshwater pearls. I just objectively state the facts and show the advantages and disadvantages of various pearls. Readers will make clear choices after full understanding, rather than blindly following the crowd. Our company's products have already covered all pearl varieties, not to mention Nanyang Pearl Tahiti Mabei, even wild sea pearls and rare conch pearls. Of course, the merchants want you to buy the most expensive one, and the more expensive it is, the higher the profit will be. There is no need to waste words on cheap freshwater pearls.
Freshwater pearls are labeled as "cheap and low-grade" for the following three reasons:
Firstly, the root cause is that the traditional nuclear-free culture technology, pearls are naturally grown and shaped, so the shape is uncontrollable. Most of the shapes are irregular, many of them have no decorative value, and can only be used for medicine. Secondly, there are a large number of flat and oval shaped pearls. The round ones are very good, and there are fewer high-quality pearls.
Secondly, due to historical reasons, Chinese pearl culture attaches importance to scale and production, and does not pay enough attention to the pursuit of quality. Chinese rivers, lakes and reservoirs suitable for freshwater pearl cultivation are vast, with abundant labor resources, and inexhaustible biological resources for mother pearl mussels. The weather and the land are favorable for people, so the pearl production is huge. It is an eternal truth that rare things are precious. There are so many freshwater pearls, and most of them are of poor quality, so it is difficult for this variety to touch the high-end. Chinese pearl output accounts for 90% of the global output, but its output value is only 10%. In fact, it is not only pearl, but also many industries. In the early stage of development, the emphasis is on quantity and quality. This is a process from scratch to excellence.
Thirdly, the processing, finished product design and production, brand image packaging, and marketing promotion after pearl harvest are all soft power, but they are the highest value-added parts. China is also in the process of development from scratch, and at the beginning there is no time to take into account.
In fact, although the rate of high-quality nuclear-free fresh water pearls is low, because of the large output, they often produce high-quality pearls. Some round, large and high-quality pearls, especially bright white pearls and metallic odd-colored pearls, are absolutely comparable to the top pearls of any variety. Moreover, one of the advantages of freshwater pearls is that they are nuclear-free and have a thick bead layer. Generally speaking, they are "solid". This is incomparable to any sea pearl.
The three points mentioned above have largely become history. Just like the rapid development of Chinese economy, Chinese freshwater aquaculture industry has also been in rapid development. These shortcomings are improving day by day.
With the improvement of aquaculture technology, the quality of freshwater pearls is getting better and better, especially the nucleated freshwater aquaculture technology is becoming more and more mature. Freshwater pearls are also becoming more "nucleated". Single pearl mussels can produce large pearls comparable to Nanyang pearls, and multiple pearl mussels can produce small pearl comparable to Japanese Akoya pearls. On the premise of ensuring quality improvement, high yield can also be guaranteed. Chinese freshwater pearl has a bright future!
Freshwater pearl "nucleated" is actually in line with international standards. Because in addition to the traditional nuclear-free freshwater pearls, all cultured pearls are nucleated. In the era when we don't mind breast augmentation, hip augmentation and cosmetic surgery, it is not a big deal that there is a nucleus in the pearl. As long as it is big, round and bright, it is high quality. So in the future, nuclear-free freshwater pearls will be less and less, or even disappear completely.
The price advantage of freshwater pearl is always there, whether nuclear or not. If we insist on the principle of quality rather than variety, freshwater pearl will always be the best representative of cost performance.
The aesthetic standard of pearl and jade is a tradition that has lasted for thousands of years. Today, with so many varieties and quantities of pearls, and in the contemporary era of advocating diversified aesthetic tastes and paying attention to individuality, it is actually aesthetic fatigue for pearls to be round. You can have a look at the jewelry of the European royal family. Many of them are big water drop pearls. The steamed bun-shaped Mabei pearl is also becoming more and more popular, and the high-quality Mabei pearl has been in short supply.
So the question comes - there are a lot of nuclear-free fresh water pearls in the form of water drops and steamed buns, many of which are of very good quality, very cheap, and nuclear-free - again, why are they completely out of the way for consumers who are pursuing high quality?
This is also a question of aesthetic diversification and trend. We are waiting for the international trend to lead. However, the cheapest and best nuclear-free fresh water drops and steamed buns may not be able to wait. Once the nuclear-free breeding technology is mature and popular, the traditional nuclear-free pearls will really say good-bye. This alone will surely cause many people to miss the past.
I would like to remind you that those who like pearls can choose some good nuclear-free freshwater pearls while they are still available. They will be absolutely scarce in the future.
It is normal for us to accept new things in a process. The large nucleated freshwater pearl has now had a great impact on the Nanyang pearl market. Its competitiveness lies in the same quality and much lower price.
Of course, the color of freshwater pearls can't cover Nanyang pearls. The only color overlap is white, but neither the black nor the gold series.
Today, when diamonds can be synthesized, the color of pearls is not a big problem. Here we will mention the artificial optimization of pearls. The best technology in this field is mainly in the hands of the Japanese. I will talk more about Japanese pearls when I talk about them.
