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The Tahitian pearl (or black pearl) is an organic gem formed from the black lip oyster (Pinctada margaritifera). [1] These pearls derive their name from the fact that they are primarily cultivated around the islands of French Polynesia , around Tahiti .
Pinctada margaritifera, commonly known as the black-lip pearl oyster, is a species of pearl oyster, a saltwater mollusk, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae. This species is common in the Indo-Pacific within tropical coral reefs. The ability of P. margaritifera to produce pearls means that the species is a valuable resource to humans.
Black South Sea pearls, or Tahitian pearls come from the black-lip oyster; gold and silver South Sea pearls from the gold-lip and silver-lip oysters; and Akoya cultured pearls from Pinctada fucata martensii, the Akoya pearl oyster. Pearls are also obtained in commercial quantities from some species of the closely related winged oyster genus Pteria.
By 1981, there were five pearl farms operational: Kuri Bay, Port Smith, Cygnet Bay, and two in Broome's Roebuck Bay. [citation needed] The industry today includes 19 of Australia's 20 cultured pearl farms and generates annual exports of A$200 million and employs approximately 1000 people. [citation needed]
After seeing a news story about a similar find being valuable, Serino dug up the stone, learning that the rock is really a six-carat rare lavender pearl worth about $15,000.
The Pearl of Lao Tzu for a long time thought to be the largest pearl, but claims about its size and much of its history were found to be fabricated by a conman by the name of Victor Barbish. [2] Other pearls like the Centaur Pearl, most likely the largest gem pearl at 856.58 carats (171.316 g), have just recently emerged from private ...
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This oyster along with the Pacific wing-oyster (Pteria sterna) was the subject of a pearl fishery in the Gulf of California since before the arrival of Hernando Cortez in 1535. The Spaniards quickly appreciated the value of the harvest and in 1586 declared the gathering of oysters to be a right of the Spanish crown . [ 10 ]