It is located approximately the same distance from the equator as the southern Japanese pearl farms, and its very similar seasonal variations of water temperature optimize nacre quality during the cultivation process (Strack, 2006 Gilbert et al., 2017).įigure 2. The climate in New South Wales is ideally suited for pearl culturing using Pinctada imbricata fucata. With Pinctada imbricata fucata populations readily available on New South Wales’s Central Coast region between Sydney and the city of Lake Macquarie, a local enterprise called Broken Bay Pearls with expertise in farming of edible Sydney rock oysters ( Saccostrea glomerata) has been culturing akoya pearls since 2003 (figure 2). This bivalve is distributed widely across Asia and also occurs on the eastern coast of Australia (Gifford et al., 2004), where it is used to produce untreated and sometimes vibrantly colored cultured pearls (figure 1). The Pinctada imbricata fucata mollusk has long been used to produce akoya cultured pearls, dating back to the pioneering work in the early 1900s by Japanese entrepreneur Kokichi Mikimoto (Strack, 2006). Production processes are examined to better understand the modern, sustainable, and environmentally friendly pearl farming operations in Australia. mazatlanica bivalves, while separation from other untreated akoya pearls is not possible.

UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed broad spectral features that provide insight into the distinct bodycolors and enable discrimination from some non-akoya saltwater cultured pearls from P. While Raman spectroscopy revealed polyene-related pigments with bands occurring at 11 cm –1, FTIR spectroscopy showed sulfate- and polysaccharide-associated groups occurring at around 12 cm –1, respectively. Raman and FTIR spectroscopy identified the major mineral phase aragonite as well as some organic compounds. This study presents the first gemological and mineralogical characterization of Australian akoya cultured pearls using Raman, photoluminescence, FTIR, and UV-Vis specular reflectance spectroscopy. Unlike many of their Japanese counterparts, Australian akoya cultured pearls are harvested after 18 months of growth and marketed without any post-harvest treatments involving dyes or bleaches. ABSTRACTĪkoya cultured pearls have been produced on the eastern shoreline of Australia since approximately 1999 using Pinctada imbricata fucata mollusks native to New South Wales. Photo courtesy of Broken Bay Pearls Pty Ltd.

A bracelet showing naturally colored blue, cream, yellow, and silver akoya cultured pearls from Broken Bay Pearls.

Farm golden pearls