The bead nucleus is an integral part of the pearl culturing process. However, it is the one part of a cultured pearl that we never see or even think of when buying or wearing our pearls.
But it’s with the nucleus that the story of a cultured pearl begins and Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory is set to revolutionize the pearl industry with Metakaku®, the world’s first RFID chipped pearl bead nucleus.
International Pearl Market in Recent Years
In recent years, the global pearl industry has seen rapid growth, especially from the demand side. High jewellery houses have showcased gem-quality pearls in many exclusive, luxury collections.
In addition, many independent jewellery designers have started using pearls in bold and edgy pieces. Pearls have also become the “it” gem for many Gen Z consumers, given their preference for sustainable jewellery.
But the pearl industry continues to struggle with transparency and full traceability of these gems in the supply chain. Gem reports, such as GIA’s pearl reports, may identify the pearls, loose or set in jewellery, through their seven value factors, but there is no absolute way of determining the origin of a cultured pearl. And there are many instances where it might become important to verify the origin of a cultured pearl.
For instance, a large 18mm, white, round, gem quality cultured South Sea pearl could be of either Australian or Indonesian origin. But an Australian pearl will be more expensive as compared to the Indonesian gem, in the pearl market. In this situation, pearl buyers rely on the reputation and integrity of their pearl dealers and jewellers, especially since top quality pearls are rare and high-value pieces of jewellery.
But a disreputable pearl seller may try to pass an Indonesian pearl as an Australian one.
Or a jewellery buyer may be interested in finding out more about the French Polynesian pearl farm where her pearl necklace came from, but the pearl jeweller may not have that information, given the long supply chain of the global pearl industry.
Pearls are expensive and continue to increase in price and value, it has become imperative for pearls to be fully traceable and properly identified through an easy to use and fail-safe traceability and identification process.
The innovative Metakaku® ID nucleus, a patented pearl identification technology, is poised to change this, in an efficient and sustainable way.
Understanding the Pearl Bead Nucleus
Bead-nucleated cultured pearls of both saltwater and freshwater origin are grown using a shell nucleus. Most bead nuclei are made from the shells of Freshwater mussels, either sourced from the Mississippi river in USA or from China’s rivers.
There are different types and qualities of pearl bead nuclei. A good quality bead nucleus will ensure that the pearl that grows around it is durable and will not shatter or crack, especially when drilled. Some beads may be manufactured from a solid piece of shell. Others may be laminated and still others may be chemically treated.
Typically it takes about 100 kg of shells to produce 2 kg of nuclei that are solid shell. In addition, larger bead nuclei of this type are more expensive as compared to smaller beads.
What Makes Metakaku® Fukui ID Nucleus Important?
In the face of traceability, transparency and sustainability concerns, Fukui Metakaku(R) ID Nucleus is an innovative solution. This is a laminated bead nucleus with an RFID chip embedded in it. This unique bead nucleus was developed by the Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory in Hong Kong, under the leadership of its Project Director, David Wong. But Metakaku® was not created in a day. It took over eight years of trial and error as well as research and development that led to the development of a bead nucleus that was stable, RFID tagged and ideal for pearl cultivation.
The Metakaku® beads are manufactured from the same materials as any traditional bead nucleus – freshwater mussel shell, either from the Mississippi river or from Chinese rivers. This makes them the ideal for pearl cultivation.
Each bead nucleus is securely embedded with a high quality,128-bit EPC Gen 2 RFID chip. Together, the laminated nucleus and the RFID chip are very robust and can withstand the pearl culturing process and stay submerged in water for the few years it takes to grow a pearl, without deteriorating. For pearl farmers, this is an exceptional product because it can be used for pearl cultivation and gives the cultured pearl a unique ID.
In terms of size, the Fukui Metakaku® ID Nucleus starts at 5.7 mm as the smallest available size and can go up to any size a pearl farmer requests. Given the current state of RFID technology, the cap at 5.7mm allows for a chip to be embedded in the bead nucleus without either damaging the integrity of the chip or undermining the quality of the bead lamination.
The overall cost of producing the Fukui Metakaku® ID Nucleus is lower than that of a traditional bead nucleus. 100 kg of shells can produce up to 10 kg of Metakaku® beads. This not only significantly lowers the production cost, but also makes this bead nucleus more environmentally sustainable.
For pearl farmers, however, the price of the bead nucleus is inversely proportional to its size. It is easier and less costly to embed an RFID chip into a larger size nucleus with comparatively more room to spare for drilling, as compared to beads of smaller sizes.
Metakaku® ID Nucleus, Transparency and Traceability
While the insertion of RFID chips into a laminated pearl bead nucleus is in itself a phenomenal innovation, it is how this technology can be used for transparency and traceability along the pearl supply chain, that is the real game changer.
Information about the RFID tagged pearl is uploaded and stored at a central database. This database has been set up and managed by the Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory.
The database is extremely secure and can only be accessed by pre-registered stakeholders along the pearl supply chain. These stakeholders include the nucleus manufacturing facility, the pearl farm, pearl wholesalers and dealers, pearl retailers and jewellery stores as well as the final consumer.
Together, the information stored in the database, tells a coherent, traceable and fully transparent story of the cultured pearl. This, in turn, increases the intrinsic value of these pearls.
For instance, a pearl farm may enter information about the date of the pearl cultivation or grafting surgery, length of the cultivation period, date of pearl harvest as well as details of the pearl farm. By contrast, a pearl jeweller may upload information regarding the seven value factors of the pearl, the current location of the pearl, information about the jeweller and even the price of the pearl at retail.
However, the RFID chips have to be electronically read in order to be identified. This is done by the Handheld Pearl Reader, a device that can do two things: first, it can detect and read the ID on the RFID chip inside the pearl, and second, it can access the central database in real time through the internet in order the find information on the identified pearl. The pearl reader is a portable and inexpensive piece of equipment that can identify multiple pearls at any given time.
This easily accessible information makes cultured pearl identification and traceability more precise and reliable.
A necklace of South Sea bead cultured pearls, submitted to GIA, photo by Tony Leung 
RTX analysis of one of the pearls in the necklace reveals an RFID device. 
For comparison, twotwo known bead cultured pearls containing RFID devices from GIA Hong Kong’s reference collection 
RTX clearly showed the outline of the square RFID device, as well as the sawn plane and small recess where the RFID device had been placed.
Metakaku® Nucleus – The Future of Cultured Pearls
The Metakaku® Fukui ID Nucleus is an important step towards protecting the identity and origin of cultured pearls. The technology is both innovative and easily to use. Currently, many pearl farms in French Polynesia, Indonesia and China have been successfully using Metakaku® beads in their pearl culturing activities.
In fact, the Hong Kong Pearl Cultivation Association, which has revived and rejuvenated the pearling culture of Hong Kong, has been effectively using Metakaku® nuclei at their Akoya pearl farm.
In addition, last year GIA announced that it will now include the RFID tags in its cultured pearl reports for pearls with Metakaku® nuclei.
The Metakaku® nuclei are helping write a larger story of cultured pearls. It is a story of transparency, traceability and sustainability. And like all great stories, it is about the resolution of a problem!
