Introducing the acaia Pearl Black: the black version of the white Pearl
The black Pearl’s new display is sharper than the display on the white Pearl, and the contrast between the digits and the black surface make the scale easier to read in bright light. This is not a copy of the black Kickstarter scale. To read the differences between the Kickstarter scale and the current Pearl, please review our blog post on the subject.
This scale is available online now at $150USD for US customers. We will be releasing it soon to our US resellers and at the request of our global partners. We will also have a limited stock for sale at our booth #18041 at #SCAA2015 in April.
You might have already noticed that the price of the black version is $20USD greater than the white version. The short answer to the question of why the retail price is higher for a different color is that it costs more to manufacture.
But it's just a different color paint, right? How is that more expensive?
Two changes had to be made in conjunction to make the black color possible. As you know, the outer shell of the pearl is clear, with a coating applied to the inside. The LED display then shines through that coating to show the scale reading.
White is a color conducive to this type of translucency. Black is not. The process used to coat the shell of the scale with a black color is a bit like how a partially silvered (two-way) mirror is made. The coating allows light to pass through it from the inside, but light from the outside is absorbed or reflected. That was change one.
Change two was the use of a brighter (and more costly) LED display. Since the coating only lets part of the light through it, more light has to be produced to have the same perceived brightness.
We're extremely proud of how good the black Pearl looks — it was not easy to pull off — and we hope that you think it's as beautiful as we do.