Tahitian pearls are Hong Kong jeweler's best-selling pearls on Chinese Mainland

(Tahitipresse) - Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Co. Ltd. says that Tahitian cultured pearls, due totheir exotic beauty and strong promotion by Perles de Tahiti, have become the company's best-selling pearls onthe Chinese Mainland.

Tahitian pearls are more price-competitive and profit from a color uniqueness that white South Sea pearls cannotcompete with, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Co. Executive Director Timothy Cheng told Jewellery News Asia (JNA)for its Internet website.

Cheng said Chinese Mainland consumers often cannot differentiate white South Sea pearls from white Chinesefreshwater pearls. Another factor favoring Tahitian pearls, he said, is that the Papeete-based trade association

Perles de Tahiti is more active in China than other pearl associations.Cheng's company launched the Perfect Pearl Premium Collection in China two years ago, using Tahitian culturedpearls ranging in size from 8mm to 11mm to make up a majority of the collection. Those Tahitian pearls have aretail value of US$375 to $500, he told JNA.

"The collection uses only high-quality pearls," Cheng said. "Response has been enthusiastic, resulting in anincrease in its share of the company's total South Sea pearl jewelry sales from 50% at launch to 80% today."