Vietnam
Cultured pearls in Vietnam
by Elisabeth Strack, 2006

The Socialistic Republic of Vietnam stretches over a total length of 1,600 kilometers along the eastern coast of Lower India and borders on the South China Sea. The northern part of which is named the Gulf of Tongking. In the north, the country is only 600 kilometers wide and borders on China, while on the western border are Laos and Cambodia, which Vietnam had occupied during the nineteen seventies.

The Socialistic Republic of Vietnam stretches over a to tal length of 1,600 kilometers along the eastern coast of Lower India and borders on the South China Sea, the northern part of which is named the Gulf of Tongking. In the north, the country is only 600 kilometers wide and borders on China, while on the western border are Laos and Cambodia, which Vietnam had occupied during the nineteen seventies.

Vietnam has been dominated by China since the first century BC. The country only started blossoming during the Li dynasty, which established itself around 1000 AD. 900 years of independence followed, ac companied by conquests and struggles for power. France started to extend its influence in Indo-China under the Emperor Napoleon III, and it established it self as a colonial power. After World War II and the departure of the Japanese who had occupied the French colonial territory, the French were unable to hold on to their position during the so-called Indochina War.

The country was divided into a northern and southern zone during the Indo-China Conference in Geneva, the l7th degree of latitude being the dividing line. Rising pressure from the Vietcong, the people’s liberation front in South Vietnam, led in 1962 to the dispatch of military advisors from the United States to Saigon, and finally led to the second Indo-China War, which was to enter history as the unfortunate Vietnamese War. South Vietnam capitulated after the departure of year. the Americans, when troops from North Vietnam en tered the country in April 1975. Ho Chi Minh was still president of North Vietnam and leader of the Vietnamese communists at the time.

The country has since been united as the “Socialistic Republic of Vietnam”, and is still dominated by the Communist Party. During the nineteen eighties, the disastrous economic situation led to a reform program, which brought a certain degree of liberalization. New investment laws allowed the transfer of capital and technical know-how from abroad, but the government continued to deny its people basic demo cratic rights.

It seems, however, that the times of the Cold War are finally over. A leading wholesaler from Hong Kong opened an exclusive jewelry store in Ho Chi Minh City in 1996, where he also sells jewelry with South Sea cultured pearls to the newly developing class of wealthy Vietnamese. This leads to the conclusion that Vietnamese cultured pearls might also one day find a market in their own country.

Akoya Cultured Pearls

The Bay of Halong in the Gulf of Tongking was a fa mous site for natural pearls for many centuries. The area had a similar importance to Hepu and Beihai in China. The natural pearls came from different species of Pinctada, and also from Pinctada maxima. More over, the rare Melo pearls also come from the coasts of Vietnam.

The first attempts at the production of Akoya cul tured pearls go back to the nineteen sixties and they were stopped during the Vietnamese War. The first Japanese, Fujiani Iwaki from the Ogawa Company, came to Vietnam in 1990 when he already had 35 years of experience on his own pearl farm in Japan. He started in March 1991 on the island of Nhieu Tan were harvested eight months later. In late 1996, he established a second farm on Phu Quoc Island and was already planning to seed 2 million mollusks.


In the summer of 1999, a total of 20 companies had set up business along the coast from the Chinese border down to Nha Trang in the southeast. Several hundred local workers were employed. The grafters still came from Japan, but a number of Vietnamese technicians have been trained. They are encouraged to have their own farms later. The Vietnamese government issues li to foreigners only under the condition that knowledge is passed on to the inhabitants of the country.

The farms belong both to Vietnamese and to foreign companies and also to joint ventures. The two Japanese companies, Oriental Pearl Co. Ltd. and Taiheiyo Shinju Co. Ltd. from Kobe, together own four farms; the first farm was founded in 1992. Both companies presented cultured pearls from Vietnam in sizes of 2 mm to 6 mm at the large jewelry fairs in 1999. Production was scheduled to exceed 1,000 kilograms in 2001. One farm belongs to the Australian Atlas Pacific Company and one belongs to a company from Hong Kong.

The farms use Pinctada chemnitzii, which corresponds with the Chinese pearl mollusc, and they also use Pte na penguin. The latter is used for the production of blister pearls (“Mabe pearls”). Pincta”: maxima is also found in the Gulf of Tongking, but the production of South Sea pearls has probably only seen pilot projects so far. Most farms concentrate on the production of Akoya cultured pearls with Pinctada chemnitzii, which have come mainly from hatchery stations since 2001.

At the beginning of the new millennium, there were general expectations that considerable quantities of Vietnamese Akoya cultured pearls would soon be on the market. They were largely expected to have a better nacre thickness than Akoya cultured pearls from both Japan and China because of good water conditions and longer growth periods. The harvests are expected to include yellow and golden pearls. There is nearly no pollution. Labor costs and general costs are low and the local people are hard working. The future looks promising and Vietnam might one day come before Japan because it can offer pearls of better quality at lower prices.

