Pearl Nucleus Manufacturing

[jshepherd]

Here is a short video shot at the Fukui shell factory in Guangzhou China.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iaMjIc9V4g

 

[Valeria101]

What kind of shells are used to make the nuclei?

Those look very thick for their small size!

 

[jshepherd]

I do not recall what shell they were cutting that day. They use a lot of different shell, but work with one at a time. I can check with Doug Fiske on that one. But the Fukui factory uses only US shell, the Washboard, and a few others. They use no local Lamprotula leai.

On a side note, I checked with many people on this trip to see if anyone was culturing in Lamprotula shell. It turns out that was all just fantaz. Nobody does it...

 

[Valeria101]

Thanks! This much would do for my curiosity.

Lamprotula? What lamprotula! Forgot that one already...

The look and labor on the pearl farms and factory you show in the videos make it crystal clear why pearl culture is not exactly mainstream in the parts where these pearls are bought. Could hardly imagine the labor environment here, although not since long

 

[Caitlin]

Strack (2000 p.344) says that 15 varieties of American mussel shell are used, including "pigtoe, ebony, elephant ear, pistolgrip, three ridge, maple leaf, pimpleback, white heelsplitter, and purple pocketbook". She also refers one to Figure 54 on page 77. Fig 54 is several pages of pearl producing unionoids in North America.

These guys are a story in themselves- exploited vs conserved, etc. which is why I put up everything I can find on American mussels- they are pearl producing on their own and they are the nuclei in those fabulous akoyas.

 

[Ashley]

Jeremy- were there very many experiments done in culturing using the Lamprotula species? I understand that the nuclei produced was considered very brittle...

 

[Perle]

Fantaz

Strack says Lamprotula is found in nearly all rivers, streams, and lakes in China, but is not used for pearl culture and practically no natural pearls have been found. I'm guessing they tried but for some reason it can't be done? Would be interesting if Jeremy's heard of any attempts . . . .

What are these small (up to 6 mm), frequently brittle nuclei used for? Nucleated freshwaters? Lower grade Akoya?

Perle

 

[jshepherd]

Jeremy- were there very many experiments done in culturing using the Lamprotula species? I understand that the nuclei produced was considered very brittle...

I am sure there were some experiments done. Everything has been tried in China once or twice. But there are no Lamprotula pearls, cultured or natural, that I know of. It was all a big fantaZ

 

[Ashley]

I've read somewhere that the Vietnamese have been culturing Akoya using the Lamprotula- which makes sense from a cost standpoint, but I haven't been able to find any verification... I guess you're correct- it must all be just fantaZ (wait a minute- Jer was that a double entendre?? I can't believe I missed that! I am getting slower and slower and summer approaches it seems...)

 

[Mikeyy]

I thought I might help this discussion. I started digging for mussel shells at 13 years old. In 1969. So I have a long history in this business. I shipped my first container of shells to Japan in 1990. The mussels used for nuclei production from the U.S. are The Washboard, Three ridge, and Ebony shell. These are the main commercial shells. Although there were other shells listed earlier in this thread they are not specifically commercially harvested.

If I can answer any questions about the shell business I am happy to help. You won't find anyone on this board with a longer history in this business.

 

[Mikeyy]

Strack (2000 p.344) says that 15 varieties of American mussel shell are used, including "pigtoe, ebony, elephant ear, pistolgrip, three ridge, maple leaf, pimpleback, white heelsplitter, and purple pocketbook". She also refers one to Figure 54 on page 77. Fig 54 is several pages of pearl producing unionoids in North America.

These guys are a story in themselves- exploited vs conserved, etc. which is why I put up everything I can find on American mussels- they are pearl producing on their own and they are the nuclei in those fabulous akoyas.

Hi Caitlin,

That is an old list of shells that have been harvested from time to time over the years. However, Most of those shells listed are not sought after. For example. Pistolgrip shell. I would bet there hasn't been a hundred pounds of them harvested in the last 10 years. If you asked your average diver to identify a "Purple Pocketbook" He would be clueless.

Pimple backs, Mapleleafs. Are usually thrown in with three ridge shells. Out of a thousand three ridges harvested you might have 20 maps or pimps.

 

[Ashley]

Hi Jerin,

The word entendre is French in origin, and means to hear, or receive news or meaning.

The phrase Double Entendre I understand to mean a double-meaning, or as the dictionary puts it: A word or expression used in a given context so that it can be understood in two ways esp. when one meaning is risque.

FantaZ- would be Jer's inside joke referring to Z's "Dream Collection"... Hey I made a double entendre! Somebody stop me...

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Mikeyy
Thanks for the clarification.

Although Strack has more info on pearls than any other book of the moment- her's really a textbook, she sometimes makes errors in details. In fact, she started out her lecture this year saying that as soon as she gets that book to the publisher, it is already outdated.

I hope you write more aobut your experiences in the shell industry. What is your experience or knowledge about poachers? How often do you find pearls in the shells you harvest?

