Pearl Farms

The South Seas are a small area of warm tropical oceans covering parts of the Indian Ocean, northern Australia, Indonesia, east Malaysia and Philippines.

The translucent blue-green deep seas of Sabah in east Malaysia is the birthplace of one of nature’s most precious harvests, the Edward Kong South Sea Pearls.

The pristine, pollution-free waters combine with tropical temperatures, wind conditions and abundant food supply to become the home of the rare Pinctada maxima molluscs, which produces the world’s largest and finest pearls.

Our farms are located on Timbun Mata, South Silumpat and North Silumpat islands, near the renowned diving paradise of Sipadan Island and surrounded by National Parks and tropical islands rich with natural flora, fauna and marine life. We consider ourselves a custodian of this beautiful tropical paradise to maintain the pristine condition of the waters that are home to the Pinctada maximamolluscs. 

We employ over 60 dedicated workers who are native Bajau Seafolk from the surrounding islands. Many of them have been with us for over 15 years. Our unique technique is a combination of Japanese, Australian and from our own experimentation that we have mastered through many years of trial and error.

How are natural pearls formed in the wild ?

A natural pearl forms when an organic particle or parasitic intruder gets trapped in the mollusc/oyster. To protect itself, the mollusc secretes layers of nacre from its mantle tissue over the irritant. Over time, this object becomes a priceless natural pearl.

There are no differences between natural and cultured pearls besides the origin of the nuclei. This happens when a spherical nuclei is surgically inserted into the gonad of an oyster to take the place of the irritant.

The deep seas off the coast of Sabah, where are farms located, are world renowned for its rich marine and coral life. They are also the home to the gold lipped Pinctada maxima molluscs or which are regularly referred to as oysters, that we nurture ourselves.

Hatchery 

 

Cultivating oysters sounds deceptively simple!Healthy mother oysters are selected for the reproduction of top quality baby oysters. Pairs of male and female oysters are put in spawning tanks to produce sperms and eggs. The fertilized eggs are collected using 0.02mm sized mesh nets, which will then be fed with selected plankton. After 45 days, the larvae will grow into baby oysters. They will be transferred to a nursery site where the sea is calm and rich with plankton. When they are about 18 months old, the oysters are ready for nucleation.

 

Seeding

This vital process is when a grafter deftly cuts an incision on the oysters with a scalpel and inserts a small piece of mantle tissue from donor native oysters alongside a nucleus acting as an irritant. We use only the highest quality shell beads that are harvested from freshwater mussels in the Mississippi River bed of the United States.

Over the next two years of nurturing, the oyster continues secreting thousands of layers of nacre over the bead to form a pearl. One minute of work will ultimately decide the result of four years of labour!

 Recovery period

After nucleation, the oysters are carefully submerged back in the sea on nylon nets strung together from wooden rafts on shallow waters near the coast. The calmer waters encourage the oysters’ recovery from the seeding procedure.

The oysters are later transferred to semi-open waters around 30m deep for three months. Finally they are placed in plankton rich open waters around 60m to 70m deep.

Workers continuously haul in batches of oysters to scrape off algae, parasites and barnacles growing on their shells every four to six weeks throughout the year. They are monitored carefully to ensure optimum growth and to guard against prey.

Harvesting

 
This is of course the most exciting step for us in the pearl cultivation process! After four years, the oysters are brought up in carefully recorded batches into our harvesting station. We will deftly split open the two halves of the oysters to draw out the precious harvest within.

Edward Kong’s South Sea Pearls range from colours of white to champagne and intense golden yellow that are highly prized.

Sorting and Garding

Freshly harvested pearls are rinsed in pure water and then they are ready to be sorted and graded. Pearls are selected and matched according to the shades of colour, the sizes and surface flawness and lustre. From each harvest, only 20% of the total pearls are considered excellent enough for our fine jewellery and necklaces.

How our pearls are graded ?

There is no single internationally accepted grading system as this is determined by individual pearl producers and pearl traders. We grade our pearls by five criteria:

 

Size

An ideal South Sea Pearl should range from 10mm to 16mm, sometimes even reaching up to 20mm.

Colour

Our pearls are grouped in three main colours of white, champagne or gold (including intense golden yellow). The interplay of colours often produces unique hues that are very beautiful.

Shape
There are five general shapes: round, drop, baroque, button and circle.

Lustre
This unique luminescence is created when light travels through the thousands of layers of nacre which then refracts back to define the quality of the pearl.

Surface
Our pearls are clearly labeled with the quality of flawlessness on its surface, usually from 70% to 90%. Minor dimples are a characteristic of a genuine, natural pearl. A pearl that is perfectly flawless may often been enhanced through various treatments available.


The Edward Kong Promise

Pearls are gifts of nature and each has its' unique characteristic. We hold fast to the principle that our pearls will never be enhanced or treated in any way. Any pearl of inferior quality determined by our five criteria is discarded.

We are proud to offer pearls that are genuine and  as natural as the day they first emerged from their oysters.