ATP - General Discussion, page-70

Total number of pearls for sale is 132174, average momme per pearl 0.402 (0.423 exc the last three bulk lots), total mommes 53106. The latter is just under double that of the September auction, while mommes per pearl (exc the last three bulk lots) is 15% higher. Looking at the distribution of mommes per pearl, in September, 0.4% of total mommes (M) were over 0.6M/pearl; 2.7% were over 0.5M (but less than 0.6M); 38.1% were over 0.4M (but less than 0.5M); 42.6% were over 0.3M; and 16.2% were under 0.3M. Respective figures for the November auction (exc the bulk lots) are 3.4%, 12.8%, 70.5%, 3.4%, 10.0%. So the higher average M/pearl compared with September is evident in 13pp more mommes accounted for by pearls over 0.5M/pearl, 32pp more mommes accounted for by pearls over 0.4M/pearl, and about 45pp fewer mommes accounted for by lower quality pearls, especially in the 0.3-0.4M range. A table would set these numbers out more easily, but I can’t format tables! I imagine there is a non-linear relationship between pearl quality and value; small increases in quality can result in large increases in value as those pearls become scarcer. I appreciate mommes is only one of several indicators of pearl value, but I would hope that these figures translate into higher values per pearl at the top end, than seen in September. Finally, I’ve also looked at the proportion of pearls accounted for in the A and B classifications. Both of these proportions are lower than in September, so that might negate the uplift to values from higher mommes/pearl.