Comments for What is the basis for the unit "chow" for pearls?

Chow Talk
by: Anonymous

Ciao Rane (pronounced chow ;-)

thank you for writing in.

Great to hear from the engineering community. Who would have ever thought that pearling and engineering would cross disciplines. It's a Good question. I'm not sure how to go about answering this question as I'm quite weak in the engineering department, and the chow area is a complex area, in fact, a lot more complex that the simplicity of its name would suggest.

If there's anyone out there who can talk pearl chow please pitch in...

In general, in the same way, as the seeds of the carob tree determined the carat as a unit of weight so the reddish-black seeds of the Indian RATI was a measurement for pearls. Pearls were weighed in RATI which was then converted into CHOW which were then converted to GRAINS. 60 chows =36 grains.

To complicate matters even further, 1 BAHRAIN CHOW equalled 4 BASRA CHOWS which were the same as 5 POONAH CHOWS, the latter chow being the ONLY measurement valid in Bombay, perhaps BOMBAY'S strict reliance on the Poonah Chow unit of measurement may have had something to do with the discrepancy you pointed out to us.

best wishes,

Yvonne Hammouda-Eyre

Help Us Save the Big Cats from Extinction, see our Big Cat Fundraising page here...

Stay up to date with all the latest Antique, Premier and Pearl Jewelry News,
and subscribe to our newsletter....

Resources:

Nadelhoffer, H., Cartier Chronicle Books Llc, (Chapter Nine).

Click here to add your own comments

Return to What is the basis for the unit "chow" for pearls?.

Return to Pearl Help.