CN106922582B

CN106922582B - Pearl nucleus for pearl culture and production method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN106922582B
Application number: CN201610872531.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王俊杰; 王翼翔
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-01-10
Filing date: 2013-08-16
Publication date: 2019-12-10
Anticipated expiration: 2033-08-16
Also published as: PH12013000369A1; CN106922582A; AU2013203092A1; CN103918582A; AU2013203092B2; PH12013000369B1; JP3189026U; FR3000641A1; FR3000641B1

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a pearl nucleus for seeding a pearl in a pearl producing mollusk is disclosed, wherein the pearl nucleus houses an RFID tag. The RFID tag allows identification of pearl nucleus producers as well as oyster breeders and the pearls produced. Thus, the produced pearl is identifiable by the RFID, so that the grade of the pearl identified by the industrial community can be checked.

Description

Pearl nucleus for pearl culture and production method thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of pearl production, including pearl nucleus for seeding and pearl culture and pearl identification.

Background

Generally, a natural pearl is formed when a foreign object accidentally enters into the mantle of a mollusk, such as a oyster. The oyster secretes nacre to encapsulate the foreign body to alleviate irritation caused by the presence of the foreign body. If the foreign object is not removed, the oyster will continue to secrete a layer of another layer of nacre surrounding the foreign object, eventually forming a pearl.

Nacres are approximately 90% calcium carbonate and 10% water and other organic substances and appear as smooth, hard crystalline substances consisting of tiny crystals of calcium carbonate perfectly aligned with each other. This perfect alignment gives the necessary reflection and refraction to make the pearl appear sparkling.

pearls are rated by rating specific quality attributes, which are certified by authorities such as the american institute of Gems (GIA) and the European Gems Laboratory (EGL).

Two major rating systems that are quite widely used are: AAA-A system and A-D system (Tahitian system). Both systems are based on the five qualities of a pearl, namely luster, size, shape, color, and mottle. Gloss refers to the reflection of light. The size of the pearl is measured in millimeters. The shape of the pearl may be circular, semicircular, oval, drop-shaped, button-shaped, or irregularly shaped (baroque), as desired. Speckles refer to imprints and cavities on the surface of the pearl.

The AAA-a system ranks pearls on a scale from AAA to a, where AAA is the highest rating:

AAA: the highest quality pearl, almost flawless. The surface had a very high gloss and at least 95% of the surface was defect free.

AA: the surface had a very high gloss and at least 75% of the surface was free of defects.

A: the lowest jewelry grade pearl. Low gloss or more than 25% of the surface showed defects.

Pearls that do not fall into a certain category but between the two may be rated accordingly, e.g., a + and a + +.

The a-D system (or tashiki system) ranks pearls on a scale from a to D, where a is the highest rating:

A: high gloss and only small blemishes on the surface of the pearl less than 10%.

B: high or medium gloss. The surface may have visible imperfections over no more than 30% of its area.

C: medium gloss. The surface defects do not exceed 60% of the surface area.

d: independent of gloss. The defects do not exceed 60% of the surface thereof.

pearls below the D scale are considered unacceptable for use in jewelry.

sellers tend to expand systematically in their own ad hoc fashion, such as by using terms from a rating system to describe qualities of pearls that are different from the system's intended rating. Some sellers even create their own ratings, such as "AAAA," to make them appear that pearls exceed the highest standard quality. Using such self-programmed grades may be completely dishonest.

both of these ratings systems focus primarily on the luster and surface quality of the pearl to determine its grade. However, pearls also have other attributes that can contribute to quality, which are not considered in these systems. One of these qualities is the quality of the nucleus in a cultured pearl. However, most people, including pearl breeders and consumers, often ignore the importance of the quality of the pearl nucleus and its effect on the cultured pearl.

The nucleus is typically an artificial irritant, which is typically a small circular concha flake or a nacre bead. The nucleus of the pearl is implanted into the oyster in a process called "nucleation", "transplantation" or "seeding". The oysters with their pearl nuclei are returned to the sea where they will secrete nacres to wrap the pearl nuclei to produce pearls, and will be harvested several months later to remove the cultured pearls.

The established standards require that the pearl nucleus be made of a nacreous substance having the same density as a pearl, preferably of pearl or shell material. Most commonly, the pearl nucleus is made from the mussel shell of the american mississippi river in the size range of 1.8bu to 6.0 bu. "bu" is a standard for size used in the pearl industry, where 1bu — 3.03 mm. Chinese freshwater shells are also commonly accepted as nucleus material. However, there are pearls cultured from substandard pearl nuclei, which have poor quality and low value. An example of an substandard pearl nucleus material is the shell of giant clams (also known as tridacna), the molecular structure of which makes them very fragile. Pearls cultured from such fragile pearl nucleus materials are often prone to breakage when the pearl is drilled for threading, causing significant monetary losses to the owner.

The thickness of nacre also affects the quality of the cultured pearl, particularly the five "qualities" discussed above, and also determines how long a pearl will be durable, strong, and durable.

