South Seas pearls mostly unaffected by tsunami

Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA, JCK Senior Editor -- JCK Online, January 12, 2005

Reports that the tsunami has affected South Seas pearl farms in the Indian Ocean still has not yet been confirmed by the major dealers in Hong Kong and Indonesia.

According to Jack Lynch of Sea Hunt Pearls, San Francisco, who is currently in Hong Kong, the people who should know say that South Seas pearl farms have not been damaged by the Tsunami.

"I Just spoke to Michael Chan from the Hong Kong office of Concorde Pearls," says Lynch. Concorde is out of Kobe Japan and runs the largest auctions of Indonesian South Seas pearls. Chan told Lynch that the Indonesian farms were not affected. "The Tsunami hit to the northwest side of Indonesia and the Indonesian farms are on the East side. If the Tsunami would have struck further south, there might have been damage."

Chan also spoke with the Paspaley office and to his colleagues in the Philippines and everyone all reported no damage to their farms.