Tahitian Cultured Mabe

Half round pearls created by grafting a semi-circular substance on the inner surface of the mother-of-pearl oyster are known as mabe.

Unlike nature's accident that creates keshi, two distinct and intentional operations create this pearl variation known as the mabe.

First, a semi-spherical nucleus is grafted onto the inside of a black-lipped pearl oyster. After six months the semisphere will be covered in several layers of nacre. Then it is removed from the shell and cleaned, the nucleus is extracted, the hole is filled and then covered with a layer of polished mother-of-pearl.

Tahitian mabe appear in a range of shapes, such as round, drop, heart and baroque. They tend to be grey, black or peacock green and quite often a combination of different colors is visible.

Mabe are much in demand in the jewelry industry for the manufacture of earrings, pendants and broaches.

Photo Source: "La Magie de la Perle Noire", P. Salomon and M. Roudnitska