2008 Japanese Akoya Pearl Crop

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2008 Japanese Akoya Pearl Crop



From December until the present auctions for "Koshimono" hamaage have been taking place in Japan. Koshimono represents the crop of oysters that have been allowed to pass two summers in the water due to favorable water and climate conditions. These pearls will usually have better nacre coating and luster than those oysters left in the water for only one summer. This years crop is much better in quality than many of the previous years which means there will be more finer quality pearls available this year.
One unforseen result of the favorable growing conditions is that the pearls have grown larger than originally designed. For example, a nucleus implanted in an oyster to grow 7-7.5 MM pearls has now produced 7.5-8 MM pearls instead. Since pearls are sold in auction by weight, most of the cultivators try to grow larger size pearls which means that there will be more of the larger sizes and fewer smaller sizes available.
We are going to Japan in February for our first buying trip of the year and we will give a more comprehensive report at that time.