Tahitian pearl geography

[nnguye20]

This is something I always want to know, but so far I haven't found any online information about it. I noticed that sometimes vendors value tahitian pearls from certain places as more valuable/ higher quality? So are tahitian pearls from certain places (like Gambier, Fiji or Cook Islands) different in terms of quality (luster, shape, nacre, price, etc.)? Also, when someone talk about quality tahitian pearls most of the time they are talking about those from the French Polynesia area, but what about those from other countries, like India and Vietnam? I have Indian friends who said that India has black pearl farms there, and in Vietnam they also have pearl farms that grow Pinctada Margaritifera mollusks. What are your opinions or experience with pearls from those countries?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

"Tahitian pearls" refers to pearls from French Polynesia, only. The Gambier Islands/Rikitea tend to produce pearls that are smaller but higher in luster and color. I've read that they leave the pearls in the water longer. Maybe the waters are also cooler there? If you look at the map you'll see the Gambier Islands are farther from the equator than the rest of FP.

Cook Island pearls are called "Cook Island pearls". Until last summer pearls from FP had to have a minimum nacre thickness of 0.8mm to be allowed to be exported; Cook Islands did not have this restriction, and could be exported with thinner nacre. But now pearls from FP have no minimum nacre thickness requirement for export, either.

Pearls from Fiji are also not called Tahitian pearls-- they are "Fijian pearls". The mollusk used for culturing in Fiji is a subtype, Pinctada margaritifera typica, which has an orange lip instead of the black lip found commonly in FP. When the technicians graft that color of mantle tissue with the bead implant, they are able to obtain the colors that make Fijian pearls so distinctive-- the chocolates, bronzes etc.

I have no knowledge of Pinctada margaritifera pearls from India or other countries; Strack may have something about it in her book. I'll look later.

Wikipedia has this:

"Range

"Pinctada margaritifera occupies a wide range throughout the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Sudan, Papua New Guinea, Australia, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Indonesia, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Southwestern part of the Indian Ocean, Japan and the Pacific Ocean, and various locations on the coast of India."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinctada_margaritifera

 

[Pearling Technologies]

There are some in India, I have a few clients interested in culturing pearls in their local species.