Tracing Pearls from Oyster to Counter: RFID Tags Inside Cultured Pearls. GIA’s Pearl Reports Include Traceability Info. Can it do More?
GIA Press Release –
the Gemological Institute of America
Roskin Gem News Report –
GIA Cultured Pearl Reports Include Traceability Information
Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory uses patented technology to trace cultured pearls
The Roskin Gem News Report reached out to Fukui’s David Wong,
Project Director, Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory, and innovator of Metakaku®
In a press release sent out Monday, September 16, GIA announced that laboratory reports for cultured pearls that contain the Metakaku® bead nuclei embedded with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, will now receive a report comment with the unique RFID reference number of the pearl. According to both GIA and Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory, this technology will advance tracing capability and source transparency.
New Technology – Metakaku®
The Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory technology, Metakaku®, embeds a wireless RFID digital tag into the pearl’s nucleus so its origin and movement along the supply chain can easily be tracked. The RFID tag with its unique registry number, can easily be detected by an RFID reader during examination of the pearl. Adding the reference tracking number to the GIA Cultured Pearl Classification Reports uniquely identifies each pearl, matching it with its quality attributes based on the GIA 7 Pearl Value Factors.
Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory
Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory recently submitted a batch of bead-cultured akoya, South Sea, and Tahitian pearls to GIA’s laboratory, each embedded with an RFID chip. After a decade of development, Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory is expanding the tracking technology to major pearl producers from French Polynesia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Japan and China.
GIA Steps Forward
Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, explains. “As sustainability becomes increasingly important to consumers, this technology can play a vital role in telling the complete story of these gems,” said Moses. “The integration of RFID details with GIA Cultured Pearl Reports represents a significant step forward in efforts to enhance traceability and transparency in the pearl industry.”
Image courtesy of Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory.
Implantation
Because we had so many questions about the RFID tag, we contacted David Wong of Fukui Shell Nucleus Company in Hong Kong.
Is the tag on or in the mother-of-pearl bead? “The tag is embedded inside the pearl nucleus,” says Wong. “It is placed eccentrically (not in the center).” [This can be seen in the images provided above.]
And once the pearl reaches GIA, the laboratory report lists the pearl’s quality information, (size, shape, color, luster, surface, nacre and matching), along with the comment that sates in part, “… and it contains a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag. RFID reference number: [and the number would be inserted here].”
What’s in the Tag?
“The tag only stores the reference number (or Pearl ID Number),” notes Wong. “The detailed information relies on the use of a database accessible to the Internet.”
Wong explains: “Imagine this is your ID card or bank card. It stores a set of numbers. The rest of the information is located inside the data server.”
Nacre Thickness?
We asked David if, in the near future, it would be possible to interpret nacre thickness since the data on the bead would include its original size, and one could then measure the cultured pearl. “In terms of ‘thinking way ahead,’ this is actually great for making predictions of the nacre’s thickness.”
Farm to Market
While tracing pearls from farm to market remains challenging, sustainability is an increasingly important topic. When the pearl has been sustainably cultured and successfully traced, it tells an incredible story reflecting the journey of the oysters and mussels from which they are harvested.
“Stories have the power to create meaningful connections with pearls, inspiring us to seek deeper understanding and build stronger bonds with these precious gems,” says Wong. “Through Metakaku®, we hope to provide value and new perspectives that encourage exploration and inspire greater opportunities for every single pearl that is harvested.”
Who, What, and When?
“Fukui Shell Nucleus Company has been supplying pearl farms with pearl nuclei in Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, China, Myanmar, UAE, French Polynesia, Fiji, Mexico… pretty much all the major pearl growing countries in the world,” notes Wong.
But like many new non-traditional products, Metakaku® didn’t catch on right away.
“Most of the Metakaku® pearls were grown back in around 2013, and then we stopped supplying after 2016, simply due to an extremely low demand.” Frankly, the global market just was not ready for this. “During that time, instead of selling, we made requests to our customers to grow Metakaku® pearls for us.”
Even then things did not move forward the way they had anticipated. “Unfortunately, due to many different reasons, we did not get all the pearls back.” Some farmers totally mixed them up with the rest of their stock. Others only wanted to give back the lower quality pearls. The plan failed. But as with many new ideas that are ahead of their time, they simply had to wait.
And Wait They Did
More recently, with traceability becoming a trade and consumer concern, in 2023, Fukui Shell Nucleus Company started once again selling Metakaku®. This time however, the countries were limited to Myanmar and China. And, as David notes, Metakaku® is only sold to the pearl farmers who are willing to use them.
“The Metakaku® pearl nuclei are more expensive than the traditional pearl nuclei,” notes Wong. “However, it is still a very small fraction of the cost compared to the selling price of the resulting pearl.”
We see that this technology is still in the beginning stages of trade acceptance. And there are still questions as to how this all works.
“No, Fukui Shell does not tag every nucleus they produce,” says Wong. “There is a minimum size requirement, which is at least 6 mm.” And that is pretty much the only requirement. “As for quality, due to the production method, Metakaku® is suitable for all types of pearls.”
How Does This Work?
“The chip information storage only stores the reference number,” says David Wong. “The reference numbers now follow a standard created by GS1, an international standard for product number that is popular in the supply chain management.” GS1 has been responsible for setting standards with using UPC, Universal Product Codes, first in the grocery industry, and now in every product business by adopting the U.P.C. barcode.
“Fukui Shell Nucleus Company has been the sole manufacturer and supplier of Metakaku®. They only sell directly to the pearl farmers.” So in order to get the information regarding the RFID tag number, Fukui Shell Nucleus Company has it. “However, the information is limited to the country and the company. The RFID tag itself does not have GPS capability.”
“After COVID-19, there has been a growing acceptance of Metakaku® within and outside the industry,” says Wong. “However, Fukui Shell needs more help from the industry in order to make the whole sustainability and track-and-trace story more solid and formal.”
Traceability for Now
At the moment, the traceability record is only kept by Fukui Shell Nucleus Company and it is by putting a tight leash on supply that they are still able to keep track of those pearls. However, Fukui Shell Nucleus Company definitely needs more help to formalize everything.
“For the retailers, it is definitely their responsibility to reveal the information about the existence of a tag,” says Wong. “Any retailers with the reader can read the information inside the tag. Also, last week, we have finally launched a prototype called the ‘pearlfinder.org’ website. We are migrating the data into the website.”
“This is just the beginning of this type of technology being used inside cultured pearls,” notes Wong. “I am sure that there will be a lot more questions and concerns related to Metakaku® when we talk about full scale track-and-traceability. All I can say is that this is an industry-wide collaboration that we all need to work on.”
GIA’s Pearl Value Factors
GIA, best known for creating the 4Cs and the GIA International Diamond Grading System™, has been a leader in identifying and classifying natural and cultured pearls since 1949. GIA has contributed to revising the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s pearl guidelines for the jewelry industry and is responsible for working with major pearl companies globally to develop comprehensive standards for describing pearls. These standards are the GIA 7 Pearl Value Factors™: Size, Shape, Color, Nacre, Luster, Surface and Matching.
Image courtesy of GIA.
