The Pearl Comminnion of CIBJO has released its Special Report which will form the basis for discussion within the Pearl sector at the forthcoming 2017 CIBJO Congress to be held in Bangkok on November 5. The report, the seventh such pre-Congress document, highlights a worrying trend that is largely evident in the social media, whereby marketers are implying and sometimes stating directly that cultured pearls are natural.

President of the Commission, Kenneth Scarratt, who prepared the report, writes that deceptive practices such as omitting to use the word "cultured" where relevant, or even sometimes incorrectly describing coloured freshwater pearls as "natural pearls" are seen on social media, with the former practice even being seen in some hard copy publications.

Scarratt adds, “When such unprofessional marketing tactics are challenged, the individuals admit that what they are referring to is the 'natural colour' of these cultured pearls, rather than their growth origin.”

He concludes, “The maxim seems to be 'find and use the best wording that sells the product' and pay little attention to whether or not such statements are deceptive."

Other than this, due to the detailed work carried out in earlier years, there are only some minor formatting changes, edits and additions being carried out to the CIBJO Pearl Blue Book, which will be taken up for discussion at the Congress, Scarratt notes. Other highlights of the agenda include an explanation of the Pearl Standard of the Japan Pearl Promotion Society, to be delivered by Pearl Commission Vice President Shigeru Akamatsu; a presentation on the educational programme “Pearls as One” by Jeremy Shepherd; and a presentation by Justin Hunter on the Fiji Pearl Development Plan.

The Pearl Commission Special Report also describes a new initiative taken by the government of Bahrain to grant limited pearl fishing licenses to underwater divers, and discusses a pink cultured pearl being produced in Japan that uses a coral bead as a substrate for nacre growth.