The rarest cultured pearls in the world are the gorgeous pearls that come from the Rainbow lipped mollusk in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. I am in love with the story of the Sea of Cortez pearls, so much so that I am pleased to announce this will be our newest pearl adventure destination in 2016. Woo hoo!
Let’s first talk about the rarity of these rare cultured pearls.
Pearl Production
Each year, the Sea of Cortez pearl farm produces between 2000 and 4000 cultured pearls. They start with 100,000 oysters which they nucleate to make pearls. Between poor growth rates and mortality rates, about 20,000 to 40,000 oysters survive the two year journey to cultured pearls. Of these 20,000 to 40,000 nucleated mollusks we get 2000 to 4000 pearls. And yes, if you are thinking what I am thinking, those are stunningly horrible odds. Suddenly the moniker the rarest cultured pearls in the world is starting to make sense. Either that “pearls that should not be cultured but are.” How are they getting paid for this?!
Why oh why?
So, why do it? Why culture these Sea of Cortez pearls? Some might argue that these are the most gorgeous pearls in the world. That’s right, these pearls are beautiful! The rainbow lipped mollusk, the Pteria Sterna, is truly illuminated with a rainbow colored nacre. These are rainbow colored pearls. So rare and beautiful, they truly might be worth the effort of the 15 employees that run this pearl farm.
So, lets run through this checklist. These pearls are beautiful, rare and they grow in an amazingly gorgeous part of the world. So, in other words, sign me up! Next Spring we are venturing off to the Sea of Cortez. More details to follow soon!
India
I am a modern day treasure hunter who travels the world for gorgeous pearls and amazing adventures. I own a pearl jewelry and jewelry repair business, ThePearlGirls.com, with a cute retail store in Athens, GA. I also have a Pearl Travel business and travel blog at TheWorldofPearl.com.
