SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

PEARL FARMING
58-hectare PEARL FARM located in Ha Long Bay

1
 SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

PEARL FARMING
The first step in the pearl
production process is to
obtain pearl-producing
oysters to be nucleated.
The pearl farmer collects
oyster sperm and eggs
from high-quality oysters
already on the farm. The
sperm are used to fertilize
the eggs, and so create a
new generation of oyster
larvae. Over a period of a
few months, the larvae
develop into baby oysters.
They are generally then
moved into a separate
"nursery" area of the farm.
Here they are tended for
around 1-2 years, until
they have grown
sufficiently large to be
nucleated. 2
SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

PEARL FARMING

Preparation of pearl-producing
oysters before nucleating

3
 SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

PEARL FARMING
Preparation of mantle tissue taken from a donor oyster. The nucleus
and mantle tissue are then implanted into the oyster's gonad.

4
 SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

PEARL FARMING
Creating the pearl nucleus. The nucleus used in all
saltwater pearl farming today is a mother-of-pearl bead.
This bead is composed of mussel shell that has been cut,
rounded, and polished.

A nucleus of high quality

will be white, without
calcium carbonate
streaking (striation or
banding), that may show
through the pearl nacre.

5
 SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

PEARL FARMING
The process of nucleation is
a surgical procedure,
whereby a foreign object is
implanted into the oyster.
This object causes irritation,
which the oyster
counteracts by secreting
nacre to surround the
object; this produces the
pearl. The mother of pearl
nucleus is inserted into this
incision, which is then
followed with a very small
piece of mantle tissue from
a donor mollusk. The mantle
tissue is placed between the
mother of pearl bead and
the gonad, with the side
containing epithelial cells
facing the nucleus. 6
 SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

PEARL FARMING
Pearl Harvest: Akoya
cultured pearls are
harvested from the pearl
farm after a nucleation
period of 18 months to 2
years. A good harvest is
determined by the number
of marketable pearls
produced in relation to the
number of oysters that were
nucleated.

On average, only half of the pearls

will be marketable, and less than
10% of these will be considered
top-quality. 7
 SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

PEARL TREATMENTS
Pearl treatments are defined as any action other than polishing
which alters a pearl's appearance which may include: irradiation,
bleaching, heating, filling, waxing, drilling, cutting, dyeing and
luster treatments .

8
SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

Visitor from USA

July 2008

9
SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

Visitors from
Japan and Hong Kong
April 2010

10
 SALTWATER AKOYA CULTURED PEARL

REFERENCES
http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/akoya-pearls/2852-vietnamese-akoyas-
report-ha-long-bay.html
http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/akoya-pearls/2962-utube-video-pearl-farm-
vietnam.html#post39032
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdLEx9HUByw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZvRQfPyKBg

CONTACT DETAILS
APPLIED BIOLOGY CENTER
SECOIN INVESTMENT CORPORATION
59 Hang Chuoi street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: 84-4-39718899, Fax: 84-4-39718898
E-mail: dxb@secoin.vn, dixuba@gmail.com; URL: www.secoin.vn
http://www.getamarket.com/secoinbio; http://culturedpearl.ning.com/
11