Mangareva Beauties
- Thread starter Jacques
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JerseyPearl
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Wow those are lovely pearls.
pregcurious
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How would one describe these lovely pearls? Blue/green body with purple overtone?
Bailey1856
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Will do! Now how can get my hands on those lovely pearls?
CathyKeshi
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Hurry, Jacques ... hurry 
)))
)))
CLICLASP
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Hello, I have been told that Gambiers are the remote places in the Tahiti places where pearls are cultivated consequently, the havest happens less often consequently the nacre is thicker and pearls said to be the most beautiful in the Tahiti pearls category,
is that true ?
is that true ?
Icyjade
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That makes me curious. Is it possible to guess the origin of a Tahiti pearl based on appearance/color?
JerseyPearl
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Me too...good question Icyjade.
Jacques
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Hello Cliclasp, the Gambiers are certainly remote and further away from say, the Tuamotus, where Tahitian pearls are also cultured. They are a more isolated archipelago of islands, a relatively long plane ride away (4.5 hours from Tahiti, with a stop), further South, by the Tropic of Capricorn.
Some say that the luster profiles of these Mangareva grown pearls is higher due to the cooler temperatures of the water the oysters live in, especially during the Southern Hemisphere winter. A recent study by IFREMER, the French oceanographic institute, concluded that the ocean temperatures dropped enough during their winter to cause a metabolic slowdown of the oyster. This affects nacre deposition rates, and could be why the luster seems sharper in these pearls from the Gambiers.
In terms of the color, many think that pearls from Mangareva have some of the more interesting color profiles found in Tahitian pearls today. But that is not to say that producers in the Tuamotus, for example, cannot produce pearls with stronger, brighter, interesting coloration.
I think it comes down more to the skill of the individual producers, the quality of their grafts, their mantle selection, those kinds of things, as there are some farmers who noticeably, year after year, produce more color, and others who, even though they have farms in a great location in the lagoon around Mangareva, produce less interesting colors.
The thickness of the nacre is more a reflection of the amount of time the pearl is left in the ocean to grow. One could certainly grow thin nacre pearls in the Gambiers, that could not be legally exported from French Polynesia ( less than 0.8mm in thickness), by leaving them in the water say, for only 6 months.
Icyjade, I think you are correct in concluding that perhaps some of these unique colors, like the deep peacocks above, are signature pearls from Managareva. I haven't been able to find another similar looking pearl from anywhere else, but that is not to say they do not exist.
Some say that the luster profiles of these Mangareva grown pearls is higher due to the cooler temperatures of the water the oysters live in, especially during the Southern Hemisphere winter. A recent study by IFREMER, the French oceanographic institute, concluded that the ocean temperatures dropped enough during their winter to cause a metabolic slowdown of the oyster. This affects nacre deposition rates, and could be why the luster seems sharper in these pearls from the Gambiers.
In terms of the color, many think that pearls from Mangareva have some of the more interesting color profiles found in Tahitian pearls today. But that is not to say that producers in the Tuamotus, for example, cannot produce pearls with stronger, brighter, interesting coloration.
I think it comes down more to the skill of the individual producers, the quality of their grafts, their mantle selection, those kinds of things, as there are some farmers who noticeably, year after year, produce more color, and others who, even though they have farms in a great location in the lagoon around Mangareva, produce less interesting colors.
The thickness of the nacre is more a reflection of the amount of time the pearl is left in the ocean to grow. One could certainly grow thin nacre pearls in the Gambiers, that could not be legally exported from French Polynesia ( less than 0.8mm in thickness), by leaving them in the water say, for only 6 months.
Icyjade, I think you are correct in concluding that perhaps some of these unique colors, like the deep peacocks above, are signature pearls from Managareva. I haven't been able to find another similar looking pearl from anywhere else, but that is not to say they do not exist.
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Jacques
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I will post another thread with a picture of a group of very brightly colored pearls, stronger colored than anything else I have ever seen! They look kind of unnatural they are so bright. They are grown in the Tuamotus, the atoll group North of Tahiti, and the producer promises me that they are naturally colored. I believe him. But another part of me is simply not sure, I have never seen anything like it.
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CLICLASP
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Thank you Jacques, that's exactly what I wanted to understand.
That's also very interesting, when you say :
"it comes down more to the skill of the individual producers, the quality of their grafters, their mantle selection,"
Since the color comes from the mantle and not from the mollusk receiver, I was wondering if someone tryed once to graft a mantle and receiver from 2 different species, i.e. mantle from a Tahiti pearl into another oyster type ( just wondering what would happen ...)
That's also very interesting, when you say :
"it comes down more to the skill of the individual producers, the quality of their grafters, their mantle selection,"
Since the color comes from the mantle and not from the mollusk receiver, I was wondering if someone tryed once to graft a mantle and receiver from 2 different species, i.e. mantle from a Tahiti pearl into another oyster type ( just wondering what would happen ...)
