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What is Rainbow Mabe Pearl?
In general, you would think that all Pearls are round
shaped or spherical. However, Mabe Pearls are not
completely round. They come in various shapes. The
subtle hues give it a unique presence, a quality that
can't be found in other Pearls. Mabe Pearls are suitable
for casual and formal occasions depending on how you
coordinate. That is the Mabe Pearls. The Rainbow
Mabe Pearl offers a beautiful luster of the rainbow
color with champagne cast with the golden and creamy
undertones. That is considered very desirable.
How the Name Came About
The Rainbow Mabe Pearl derived its name from its rainbow
color and its iridescent champagne cast with creamy and golden
undertones is the unique and subtle trait among all species of Pearls.
Luster, Luster & Luster!
Luster is an attribute you should take very seriously
into consideration when purchasing a Pearl. A Pearl's
luster is the warm, silky, glow of the Pearl. Do not
confuse luster with "shine". A polished piece of steel
is very shinny, but it is not lustrous. Luster is given
by a combination of "surface luster" (shine) and "deep
luster". Its luster is better than the south sea Pearl
and Tahiti Black Pearl. This type of Pearl was
originally produced in Australia. Due to its radiant
luster and rare production, it is highly valued and
therefore more expensive.
A Special Culturing Technique
The culturing techniques are similar to those used for
the Tahiti Black Pearl and South Sea Pearl. However, the irritation
object “ the seed in it is not round but semi-spherical “ sometimes
oval or heart shape and attached to the shell to the shell base between
the body and the shell base. Therefore, when the semi-spherical Pearl
matures, it sticks to the shell. In view of the radiant gloss, a
different cutting technique is employed from the traditional Mabe Pearl
where only the dome part is cut. In our Rainbow Mabe Pearl process, the
Pearl is cut together with the Pearl base. Therefore the designs of the
rainbow Mabe Pearls may vary. Due to the varying size of shell base, the
Pearls have different degrees of attractive deep luster and color!
Mabe Pearls
are always polished after processing (they have to be cut from the shell
and filled with epoxy resin) because this is the easiest way to remove
debris that sticks on their surface. Still, some species of Pearl oyster
have a more nice looking nacre than others, thus their Pearl products
have a much better appearance. Such is the case of half-Pearls produced
in both the "Winged Oysters" of the Genus Pteria, like the Japanese
"Mabe-Gai" or Australian "Penguin Winged Oyster" Pteria penguin and the
Mexican "Rainbow Lipped Pearl Oyster" (Pteria Sterna). Half-Pearls grown
in the "Mother-of-Pearl" oysters (genus Pinctada) are usually duller
than those produced on "Winged Oysters"...but these are usually more
attractive than Freshwater blister Pearls.
What is a Penguin Oyster?
Penguin Oyster is unique specie of Oyster. Several
species of oyster are farmed for Pearl production in Queensland,
Australia with production dominated by the gold-lipped Pearl oyster
(Pinctada maxima). Other species include the black-lipped Pearl oyster
(P. magaritifera), gem Pearl oyster (P. radiata) and penguin oyster
(Pteria penguin).
Penguin
Oyster species or Pteria Penguin is cultured for the production of half
Pearls. The species occurs north of the Albrolhos and more commonly in
the warmer northern tropics. It is generally found in deeper, fast
current zones attached to black coral and is readily found on moorings
and ropes. The species is collected on farms as spat or harvested from
man-made structures. There is little wild collection of this species due
to its limited habitat in Australia.
The mother
shell of Rainbow Mabe Pearl “ the Penguin Oyster was subsequently
bought to South China Sea for cultivation. The first 3 years of
trail-culturing process was extremely difficult as the wild Penguin
Oyster had to adapt to the new environment. However, after 13 years of
dedicated hard work, the first batch of healthy Penguin Oyster was
successfully harvested and with it “ the birth of the highly valued
and beautiful Rainbow Mabe Pearl which had been carefully cultured and
nurtured for 10 long years! Our rainbow Mabe Pearls come directly from
the Pearl farms in China, NOT from the middlemen in Los Angeles, New
York or even anywhere in Asia.
