In Reply to: Cultured, natural, sea/ fresh water posted by Tina G on Friday, 11. January 2008 at 08:11 Bali Time:
This is a total myth. There is NO freshwater pearl industry in Lombok. ALL freshwater pearls for sale in Indonesia come from China. They are imported into Lombok, or into Surabaya and then to Lombok.
There is a small sea water pearl industry in Lombok, but most of what is for sale by street vendors is very poor quality. Large glass beads inside with thin nacre. Most are an uneven yellowish colour.