One balmy evening,sitting on the black sand of a beach on the eastern shore of the main island, an elderly Tahitian man told me how black pearls came to originate in the lagoons of French Polynesia. Oro, the war god, came down to earth to find a mortal wife. In order to get from heaven safely to earth, he positioned the rainbow just so. One end reached heaven and the other dipped into the lagoon spreading dazzling color over the water. As Oro began his wild ride to earth,he inadvertently knocked bits of color off the rainbow. Mingled with moonlight, rainbow drops fell into the waters of the lagoon as black pearls.
Of course those who participate in the black pearl industry have a different explanation. I prefer to believe that both accounts have merit for if it were not for the magical appeal of the black pearl there would be no black pearl industry.
The finest black pearls have a green overtone called "peacock green." A solid black pearl with no overtone is considered undesirable and may cost as much as 50% less than one of similar quality with green overtones. Pearls with muddy colors are also viewed as undesirable.
Other overtone colors on black pearls are pink, blue, gold, silver and a reddish purple called "aubergine", which is French for eggplant. These overtones may be present in a variety of combinations and are considered a plus factor. Black pearls also have a wide range of body colors, the predominant basic color of a pearl can be black, gray, blue, green or brown depending on a variety of factors, none of which have been absolutely determined. If it were that simple then pearl farmers would be able to pre-determine the colors of their pearls. Black pearls are classified according to diameter, lustre, shape, surface purity and color.
Outside of professional sports, pearl seeding technicians are probably the highest paid workers in the world. Some PSTs earn over a million dollars a year.
Historically, pearls black, white and pink were found in many places where they are now no longer prevalent thanks largely to the Industrial Revolution which spawned pollution in rivers, lakes and lagoons. The pearl industry in French Polynesia is located on remote, sparsely populated atolls in the Tuamotu Group for a very good reason. Successful cultivation of black pearls requires a pristine environment.
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