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Robert Wan's Black Pearl Museum

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Robert Wan has a wonderful Black Perle Museum in Papeete at Vaime Center and also owns Tahiti Perles.  The museum is the only museum  in the world that is devoted entirely to pearls and contains his private collection.  It is a wonderful place to learn more about the black pearl and how the black pearl has been viewed throughout history.

The next step in the formation of the black pearl is that oysters are secured into nets and then left in the lagoon for 18 months. During that time the oyster either rejects the round ball in which case the remaining nacre becomes known as a keishi or the oyster will form a black pearl.

Joy is showing Nancy an exhibit which tells the story of how a black pearl is formed. The first step is to open a mature oyster and a grafter grafts inside of it a ball made out of a Mississippi mussel plus a small bit of tissue from the oyster.  During this time, the ball acts as an irritant and the oyster will secrete a pearl substance called nacre in an attempt to isolate the intruder. It takes years of training to become a qualified grafter. 

The museum does a wonderful job of telling how black pearls were used throughout the centuries.  Here is an exhibit showing Elizabeth with black pearls adorning her costume.

This exhibit told the story of Paul Gauguin and his fascination with Tahiti. Mary and Stevie enjoyed learning about his life in Tahiti.   Right: Mary enjoying the museum.

Kiwi standing in front of an exhibit which shows the cross-section of the oyster with a black pearl growing within it. If you would like to learn more about black pearls, go to the Tahiti section on this website, click on Tuamotos and then click on Manihi.  This is one of the low islands that has a lot of black pearl farms. 

Didi did a good job of showing the group around the museum.  Here she is explaining something to Nancy, Mary and Pearl.

Robert Wan owns the largest black pearl in the world and it is on exhibit at the museum.

If you would like information about the "Insider's Tour with Dierdra McElroy - 2006",  please contact Chris Meny at chrism@yourtravelsource.com or call (800) 597-0594.   CST #:  20378740-40.

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