Eric Yen on pearl prices, Chinese influencers buying in bulk and why intense purple freshwater pearls are getting hard to find.
Rapaport's look at four gem-market trends includes the jump in cultured pearl prices. Eric Yen explains that finding the goods isn't the hard part; paying the right price is. Before the pandemic, Chinese farmers sold freshwater pearls by the kilo to Hong Kong firms. Now social media influencers buy individual pearls in bulk and sell straight to customers in mainland China, which makes it hard for wholesalers to meet US price expectations. He warns that sellers who don't keep up with rising prices could push small independent stores out of business.
The article also notes how scarce intense purple freshwater pearls have become. Only a few growers have the mussels to produce them, and Yen's has sold them.
Summary by Yen’s Jewelry. The full article is published by Rapaport.
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