TAHITIAN PEARL HARVESTING

Compared to harvests at Akoya pearl farms, harvests at Tahitian pearl farms are much smaller, simply because the oysters used to grow them are far less plentiful.

Tahitian pearls generally develop a nacre coating 2 to 3 millimeters thick. Though the survival rate of nucleated Tahitian pearl oysters is low, some may be nucleated up to 4 times, the last time being to produce a "mabe" pearl -- a half-spherical cultured pearl grown on the inside shell of an oyster rather than within its body. Technicians take great care not to damage the oysters when removing pearls.

If, after extracting a pearl, a technician determines the oyster is healthy, he or she will immediately insert another nucleus to produce another pearl.