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Poemotu the birth of a Tahitian pearl

Tahiti culture

The Tahitian Cultured Pearl comes from the Pinctada Margaritifera pearl oyster; this bivalve, responsible for the Jewel that is the Tahitian Cultured Pearl, releases a great amount of gametes into the water, where fertilisation occurs, giving rise to larvae.

These are harvested while they are suspended in the waters of Polynesian lagoons. Indeed, three weeks after birth, a tiny portion of these larvae manage to attach themselves to supports using a byssus (a type of holdfast foot referred to as a beard for bivalves intended for consumption). The pearl farmer thus collects his spat; 18 months have passed since fertilisation. The pearl oysters are then reared for approximately 12 months until they reach a size of 10 centimetres in diameter.

Tahiti Pearl Guide

The Pearl is finally ready for harvest

It is therefore only after a period of three years that the graft, which might lead to the formation of the Pearl, takes place; The grafter inserts into the gonad (pearl pocket) of the recipient oyster an aragonite nucleus (a compression of calcium carbonate, the main component of nacre) as well as a graft (a piece of epithelial mantle from a donor oyster); this initiates a process of nacre secretion surrounding the aragonite nucleus, lasting an average of 18 months. If the recipient oyster has accepted the graft, the Pearl is finally ready for harvest.

Tahitian black pearls, a jewel of the islands
Ethical sustainable jewellery
Born to be a star
bijoux perles de tahiti
tahitian pearls colors
The Tahitian Cultured Pearl
Made in Tahiti
The Birth of the Pearl Oyster

A small percentage of these Pearls will provide enough satisfaction to the grafter for him to proceed with a re-grafting and embark on another formation process lasting 18 to 24 months, during which the initial nucleus will be the size of the previously harvested pearl.
Between the birth of the pearl oyster in its larval state and that of the Tahitian cultured pearl, at least four years of care and attention will have passed, during which mankind will have guided nature, enabling it to bring forth one of the most precious jewels there is, the Tahitian cultured Pearl, also known as the tear of the gods.