Creating a Cultured Pearl: From Nature to You. Based on facts told to Alex Parfitt by Billy, an experienced Cygnet Bay seeder. Billy the seeder.
Pearl and Pinctada Maximus Shell A natural pearl is formed when the inside of an oyster shell is irritated by a foreign object such as a grain of sand or something similar. The oyster coats the irritant with a substance called nacre. Nacre is the shiny coating inside a pearl shell. A Pinctada Maximus shell is the oyster used to create a cultured pearl.
A Cultured Pearl A cultured pearl is formed when an artifical irritant is inserted into the shell. This is a very delicate process, that is both very labour intensive and very technical.
The First process. The first process involves collecting the Pinctada Maximus oysters. Some are collected from the ocean floor while some are grown in commercial farms. The inside of the oyster. The oysters to be seeded.
The Second Process - 1 The second process is the most complex and delicate. It involves opening a number of Pinctada Maximus shells and finding ones with a really beautiful lustre. Those oysters are killed and the tissue that produces nacre is removed and cut into about thirty pieces. It s then time to operate on other shells so they can produce pearls. This is what happens.
The Second Process - 2 The oyster shells are placed in large water tanks in the seeding shed and allowed to relax, so they will open. Once open a wedge is placed in the shell to keep it from closing. The shells are then taken to the seeder for the delicate procedure to begin. The seeder is a highly skilled person trained to perform delicate procedures on the pearl shells.
The Second Process - 3 An incision is made into the gonad and a small ball of Mississippi River Mussel shell (nucleus) and a piece of the nacre producing tissue is inserted. The tissue is inserted along with the nucleus because where the nucleus is inserted there is no naturally occurring nacre producing tissue. The tissue becomes part of the oyster and produces nacre over the nucleus to produce the first pearl for that shell.
Pictures of the Second Process Shells to be seeded with wedges placed. The holding tanks.
The Third Process -1 After the seeding process the oyster will be put in a panel and returned to the ocean floor face down for 3 weeks. The panels are then flipped over by divers every 3 days for 2-3 weeks to encourage the growth of a round sack to hopefully produce a round pearl. If the shells where suspended vertically at this stage they are likely to produce tear drop pearls.
The Third Process - 2 Once this process is complete the panels are then placed 2-3 metres below the water surface suspended on lines. That is where there is a good supply of food. The oysters filter feed and rely on the tide to get food. Every oyster is pulled up and cleaned once a month using a high pressure cleaner and a knife to get all the barnacles and seaweed off, so that the oyster can feed.
Pictures of the Third Process The nets (panels) in the seeding shed. The pressure cleaner used to clean the oysters.
Outside of the shell after being in the ocean for a month. The net of shells after pulling it out of sea.
The Fourth Process -1 After 2 years the oyster is pulled up and x-rayed on a boat to determine the size of the pearl. The pearl inside the shell is measured using the x-ray, and if the pearl is too small it is returned to the ocean for another 12 months.
The Fourth Process -2 Large pearls in a shell are taken back to the seeding shed and kept in tanks until they open. Once again the oysters will not open until they are relaxed and feel they are safe. This can take a day or two for most to open, then a wedge can be inserted. The few that don t open are returned to the ocean for the next harvest.
The Fifth Process -1 The seeders extract the pearl by cutting the gonad with a scalpel and then use an instrument with a small metal loop to remove the pearl. The seeder does this by squeezing each side of the pearl to pop it out.
The Fifth Process - 2 When the pearl is out the seeder compares the size of the pearl to that of a replacement nucleus, which is then placed where the pearl was removed from. If a 8 mm pearl was removed its replaced with a 8 mm nucleus that will hopefully become a 10 mm pearl in 2 years time.
Instrument used. Pearl meat.
The Fifth Process - 3 It is important that the new nucleus is the same size as the removed pearl because if the new nucleus is too small the stretched gonad will collapse and form an irregular shaped pearl. The goal is to produce as many perfect round pearls as possible.
Pictures of the Fifth Process A pearl being popped out of the gonad. Comparing the size of the pearl to that of the replacement nucleus. The replacement nucleus being placed in the gonad. The pearls after they are popped out.
The Fifth Process - 3 The oysters are then returned to the sea where they are again suspended vertically 2-3 metres below the surface and the monthly cleaning schedule continues, for another 2 years. This completes their second seeding cycle.
The Sixth Process - 1 Two years later the oysters are again x-rayed to determine the size of the pearl (as done previously) and the whole process is repeated. The pearl is removed and judging by the quality of the pearl the seeder decides whether to reseed the oyster again or kill it.
The Sixth Process - 2 Those shells that fail to produce quality pearls are still put to good use. No part of the shell goes to waste. The oyster meat is sold for the Asian food market. The shell is sold to be used for buttons, ornaments, piano keys and to be ground up and used in car paint to produce the pearl finish.
Pictures of the Sixth Process Left: the pearl meat. Right: the excess muscles. A shell to be used for making things.
The Final Process The oysters are reseeded a maximum of 4 times stretching over an 8 year period. Only 2% of shells make it to the fourth and final seeding.
The seeding stations. Me with a shell.
Five things to look for in a good pearl: Size the bigger the pearl the more sought after it is. Colour pearls can come in many different colours. They can be gold, pink, silver, black, cream or white. Lustre - the shinier and more reflective the pearl the more expensive.
Quality the less blemishes and imperfections the better. Shape round pearls are the most expensive, followed by tear drop and then keshi pearls (keshi pearls are irregular shaped and sometimes odd looking). Keshi pearls. Perfect round pearls.
Cygnet Bay Cygnet Bay is a family owned pearl farm. It is 200kms north of Broome on the Cape Leveque Road at the top of the Dampier Peninsular, in Western Australia. The Brown family have been operating the farm since 1946, making it the oldest family owned pearl farm in Australia. They hold the record for producing the world s largest cultured pearl, at 22.24 mm it still holds the title. The farm produces 80 000 pearls a year. Most of the pearls are exported overseas while some are sold in Australia.
Pictures of Cygnet Bay The sign at the turnoff to Cygnet Bay. The world s largest pearl. Some wholesale pearls for sale.
The End Brought to you by Alex Parfitt. A special thanks to the owners of Cygnet Bay, The Brown Family, and the seeders who showed us the pearl producing process. A huge thanks to Billy who explained everything and showed us how it is done.