Chinese pearls high in demand in Hyderabad markets

HYDERABAD - Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh is often referred as the ‘City of Pearls’ since it boasts of having the largest pearl market in the country.

Of late, Chinese pearls are dominating the city’s trade.

These pearls are considered to be more affordable, a fact that has been acknowledged by both big players and the retail traders.

So much so, these Chinese precious stones have been able to satiate the needs of the wholesale and retail traders as well as the buyers from various parts of country.

Hyderabad’s pearl legacy is as old as the city itself. The Nizams, who ruled the city, were great patrons of the gem and this, in turn, encouraged the merchants to procure the best pearls from Basra, Tahiti and some Gulf countries.

Pearl business was hit due to the economic slowdown and the decline in tourists, attributed to the political disturbance in the state.

“We import pearls from China. When it comes to us we select the variety and quality and we distribute it in the wholesale market and sell to the customers also. Tourists also like these pearls. Business is running good and public demand is also there for these pearls and we also earn good profits and they also earn profit. Earlier Basra pearls were famous, which are not now manufactured,” said Mohammad Laid Ali, a distributor of pearls.

He also noted that China offers a wide variety of pearls in size ranging between .5 mm and 12 mm in different shapes and colours such as white, pink, light pink and peach.

“If we go by the quality, there is a wide range of good quality. Secondly, if we talk about the variety then there is oval type; button shape, which is flat and one is round shape. These pearls are available in different sizes,” added Laiq Ali.

All said and done, with gold prices touching the sky, the pearl traders can expect a better times to last for a longer duration here. By Ranjeet Jadhav (ANI)