Market Report With Jennifer

Already high cultured pearl prices have now hit unheard-of price points, say dealers. Plus, a Chinese influencer inspired a frenzy for Tahitian pearls at the recently held Hong Kong trade fair that emptied cases within days and drove the buyout of a high-profile Tahitian pearl auction.

Since my early days as a journalist, I’ve loved cultured pearls. Something about them spoke to me, including their rich colors and exotic overtones (such as peacock in Tahitians), their luster, and their variety of shapes. Baroque or circle shapes were easy to afford and that’s how I started collecting: I bought what I thought was pretty and could afford. Today, both my personal acquisitions and my taste for more exotic types have grown—so much so I was tapped by the board of directors of the Cultured Pearl Association of America to take this role of both writing about cultured...

From the December 2020 Issue of #thisispearl digital magazine For 63 years, the CPAA has been championing the stunning, exotic, and often misunderstood pearl and the people behind the product. During that time, the association has implemented various initiatives, including Pearls As One (PAO) education and the International Pearl Design Competition, to better promote the pearl and appreciation for it. Now CPAA brings you one more: #thisispearl, a bimonthly digital magazine. Jennifer Heebner, executive director of CPAA and editorial director of JenniferHeebner.com #thisispearl is the CPAA’s custom hashtag developed three years ago upon my arrival at the association. Its purpose? To...

New York City. March 6, 2020. It was around February 2003, at one of the smaller Tucson gem shows, when Eric Braunwart of Columbia Gem House first saw pearls from the Sea of Cortez.