Jeweller - May 2022

Post Pandemic Pearls | PEARL FEATURE
L to R: Atlas Pearls - An overhead view of an Atlas Pearls farm located in beautiful East Java; Ikecho necklace; Autore Pearls.
The project was dubbed PearlBone.
The collaboration by the University of Western Australia
and biotech business Marine Biomedical aims to develop
PearlBone using nacre - which is abundant in the region - as
a suitable alternative for patients needing bone grafting and
reconstructive surgery.
Minghao Zheng is Professor of Orthopaedic Research at the
UWA and is the co-inventor of the PearlBone project. He says
momentum behind the project is continuing to build.
“It’s a very exciting time for the project, we’ve recently been
awarded government support at both the Federal and State
level to establish a medical facilitiy in the Kimberely region to
manufacture PearlBone product,” he says.
“It’s a project that continues to have a very wide scope in
terms of application, the most common application will be
treating bone traumas which occur as a result of things like
car accidents.
“We’re also looking at applications in terms of dentistry, which
would mostly be fillings.
“PearlBone really has the potential to completely change the
face of the pearl farming industry in Australia forever.
“It’s completely reshaping the purposes of farming and what
can be achieved with the product. If the project is successful
it may lead to an increase in depmand which in turn leads to
more farms.
“That leads to a bigger industry with more and more
people being hired from local communities, boosting local
communities, which is great.”
Australia: Technological advance
Cygnet Bay Farms operates out of both Western Australia and
New South Wales and owner James Brown said there were a
lot of lessons to be learned exiting the pandemic.
“The biggest takeaway from the pandemic and everything
we’ve been through over the last two years I believe has been
the importance of tracking and tracing,” he says.
“We’d all heard of QR codes before the pandemic but did we
really utilise them, or understand how they work and what
they’re capable of? Learning how these sorts of technologies
can be used in the pearl industry is crucial to success.
“The restrictions on travel between borders really showed how
fragile of an industry it can be and how susceptible we are to
disaster. Thankfully we don’t need to rely on flying technicians
in from overseas but I know that’s one thing which really
troubled a lot of Australian pearl producers.
“Purchasing pearls continues to be a very emotive purchase
for consumers and using emerging technologies to
STATISTICS
Pearls in Numbers
7500
estimated age of
the oldest pearl
known to
researchers,
which was
discovered in
the UAE
100 million
estimated value
of the world’s
most expensive
pearl, found by a
fisherman in the
Phillipines
216
pearls are found on
the Susa necklace,
the world’s oldest
piece of pearl
jewellery
1
in every 10,000
wild oysters
contain pearls
6 kilograms
weight of
the legendary
Pearl of Allah
demonstrate to consumers that pearls are being produced
in an environmentally friendly way, by organisations that are
aware of the importance of something like climate change,
can go a long way towards allevating any stress or concerns
that a customer may have, and as a result keep those emotive
purchases viable.”
India: Safety comes first
India was one of the country’s hardest hit by the COVID
pandemic, recording the second highest number of confirmed
cases in the world – trailing only the the US. More than
500,000 people lost their lives.
Moksh Jewellery is based in Mumbai and represents more
than 50 years of family legacy and tradition creating high
fashion designs with an undertone of tradition.
Founder and owner Milan Tanvir Chokshi began the business
in 2005 and says that the pandemic was a challenge unlike any
other he had experienced before, and that it changed the way
pearls would be used in designs across the years to come.
“The biggest challenge for us was ensuring the health and
safety of our artisans,” he says.
“A business has to be geared up for any economic volatility, so
that wasn’t really as concerning for us. But an unprecedented
halt to life such as the one we witnessed is something that we
were the least prepared for.
“However with the support of the local government in Mumbai,
we were able to get the permissions to operate our export
business and this kept everything going. At a restricted pace
but it continued all the same.
“Pearls have become more and more visibe in jewellery over
the last few years and I think it’s possibly because they are
comfortable to wear and fit easily into a casual or luxury
mode. Comfort has been key for everyone, particularly while
they were stuck at home over the past couple of years.”
Affect on European pearl retailing
While pearls aren’t farmed in the UK they remain a staple of
high end fashion in cities such as London.
Yoko London was founded in the early 1970s and has three
generations of family business experienced working with 13
different pearl farms around the world, breaching markets
right across Europe.
Yoko London CEO Michael Hakimian said that international
retailers faced similar challenges to Australia’s homegrown
producers and distributers. Restrictions on travel were just
one of many challenges created by the pandemic.
“People had limited opportunities to shop for jewellery in
person,” Hakimian says.
32 | May 2022