7101.21.00.00 - Unworked 🖩

This HTS category, 7101.21.00.00, specifically covers cultured pearls that have not undergone any further processing beyond their initial formation and harvesting. This includes pearls that have been cleaned, sorted by size, or graded for quality, but they must not be strung together, mounted into jewelry, or set into any finished articles. The "unworked" designation is critical, signifying that the pearls are in their raw or natural state as harvested from their host.

This classification is distinct from its sibling category, 7101.22, which covers "worked" cultured pearls. Worked pearls would typically include those that have been drilled, shaped, polished, or otherwise modified from their natural form, as well as those already strung, mounted, or set. Therefore, the key differentiator lies in the degree of post-harvest processing; 7101.21.00.00 applies only to those cultured pearls that remain in their original, unprocessed state.

As this is a leaf node in the HTS classification, there are no further subcategories within 7101.21.00.00. All cultured pearls meeting the criteria of being unworked fall directly under this specific code. Examples include loose, individual cultured pearls sorted by size and quality but not drilled, or temporarily strung only for the purpose of ease of transportation rather than for display or sale as a finished product.