One Pearl In A Million

Sept. 22, 2011 - PRLog -- Created in a hatchery-bred gold-lipped Pinctada maxima oyster from Jewelmer’s pearl farm in Palawan, Philippines, this rare specimen of a gem is a fabulous symbol of the pearl farmer’s dedication to his craft as well as nature’s rich bounty.

The entire process pearl production process takes 323 individual steps and four to five years to complete. Within this life cycle, the pearl farmer must be attentive to every nuance, every current, tide, and change of temperature to preserve the health of the delicate gold-lipped Pinctada maxima oyster as it grows a pearl in its proverbial womb.

A cultured pearl is made up of several coatings of nacre that form around a nucleus, which was originally inserted into the pearl by a master technician. Along with the round nucleus, a piece of the mantle from a donor oyster of the chosen color is inserted, to come up with the desired shade. The nucleated oyster is then given much care and attention, kept in clean and undisturbed surroundings for another two to three years, before it can yield its precious creation.

Not all pearls are formed equal, however. The pearl’s nacre is composed of aragonite crystals bound together by a protein called conchiolin, and the particular arrangement of these crystals refracts light in different ways, giving a pearl its unearthly glow, that complex value factor known as its luster.

Aside from that extraordinary color, the crystals in Philippine golden South Sea pearls are serendipitously arranged to produce a luster unlike any other. The golden pearls produced by Jewelmer today are the result of some 10 years of experimentation in the breeding process, perfected by the company’s technicians and marine biologists.

“It’s a natural process that can’t be hurried—you wait for five years to see the result of a decision that you pray wasn’t wrong!” said Jewelmer Assistant Managing Director Pierre Fallourd.

South Sea pearls are the largest of pearl varieties and averages at 12mm. “To have a large, almost perfect 18+mm pearl of this quality is truly a miracle,” said Fallourd. “Imagine the conditions that came together in just the right way to create such a pearl,” he said. “If I would have to say, the odds would be about 1 in a million!”