The Tahitian pearl, or black pearl, is an organic gem formed from the black lip oyster or Pinctada margaritifera-cumingi.[1]
The oyster and pearl is indigenous to the pure blue lagoons of French Polynesia. It would take opening thousands of oysters just to find an all-natural Tahitian pearl without the know-how. This gives the Tahitian pearl its mystique of being one of nature’s rarest of gems.
The culturing process involves an expert grafter who inserts a bead made of a mollusk shell found in Mississippi into the pearl bag (the ovaries) of the mature oyster. It takes two years for an oyster to become mature enough to start producing pearls. Also, inserted with the bead, is a piece of tissue from another oyster which provides a way to manipulate the colors of the pearls that are being produced. This also provides stem cells to ensure that the oyster produces a nacre around the nucleus. The materials used in the process are all organic in order to decrease the likelihood that the oyster rejects the nucleus.[1] The shell is sanded and rounded to for the bead so that the pearls produced take a rounder shape. The whole process takes place in a rapid amount of time because oysters cannot survive very long out of water.[2] The cultured Tahitian pearl comes in various shapes, sizes, and colors. The different shapes include: round, semi-round, button, circle, oval, teardrop, semi-baroque, and baroque.[3] Because of their darker hues, Tahitian pearls are commonly known as black pearls. However, Tahitian pearls have the ability to contain various undertones and overtones of green, pink, blue, silver, and yellow. You can sometimes see all or any combination of these colors in a cultured Tahitian pearl. Due to the variety of shapes and colors of the Tahitian pearl, it has been known to fit nicely in any jewelry setting.[4] The versatility, brilliant mixture of color, and mysterious dark nature make it a prized possession to celebrities and royalty alike.
The Tahitian pearl is French Polynesia’s largest export, making up over 55% of the country's annual export.[2] The cultured Tahitian pearl farms are located in the blue lagoons of the Tuamotu-Gambier Archipelago, which is one of the five archipelagos that make up French Polynesia. Tahiti is the main archipelago.[5]