In Reply to: I am so gullible! posted by Kiwi Carol on Saturday, 10. February 2007 at 20:38 Bali Time:
Actually 90,000 isnt bad. You could easily pay $50 - $100 back home for the same thing, so it was still a bargain. Don't forget I was quoting the wholesale price, and often the sellers have to pay a bit more than wholesale.
As to where they came from - well nothing like a story to seal a deal :). To tell you the truth, what I found was that most of the locals actually don't know where the pearls come from - including in Lombok. They do grow some sea pearls in Lombok, but they are mostly for export. I've seen some available for sale in Lombok, and compared to Broome pearls they are not that good (nacra is thin, made to look large by having large glass balls inside, etc.)
But freshwater pearls - China has the market on these. Most of the world's freshwater pearls are grown in China (there are some grown elsewhere, but the Indonesian freshwaters are definately Chinese).
Enjoy your pearls, if you look after them they will last a long time.