Freshwater Cultured Pearls


Freshwater pearls from the lakes and rivers of northern Vietnam rose to prominence from time to time over the centuries. Vietnam has a similarly large number and identical species of freshwater mussels as China. This means that Hyriopsis cumingii (Lea, 1852) and Cristariaplicata (Leach, 1815) are available for possi ble pearl production. It seems that Anodontayourdyi (Morlet, 1886), which is found in northern Vietnam and is the local subspecies of Anodonta woodiana (Lea, 1843), has also already been used for pearl culture.

In the early nineteen nineties, a pearl farm existed in Lake Tay (Ho Tay), which is situated about one
kilometer northwest of Hanoi and is separated from the Red River (Song Hong) by a dam. Other farms had been planned in the Red River delta in Ha Nam Ninh and Hai Hung Provinces.

The farm in Lake Tay was on the eastern shore; it was su pervised by the government-owned Ho Tay Fish Development and Investment Company, which also super vised projects for fish culture. In the beginning, the water quality was good and an intact environment was simply guaranteed by the fact that no cars were allowed in the area. In 1986, the company started a study for pearl culture and consulted Japanese experts. In 1990, about 500 pearls were harvested; 1,000 followed in 1991 and 3,000 in 1992. In 1993, the number had risen to 8,000 pearls, and they were exported to Asian countries. A part of the pearls went apparently to the Persian Gulf.

The farm had only a few people and later employed two local grafters. Large bamboo rafts were used, anchored at a distance of about 15 meters from the shore and surrounded by a wire mesh. The mussels were held in round wire baskets at a depth of less than 2 meters. It seems that both Cristariaplicata and Anodontayourdyi were used. They came from natural stocks in the lake and they had a size of about 15 cm X 10 cm. The shells sometimes have a violet-grey colour on the inside and also orange-brown spots.

The grafters used nuclei made of the thick shells of the local freshwater mussel Lamp rotula Simpson, 1900 which is found in the northern rivers. The nuclei had a size of 3 mm to 5 mm and were round to oval and button shaped. They had a white, cream or light orange colour. It seems that off-round nuclei were preferably used, as the resulting pearls looked more natural. Three to four nuclei were implanted on each side of the mantle, together with a tiny piece of mantle tissue. The mussels later on ejected about half of the nuclei, and Keshi cultured pearls developed as a result.

The growth period lasted 18 to 24 months. It is not known whether the mussels were used for a second grafting session. Most pearls resembled Chinese fresh water cultured pearls with a baroque to rounded shape. Pearls with a mother-of-pearl nucleus had a size of 5 mm to 7 mm and in rare cases went up to 12 mm, while nacre thickness was in the range of 0.1 mm to 0.7 mm. Pearls without a nucleus were smaller. Most pearls were pink, while orange and white were rare. In addition, there were brown, mauve, light grey and black pearls. The pearls were probably not dyed artificially, apart from black colouring, but they were probably all bleached.

In early 1996, an exclusive sports club replaced the pearl farm. It was built with foreign capital and later contributed considerably to the pollution of the lake. The old company was replaced with the Ho Tay Investment Company, which planned to reopen the pearl farm on the northern shore of the lake in 1997. Freshwater pearl farms no longer existed in Vietnam at the beginning of the 21st century.

Foreigner’s passion for pearl on Con Dao island

At Jordan’s pearl-oyster farm on the sea.

VietNamNet Bridge - The number of tourists to Con Dao island district of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is increasing. Under Con Dao’s socio-economic development plan, the island district targets to welcome 200-250,000 tourists a year by 2010 and 500-700,000 tourists a year by 2020. Of the tourists who come to Con Dao, many of them are sure to come for pearl.
The determination of the ‘pearl Westerner’

From the centre of the Con Dao district, it is easy to ask for the way to the house of the ‘pearl Westerner,’ a nickname the Con Dao people call Jordan Lee, from Australia.

Jordan Lee is the first foreigner to start business in Con Dao island by opening a farm to raise oysters to cultivate pearls.

With an initial investment of over a hundred of thousand dollars, after six years, the couple of Jordan and Pham Thi Kim Cuc multiplied hundreds of millions of young oysters and released them to the sea.

The couple have been particularly successful in cultivating pearls in the oysters and have already harvested cultivated pearls.

Jordan has not only helped save oysters but has also created a trademark for Con Dao cultivated pearls.

The villa where the family of Jordan and Kim Cuc live and also the office of the Con Dao Pearl Company has been decorated in such a way that any one can realise at once the passion for sea and pearls of its owners.

Jordan displays the first cultivated pearls he has harvested in the two cases in the house, the achievements the couple has recorded after overcoming great difficulties.