A Touch of the Rainbow:
Cultured Pearls grow around a nucleus that is manually
inserted into an oyster or mussel. Modern techniques place the nucleus
within the mantle or gonad of the oyster, away from the shell, allowing
it to grow freely. Older techniques place the nucleus between the mantle
and the shell of the oyster, where the Pearl develops as a "blister"
attached to the inner shell.
The Growing of the Rainbow Mabe Pearl:
First, the Penguin Oyster should be grown in the sea for
three years, and then people took it out from the sea
and open them and implant a seed inside. Then, put it
back in the sea to grow another 7 more years. Finally,
took it out from sea and cut it out together with the
shell base. During these 10 years, the grower must take
care of them like grow fish, they have to feed them
everyday and do every necessary inspection according to
professional and complicated schedule.
Culturing in the South China Sea:
The rainbow Mabe Pearls that are successfully cultured
in South China Sea produce better luster and color as
their counterparts in Australia. Due the culturing
techniques and labor cost, these are also more
competitively priced. Recently, a significant number of
saltwater oyster cultivation farms in Japan were so
adversely affected by the sea pollution that a large
number of oysters were destroyed resulting in huge
losses for the Pearl farmers. Today, they can no longer
produce saltwater cultured Pearls. The saltwater
cultured Pearl production is reducing drastically around
the world. Therefore, its cost is higher than the
prolific freshwater Pearls that are being mass-produced.
These cannot offer the beautiful luster of the saltwater
Pearls.
We culture
the Mabe Pearls with the sparkling rainbow hues starting with artificial
breeding and raising of the Mabe oyster that takes 4 to 6 years and
another 3 years after the implantation of a nucleus into a mother shell,
taking a total of 9 to 10 years through careful management by large
numbers of personnel.
Rainbow Mabe Pearl Natural Pearl or Cultured Pearl?
Rainbow Mabe Pearl is a kind of Cultured Pearl. When the
seed (nuclear) was implanted in the oyster (or clam) by people to
irritate oyster to grow Pearl layer (Nacre) to cover the seed and
finally become a Pearl is called Cultured Pearl. But when the seed come
in the oyster accidentally and form a Pearl, it is belong to the Natural
Pearl. There are very few of the Natural Pearl now. The South Sea Pearl,
Tahitian Black Pearl and so called the Culture Pearl are all belong to
the Cultured Pearl. The growing time of the Cultured Pearl is shorter
than the Natural Pearl and the quality of the formal is usually higher
than the latter.
Is the Rainbow Mabe Pearl Grown in Saltwater or in
Freshwater?
Rainbow Mabe Pearl was grown in sour water for ten
years. The main difference between them is the sour
water Pearl has nuclear but fresh water Pearl without.
Sour water Pearl has much higher luster and more
colorful than fresh water Pearl. Fresh water Pearl can
be grown up in three years and they are more prolific
for over ten times than the sour water Pearl. Fresh
water Pearl is grown in dam, which without pollution and
their growing environment can be controlled, but sour
water Pearl is grown in ocean, which has serious
pollution, and the environment cannot be controlled at
all. So, the value of them is quite different. The
market trend has proved the price of fresh water Pearl
has been going down but sour water Pearl has been going
up.
Rainbow Mabe Pearl Properties:
The Mabe Pearls refer to
hemispherical Pearls cultured in a way different from other Pearls by
directly implanting a nucleus on the inside shell of a Mabe oyster until
the nucleus is covered with nacre. Mabe oyster are cultivated first and
then used as the mother shell in the beautifully clear sea off the Amami
Oshima Island.
Read more...
Back to 'All About Pearls' Summary
Ever since the ancient Egyptians first started creating
jewelry, Pearls have become one of the highest regarded gemstones. Even
today Pearls still hold their value due to the rarity of "mother nature"
creating this form of jewelry. Pearls are created from a core. The core
of a natural Pearl is simply a fragment of shell or fishbone, or a grain
of sand that strays into the unsuspecting Pearl oyster's shell. To
protect itself from this irritant the oyster secretes multiple layers of
nacre, forming a Pearl...
Read more...
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What is a Rainbow Mabe Pearl?
