A pearl grown inside the pāua
Every Arapawa pearl is grown on our farm on Arapaoa Island, in land-based tanks with seawater flowing through from the Sounds.
From a young pāua to a pearl on the grading table takes eight years. Each one is graded by hand and never treated or dyed.
How we grow them
Eight years to grow a single pearl
Our pāua live in land-based tanks on Arapaoa Island, with seawater flowing through from the Sounds. Each pearl takes eight years from the tank to the grading table.
Years 1–4
The pāua grows
Raised in our tanks and fed on seaweed Jacob collects and cuts by hand.
Years 5–8
The pearl forms
A nucleus is placed inside the shell, and the pāua layers nacre over it for another four years.
Harvest
Graded on the farm
Each pearl is graded for lustre, surface and colour. No treatments, no dyes.
Setting
Made into jewellery
Corey selects pearls from each harvest and designs a setting for every one.
01 · Day one
Meet the pāua
New Zealand's native abalone, raised from spawn in our island hatchery.
02 · Years 1–8
Eight years of growing
Four years to grow the pāua, then four more after the nucleus goes in.
03 · Year 8
The harvest
Each pearl is carefully lifted from its shell.
04 · By hand
Finishing the pearl
The nucleus is removed and each pearl is finished by hand.
05 · Graded
Our grading
Every pearl is graded for lustre, colour and clarity before it's set.
Grading
Grade reflects character, not worth
Every pearl is graded on lustre, surface and colour saturation. The grade is listed on each piece and on its certificate.
A
Mirror-like lustre, very few imperfections, deep even colour. Our finest.
B1
Very good to excellent lustre, minor surface marks, strong colour.
B2
Very good lustre, moderate markings, often vivid multicoloured.
C1
Good lustre, more visible character, rich colour. Our most popular.
C2
Fair lustre, heavier markings including conchiolin.
C3
Soft lustre, pronounced texture, deep complex colour.
- Blue · the rarest colour
- Orient · two or more overtones
- Regular · one or two colours
- Conchiolin lines · natural growth rings, not flaws
Pāua & Māori tradition
A taonga from Tangaroa
In Māori tradition the pāua is a gift from Tangaroa, god of the sea, and a taonga, a treasure. Its shell was used for the eyes of carved figures, associated with the stars and the eyes of the ancestors.
Pāua is legally protected in New Zealand, and tikanga Māori teaches that what is taken from the sea is given back.
Pearl history
A different path from the oyster
Pearls were prized long before diamonds, and unlike other gems they can't be cut from rock. Each one is made by a living animal.
Cultured pearls arrived in 1893, when Mikimoto first succeeded with an oyster. A pāua pearl grows differently: the pāua has a single shell, so the pearl forms against its inner wall as a mabe, or blister, pearl.