Jordan first arrived in Vietnam 13 years ago as a technician to cultivate pearls in oysters for the Nha Trang Pearl Company. At that time, Nha Trang was among the first places in Vietnam to develop cultivating pearls in oysters.

Once he came to Con Dao to conduct a survey on water and sea environment there, he immediately realized that the conditions in Con Dao were favourable for raising oysters for pearls.

In 2001, Jordan Lee and his wife Kim Cuc were officially granted the status of residents of Con Dao. They lived on the island since.

With support from Japanese and Australian experts, the Vietnam Con Dao Pearl Company was established, focusing on cultivating, producing and selling pearls

At first, Jordan bought oysters from local farmers. However, the source of supply of oysters is not big enough because the locals exploited oysters in an unrestrained manner to sell their shells to traders for making handicrafts.

In order to meet the demand for oysters, Jordan decided to open an oysters-raising farm to increase the supply of the Con Dao oysters. He has been allowed to hire 100 hectares of sea surfaces to raise oysters for pearls.

Difficulties

Despite the strong northwesterly wind in Con Dao, Jordan and his workers can always be found present on the sea-farm. It take 20 minutes by a speed-boat from the island to the lighter on the Con Dao sea. There are days Jordan and his wife had to travel several times from the island to the farm and back.

About 20 workers have taken turns to work on the farm.

It often takes five years to harvest cultivated pearls from an oyster since it was born.

The cultivation of pearls into an oyster is very important as it will decide how beautiful the cultivated pearls are, said Jordan.

Jordan farm has released hundreds of millions of oysters to the sea for natural reproduction. According to him, it will be a success if only one million of them develop well till they are old enough (two years) to be able to cultivate pearls.

With great efforts, Jordan and his wife have proved that the cultivation of pearls in oysters in Con Dao island can be successful and promises great potentials for development.

Achievements

The success in multiplying raised oysters in Con Dao has not only met the demands for long-term oyster-pearl production but also helped balance the ecological environment as wild oysters had previously been unrestrainedly exploited.

Jordan’s company have bought a total of 30,000 oysters from local people for pearl cultivation. The company has helped raise the income of local people through buying oysters and giving them jobs during harvesting.

According to experts, the quality of Con Dao pearls is in no way inferior to any other pearls, including those produced in Australia, which is considered as the world leading producer of cultivated pearls.

As many as 80% of pearls produced in Con Dao have been exported to foreign markets, including Japan and Australia. The remaining 20% have been sold to domestic jewelry companies.

(Source: Nhan Dan)

Mr. Tran Doan Thien


The ex-soldier’s ‘state secret’ of black pearls

A retired army officer in southern Vietnam is harboring what he called a “state secret,” a method to produce black pearls from freshwater oysters, once thought only possible in marine oysters

Colonel Tran Doan Thien from Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh district used to be stationed along the central coasts of Ha Tinh province where he made friends with many fishermen and pearl cultivators.
Ever since he stumbled upon one lustrous pearl while looking for oysters for food, Thien dreamed of producing pearls himself.
He retired in 1985 and formed a team to raise oysters and try cultivating pearls.
“Things were difficult at that time. Nothing was certain. We had to do research, raise oysters and culture the pearls, and we could only afford to eat instant noodles,” he said.
He even had to sell his only motorbike.
“Everyone thought we [the team] were weird but we were always optimistic”.
Through trial and error, Thien’s team succeeded in producing and selling beautiful white pearls.
But he never stopped there.
Black-jet hint
Thien recalled he once visited France and saw black pearls on sale four or five times more expensive than their white counterparts due, as he later found out, to their rarity.
He decided to cultivate the elusive black pearls. However, his efforts were in vain until chatting with his wife one day he came up with an idea as she smiled, revealing healthy, but jet-black teeth. Tooth blackening used to be popular in Vietnam, and can still be seen in many older women.
Since teeth are composed of calcium like pearls, Thien thought, he could change the latter’s color if he cared to alter some basic elements from the beginning, just as his wife’s teeth had changed color.
He then altered his culturing and implanting processes and managed to produce a black pearl from Sinanodonta Jourdyi, a kind of oyster taken from southern highland Lam Dong province.
His black pearls are harvested two years after nucleus implantation and culture in freshwater. One 13-17mm pearl goes for US$1,000-$2,000.
State secret
Hearing Vietnam was able to produce black pearls from freshwater oysters, experts and entrepreneurs from Japan, France, Taiwan and China flocked to his house.
They all admired and were surprised at his lustrous black pearls.
However, they were surprised even more after he rejected their million dollar business proposals.
The colonel explained his method was a “state secret” and could not be divulged to foreigners.
However, he promised to show a select number of devoted and trustworthy cultivators how to make black pearls from freshwater oysters on the condition they not sell the know-how to foreign countries.