 

[Mikeyy]

I don't know if you have read "Pearls and Pearling" by Vertrees. Its a pretty good start. You can read most of it on google books for free. My grandfather was one of those who supplied the button factories along the Mississippi after the turn of the century. Since I was a boy on the river I have been around the shell business. From what we would call puddling or pollywogging. Which basically means searching for shells by hand without equipment. To diving with drums. We have used dredges, crow foot bars and hand diggers. Which is basically a rake that you drag behind your boat. I have seen the hey day in the late eighties when you could walk across a half mile of river from shell boat to shell boat and never get wet. When I was a kid I could dig 2-3 tons of shells a day myself. Today a diver would be happy to find a few hundred pounds a day. If you can find a diver. This is the result of many factors. One is over fishing the same areas year after year.

 

[jshepherd]

The rake you talk about, is this what is meant by brailing?

 

[Mikeyy]

The rake you talk about, is this what is meant by brailing?

Hey Buddy,

No brailling is what is also referred to as barring. This is still done today in Kentucky for instance. It is still illegal to dive in Kentucky. But the old timers still "Bar" shells.
What you have is a flat bottom boat. You build what we call standards on either side of your boat to hold yours bars. A Bar is a steel pipe most often. You hang hooks from this bar using nylon twine. The hooks are different depending on the river bottom. The hooks are made of wire. If the bottom is rocky you would use a rock hook. A rock hook is hit with a torch to make little balls on the ends. This allows it to bounce over things you don't want to hook. Its all technic. A mud hook would be smoother.

What happens in action is. You are floating with the current. You drop a bar down. Just off of the bottom. Then you tie it off and go over and drop your other bar in with a little less line to keep them from tangling in to each other. If you don't have enough current you deploy a "Mule" This is a tarp that you put in the water to act as a sail under water. As you drift the hooks drag and bounce along the bottom. As the do the miussels they encounter close on to the hooks. After fifteen or twenty minutes you raise your bar on to the standard and start picking off mussels. Then you drop that bar back in and go raise the other. You do this until you have drifted off of the bed. Then you motor back to the top of the bed and start again.
A hand rake or "digger" Is a device that is built a little like rake. It has teeth made from railroad spikes and weights about 35 lbs.. It has a pole which is usually a 2x4 about twenty feey long.
If I could draw you a picture from the side of the boat you would see a flat bottom boat. The operator stands at the back and faces towards the back. You would see the top of the pole in his hands. The bottom where the rake is is obviously on the river bottom. But the rake itself has a rope that goes to the bow of the boat. That keeps the rake directly under the operator as he motors along. It acts as a dredge. And when your bag feels full you hit your accelerator. As your speed increases your rake starts to rise. You follow the pole until you can grab the rake itself. Then you cut your motor. And raise your bag of booty in to the boat. Aluminum cans, Rocks, A tire and 5 shells.lol. I forgot to mention the whole time you are tied to your motor so you can steer. You cut a branch from a tree. You want a branch with a y in it. Tie it to your boat handle and the Y end around your knee. So you are facing the rear of the boat standing on the right hand side of the motor. And the motor is tied to your left leg. God I hope this isn't as long winded as it feels.

 

[Caitlin]

It is a fairly detailed discussion- I read it with great interest.

 

[Ashley]

Then you cut your motor. And raise your bag of booty in to the boat. Aluminum cans, Rocks, A tire and 5 shells.lol.

Yes, the sad state of our rivers- which leads me to ask, what is the oddest thing that you've pulled up out of the water?

Now, are these areas that you were operating in wild or more of a mussel farm? What is the average output of a mussel farm per year these days? I understand that washboards can grow up to 15-inches in length (huge!!), but what is the average harvest age/size these days?

 

[Mikeyy]

Yes, the sad state of our rivers- which leads me to ask, what is the oddest thing that you've pulled up out of the water?

Now, are these areas that you were operating in wild or more of a mussel farm? What is the average output of a mussel farm per year these days? I understand that washboards can grow up to 15-inches in length (huge!!), but what is the average harvest age/size these days?

Our rivers are making a great comeback. With environmental legislation. And with the help of people like my friend Chad Pedrake at http://www.livinglandsandwaters.org/

Cheap plug The rivers have made a great recovery from the bad old days.
All the freshwater shell for commercial use is wild stock. And the oddest thing I ever found was a safe. We were all so sure it was full of treasure we couldn't wait to get off the river. After what seemed forever with grinders and torches and arguing over who was the best safe cracker we finally opened it. It was full of mud and water. But I have found everything from guns to whole cars. And a few pearls too. If you ask me where they all are now it would be like asking what happened to your first beatle record. You know you had one. But who knows where they all go.
As far as mussel size goes we would carry a ring 4 inches wide. If a washboard falls through its to small. Generally speaking a three ridge minimum commercial size is about 3 inches. Because thickness is more important then size shells are sold on a piece count. A good washboard is 200 piece count per 200 lbs. bag. So a 200 lbs. bag will have 200 half shells in it. So if you have a 400 piece bag you will know its thinner. We always go by 200 lbs. bag counts when selling shell. An Ebony shell is small in diameter but can produce a much larger nuclei then the average 3 ridge even though the 3 ridge appears larger.

 

[Ashley]

Wild stock? Truly?? Since the shell bead nuclei business is so large, and I know it is so crucial to saltwater cultured pearls, why aren't there be people investing in working mussel farms?

Too bad about the safe- I would've been all worked up about that too lol.

Your friend is engaged in a very noble endeavor- it's wonderful to read about someone making such a large difference!!