While in Fakarava, we went to visit one of the Black Pearl Farms located here. Our host Gunther, from Hinano Pearls, picked us up for the tour. We were accompanied by a French family and the crew from Evenstar. It was quite an interesting trip. I never knew, or had really thought, about how pearls were cultured. Gunther showed us how they harvest a pearl by opening one of the oysters they had collected that morning, showing us the beautiful, large pearl it contained. He explained how the surgery was done to prepare the pocket inside the oyster. How they used a nucleus material from Mississippi oyster shell. They oyster is then returned to the water for a year during which time it is producing the layers of mother of pearl that becomes the exterior of the pearl. It is then carefully harvested and another nucleus, slightly larger than the pearl just harvested is reinserted into the oyster and it is returned to the water for another year. The process is repeated up to four times. That is how the largest pearls are produced and why they are so expensive. It is extremely labor intensive. Gunther said that years ago he had 25 locals working on the farm and due to market conditions he is now down to 4.

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