The South Pacific pearl, known also as the Australian pearl, comes from the mollusk Pinctada Maxima and is cultivated throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans, mainly in Australia, on the southern coast of China, but also in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar.
This oyster grows up to 30 centimeters in diameter and can reach a weight of 5.5 kg. The Pinctada Maxima is a very delicate animal. For protection it lives in deep water (up to 100 m) and its cultivation is marked by a high percentage of mortality, which even reaches 80% of the specimens.
This magnificent bivalve is characterized by a silver or golden lips, and it is this that determines the color of the pearl which will be produced.
Currently the production of these beads is about 800,000 per year, and wild oysters account for about 70% of production
They are oysters that permit only one nucleation at a time i.e. only one nucleus is inserted. The oyster is nucleated when its growth reaches half of its size, approximately 12 to 17 cm, or around 24 months. The growth is 2 mm per year.
Although it is possible to introduce a single nucleus at a time, this oyster can be nucleated 2-3 times further in the course of several years.
The South Pacific pearls are among the largest cultivated in the whole world. Their average size is 13 mm, with a diameter range from 9 to 20 mm. There are several factors that contribute to the attainment of such large diameters: the size of the Pinctada Maxima oyster the size of the nucleus that is inserted in the process of nucleation the lapse of time, the pearls are left in the oysters for several years the area of production, i.e. the environment in which the oysters are grown.
The gonads or reproductive glands of Pinctada Maxima oysters are much larger than the gonads of Akoya oysters, and for this reason the Pinctada Maxima is able to secrete nacre around the nucleus much more rapidly than the Akoya oysters, specially in warm waters.
The waters of the South Pacific Seas are generally very clean and rich in plankton, favorite food of Pinctada Maxima and this favors the production of nacre.
They have a delicate range of colors, that varies from white, silver and gold. The most appreciated are precisely the golden pearls, commercially defined as Gold Pearls.
On the other hand, the shapes can be round and semi-round (10-30%), button- and drop-like (40-60%), baroque and semi-baroque (20-40%).
As it can be inferred from the above-described percentages, only a small percentage of the Australian pearls have a well-rounded shape and this does not make strange that they are valued consequently.
The composition of a necklace with rounded shape and homogeneous pearls is in fact a very long work, complicated to do.
Valued by collectors and professionals, South Sea pearls are known and sought after especially for the generous dimensions and refined colors.
For you, Genisi Pearls has carefully selected and chosen at their places of origin the most beautiful pearls in order to be able to create marvelous jewelry that can satisfy every request and requirement.
L.R.
Similar Posts
Free search
