How long time for a pearl of size....

[jerin]

Hi all!

I have a question regarding the time it takes for a pearl to grow a certain size from tissue nucleation to harvest.

This question goes to Jeremy, Zeide or any other of our Online-sellers of freshwater pearls.

How many years will it take to grow a pearl of

6 mm
7 mm
8 mm
9 mm
10 mm and larger.


As the temperature of the water, the hibernating time, nutrition factors and so on have a whole deal to do with growth time in relation to size, there still must be some timetable for each size and a minimum amount of time to be able to harvest fine pearls of a certain size.

I would appreciate to get some facts and actual growing times, the chinese pearl farmers should be able to answer this question to our experts and I think this would be certainly knowledge that would be welcomed by our members.

Thanks

 

[MABE BRAZIL]

Hi all,
using the Jerin question, and about bead nucleated pearl?

Ricardo

 

[Valeria101]

Just in case - have you seen THIS thread?

 

[MABE BRAZIL]

Thanks for remember me Valeria, I will read again that thread and if persist any doubt I write again.

Ricardo

 

[jshepherd]

With freshwater pearls this question cannot be answered definitively on a simple scale of time and size. There are too many mitigating factors that determine the size of the pearl. The growth rate can be anywhere from about 1mm per year, up to 4-5mm per year. The location of the farm, the oxygenation of the water, the skill of the technicians, pollution factors, etc.
I would say after 2 years the average size would be around 5mm under most conditions. After 3-3.5 years the crop will be in the 7-8mm average range, which is the most commonly harvested size. The farms focusing on the larger sizes culture for 4-7 years.

The size of the akoya pearl is primarily determined by the size of the nucleus. The most commonly used size today is 1.9-2.1bu, which produces pearls in the 7-8mm range. The nacre deposition can be up to .5mm per year in China, and slightly less in most of Japan. The average culture time for both (today) is 9-12 months. The chalky, thin skin akoya may have only been in the host for 3-4 months, however.

Hopefully this is starting to change. Our farm, Xuwen Pearl Paradise Ltd., purchased seeded oysters last summer. My friend and partner has told me that other farms are also following suit. Basically what this means is that we purchased oysters (500,000 pieces) from another farmer that intended to harvest early (after only 6 months). The farmer would have harvested inadequate pearls, but would still have made a return on his investment. By lengthening the culture time and harvesting this winter, we should have average nacre deposition of .5-.7 on either side. So far we have only lost about 15% of the animals as well, so it does look promising.

 

[jshepherd]

This is an anwer to the same question received from a friend of mine in Zhuji.

the question's answer is following, normally one batch 3.5 yrs old mother of pearls, we can collect all about 7mm pearls, but the average size is amore than 6mm. 5.5 yrs(half year is before the planted) old shell can get mostly under 9mm, and some 10mm,above 8.5 is not too much, and 7yrs old shell you can get normally size 9mm, and some bigger size too. but the luster and the shape also depend on the years too, some 5 years shell, the size is not too big, but luster is perfect. and the size also depend on the cultures farm, in my family's, the pearl in Hunan province grow faster than in Zhejiang, but luster and shape is a little lower.