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Lust for Tahitian Black Pearls
Oysters make the ultimate sacrifice
I pride myself on not being terribly lustful when it comes to material possessions and symbols of wealth, but one of my weaknesses are Tahitian black pearls. Perhaps it's because no two are alike? Or perhaps I marvel at the organic process of how the oyster turns a single grain of irritating sand into such a precious and beautiful keepsake (that we delight in stealing from them).
Of course, the black pearls sold today are cultivated. A nucleus bead made of river oyster shell is carefully placed inside the oyster's reproductive organs at the opportune moment and the nacre forms around it, providing a guide for the round shape. If the oyster rejects the nucleus, it makes a flat keshi pearl, highly prized by the Japanese market. And "black" is sort of a misnomer, as when placed under the light, these pearls' true color may be steel gray, blue, pink, green, purple, brown, gold, or any combination therein.
The most expensive black pearls, or the A grade, are perfectly round, smooth, and actually black with a rainbow cast. What I love and can afford are the slightly pear-shaped ones with small ridges called the baroques. Their beauty is in their imperfection: I respond to that.
Though the Philippines and Fiji are now also cultivating black pearls, they have yet to achieve the quality of the Tahitian ones. I visited a pearl farm in Fiji and, though they had exactly the same setup, it takes delicate and attentive care to produce the best pearls.
To understand why Tahitian black pearls are so expensive, it helps to appreciate the process of cultivating them. It takes several years for a pearl to mature after the nucleus is implanted in an oyster. During that time, the oyster has to be checked on every three months. It is no longer common practice to kill a working oyster when you extract the pearl. Rather, another nucleus roughly the same size as the extracted pearl is inserted into a healthy worker so it can start over and produce an even larger pearl. Oysters can be used multiple times before they are retired and, then, often eaten by pearl-farm workers.
Of course, the black pearls sold today are cultivated. A nucleus bead made of river oyster shell is carefully placed inside the oyster's reproductive organs at the opportune moment and the nacre forms around it, providing a guide for the round shape. If the oyster rejects the nucleus, it makes a flat keshi pearl, highly prized by the Japanese market. And "black" is sort of a misnomer, as when placed under the light, these pearls' true color may be steel gray, blue, pink, green, purple, brown, gold, or any combination therein.
The most expensive black pearls, or the A grade, are perfectly round, smooth, and actually black with a rainbow cast. What I love and can afford are the slightly pear-shaped ones with small ridges called the baroques. Their beauty is in their imperfection: I respond to that.
Though the Philippines and Fiji are now also cultivating black pearls, they have yet to achieve the quality of the Tahitian ones. I visited a pearl farm in Fiji and, though they had exactly the same setup, it takes delicate and attentive care to produce the best pearls.
To understand why Tahitian black pearls are so expensive, it helps to appreciate the process of cultivating them. It takes several years for a pearl to mature after the nucleus is implanted in an oyster. During that time, the oyster has to be checked on every three months. It is no longer common practice to kill a working oyster when you extract the pearl. Rather, another nucleus roughly the same size as the extracted pearl is inserted into a healthy worker so it can start over and produce an even larger pearl. Oysters can be used multiple times before they are retired and, then, often eaten by pearl-farm workers.
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