Although many people and even experts still believe that the Japanese Akoya pearls are much finer than the Chinese ones, you must know that this thing is not valid anymore. Luckily, the pearl industry has completely changed over the past few years. Now, everyone should be aware of the fact that these types of pearls are actually identical. Lately, the Japanese have lost an important market share especially because the Chinese are forestalling this industry segment. And this is mainly due to the fact that the cost of labor and production is much higher in Japan than in China.    [ Read More ]