[jshepherd]

Supply of large Tahitian pearls has been dropping significantly over recent years. While large, black round 15mm and above were once not such a rarity, pearls 14mm and over are becoming increasingly scarce. Pearls larger than 14mm now only account for 5 to 7 percent of total French Polynesian output, according to a report in Jewelry News Asia.

Large Tahitian pearls are almost exclusively the product of what is referred to as 2nd graft, or 2nd generation pearls. These pearls are not the first produced, they are a result of re-seeding the existing pearl sac after harvest. When a large round is harvested, a nucleus can be immediately inserted into the existing pearl sac without the addition of grafting tissue.

The reason for the dramatic drop in production is quite simple. Farmers are not producing 2nd generation pearls. From the outside it would appear as though production is commonsense. But with it grinding to a halt, it is clear that benefits do not always outweigh the risks.

Producing a 2nd generation Tahitian pearl is extremely difficult. First, a large shell of at least 12cm must be used to accommodate the large nucleus. Even with this shell selection, mortality rates are double that of 1st generation. Coupled with a high mortality rate, nucleus rejection is as high as 50%. In order to combat this rejection ratio, shells are laid flat in baskets instead of horizontally in net panels, or on line systems. They then must be turned every month and a half to balance the nacre growth, increasing the workload tremendously.

In spite the difficulties, pearls are produced. But even after all of this additional work, the results are often less than appealing. 2nd generation Tahitian pearls are often heavily spotted, and rarely have the luster of their 1st generation counterparts. Farmers are simply not able to sell production for reasonable profit at current market pricing.

Over the next few years it is clear that large Tahitian pearls will grow even more scarce. If market pricing corrects itself, farmers may take more of a chance with 2nd generation. If they do not, the chapter of the large Tahitian pearl will soon be closed.

[Ingykiz]

I guess I am lucky to have purchased a large baroque Tahitian strand from PearlParadise when I did. I bought a 13mm to 17.5mm at Christmas time. I was hoping to purchase a large Golden baroque (my favorite pearl shape) in the next year. Is that going to be possible? I prefer large!

[jshepherd]

We have not had a strand that large in quite a while. They are still out there and we have a lot of loose, older stock in the larger range, but they will soon be extremely hard to find.

You are still safe with the goldens! They won't be as large as the whites. No one produces pearls a large as the Australians and the golds are coming from the Philippines and Indonesia now for the most part.

[jerin]

Hi all members of this forum,

thanks for an very interesting article Jeremy, this does not sound good at all! Part of the charm of Tahitians is their size as the colourplay becomes very visible in a large pearl.

[CortezPearls]

Tahitian producers are depending more and more on hatchery produced spat, whereas in the 1980's and up to the mid-1990's they were still using a good amount of large wild caught black-lips. The wild oysters are much larger than farm raised ones (being older) so it was easier to produce larger pearls on larger animals.

Now thay have medium sized MOPS (mother-of-pearl shells), thus sizes are coming down. This combined with what Jeremy is saying about the second graft it just makes it easy to understand why larger sized blacks are "shrinking".

[Caitlin]

What is the death rate with tissue only second generation pearls in Tahitians? Induced keishi?

[Josh]

I missed this post. Jeremy, great article as usual.
Just wanted to point out a couple of things. The turning of oysters is done in the first graft, not the second. We did it years ago and it does definitely influence pearl shape as it doesn't let all the broken down tissue in the graft tissue end up in one spot. As far as I know, no one down here is doing this (I know R. Wan did it years ago, now not sure) but I have heard it is common in Australia.
Some of the pearls of mine that you bought yesterday were from a third graft operation and those were grafted again making a 4th graft on those same oysters. I don't expect fantastic results but am hoping for a bomb or two.
As per our conversation yesterday I also wanted to share with Pearl-Guide members that the nuclei for large pearls is very expensive and often the deciding factor for budget watching Tahitian farmers to not re nucleate their oysters.
Doug, we are not using hatchery spat. Oyster spat is one of the only things in Tahiti that is not that expensive. With the exception of our Leeward Islands, spat collect naturally in most atolls.
Caitlin can you please clarify your question?

[Caitlin]

I am not sure I remember what I wanted to know!
Do you get keshi? Can you "induce" keshi so to speak with just a piece of tissue?

[Josh]

Yes, you can make a keishi with just a piece of mantle tissue inserted in the body of the oyster. These kinds of keishi will never get that big though. For keishi like these in the picture, you need to have the nucleus rejected in the second or third graft on the oyster. Big keishi = happy mistakes.