held at $4.50 base up to five grains costs $6.00 above that size, and at ten grains will bring $8.00 and over.
The
yield of fine white pearls in sizes over ten grains is not large and as
there has been and is a steady demand for large pearls for the centres
of necklaces, sizes from ten to fifteen grains bring from eight to
eleven dollars mtdtiple when matched. Egg and pear-shaped pearls of the
same grade, from five grains down, are worth twenty-five to thirty per
cent, less than round pearls; between five and ten grains ten to
fifteen per cent, less, and as they near fifteen grains and over the
pear-shape become of equal value with the round.
Imperfections
which can be hidden by the setting decrease the price twenty to thirty
per cent., and there is about the same difference between button and
round pearls, according to the size of the plane. The difference is
still greater in the larger sizes. A yellow color reduces the value in
the market from fifteen to fifty per cent, according to the depth and
quality of the tint. The so-called blue pearls, which are of a dark
leaden white, are worth
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