Generally, the proportion of nacres in natural pearls is greater than the proportion of nacres in cultured pearls. After all, natural pearls consist of nearly 100% nacres, whereas cultured pearls consist of nacres covering the nucleus. Although there may be about 1500 layers of nacres deposited on the pearl nuclei over a 1 year period. In order to increase the size of the cultured pearl, the pearl nucleus implanted in the oyster is sometimes even larger than the natural pearl. The average consumer may be unaware of this and have little or no way to view the interior of the pearl to determine the size of the nucleus, and thus be vulnerable to spoofing by unscrupulous pearl traders. In some cases, even pearl breeders, pearl dealers, jewelry traders may be deceived.

However, the skilled person can visually inspect the internal structure of a pearl under strong light to check the thickness and fine substructure of the nacre. In this way, any cracks, fissures or blemishes in the nacre, as well as in the nucleus of the pearl, can be visible to some extent. Natural and cultured pearls can also be distinguished by looking at the interior of the pearl under intense light, or by using X-ray radiography or using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Cultured pearls will show a narrow brown line around the nucleus, whereas natural pearls have no growth ring. However, all of these methods require skilled training or specialized equipment that is barely accessible to the average consumer. Moreover, these methods do not distinguish whether the nucleus itself is made of a good quality nucleus material and may leave the consumer with the risk of discovering this problem when the pearl breaks apart during drilling.

Therefore, it is difficult for consumers to guard against purchasing a cultured pearl having a poor quality pearl nucleus, especially if the luster and shape of the cultured pearl look appealing.

Pearl breeders may be aware of what is used as the nucleus. However, most pearl breeders today tend to purchase the pearl nucleus from its manufacturer and may themselves ignore the actual pearl nucleus quality.

Moreover, some of the effects of poor bead quality do not manifest immediately. Unstable pearl nucleus material may leak into the nacre of a pearl, affecting the quality of the pearl, which may only show up over years when the pearl dries out and shrinks.

for reasons such as those discussed, it is desirable to provide a method that accounts for the quality of the pearl, the quality of the pearl nucleus, the growth conditions of the oyster, or the skill of the nucleation technician, etc.

It is not to be taken as an admission that any of the information in this patent specification is common general knowledge or it is reasonably expected that one of ordinary skill in the art will determine or understand the information at the priority date, consider the information to be relevant or combine the information in any way.

disclosure of Invention

In a first aspect, the present invention proposes a method for producing a pearl nucleus for pearl culture, comprising the steps of: providing a first substrate, providing a second substrate, applying an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag to a surface of the second substrate, adhering the first substrate to the surface of the second substrate, and shaping the adhered first and second substrates into a suitable shape for use as a bead core.

"shaping" may include any cutting of the edges of the matrix, polishing, sanding, engraving or any other manner of providing the bonded matrix with the desired size, shape or texture for pearl cultivation within a mollusk, and although preferred, is not necessarily limited to a generally circular bead shape.

Advantageously, shaping the bead core after enclosing the RFID tag between the matrices requires less time, effort and resources than if the bead core were first formed into a circular bead and then a cavity was made within the circular bead core to accommodate the RFID. This is because the bead core material may be more prone to rupture at the pressure at which the cavity is created than at the pressure of the forming or polishing. If the matrix breaks during the manufacture of the cavity, no further effort to shape the nucleus is required and can be dispensed with. On the other hand, if the nucleus is rounded or pre-shaped and subsequent fabrication of the cavity results in rupture of the nucleus, all of the effort to shape the nucleus is wasted. Moreover, when making the cavity, the unformed and unpolished matrix is easier to master than a round bead core.

Applying the RFID tag on the surface of the second substrate preferably comprises the steps of fabricating a cavity in the surface of the second substrate and placing the RFID tag within the cavity. However, "applying" the RFID label may include printing the RFID label on a surface of the second substrate, or any other means of securing the RFID label to the second substrate.

Alternatively, the adhesive is an epoxy. Alternatively, the adhesive may be other adhesives with similar properties to epoxy, including any that make the RFID waterproof, do not disintegrate inside the pearl and adversely affect the quality of the pearl, do not react with the nacre, do not easily crack or deform under mechanical and thermal pressure when drilling holes in the pearl.

Preferably, the cavity is made such that it is located off-center of the nucleus, especially if the nucleus is a generally circular bead. This helps to ensure that the RFID tag in the nucleus is located off center of the cultured pearl and reduces the chance of drilling through the RFID tag as the pearl drills through.

Possibly, the first matrix and the second matrix may even be made of shells of giant clams. The shell of the giant clam is not generally used for pearl nucleus due to endangered species protection, and is not used mainly because the shell is too fragile to form a strong pearl nucleus that can resist breakage during pearl drilling through. However, because the nucleus made from the shell of Meretrix meretrix tends to be very white in color and can produce beautiful bright pearls, the visual characteristics and quality of pearls cultured from the nucleus made from the shell of Meretrix meretrix are well superior to those having a nucleus made from a conventional freshwater shell. Advantageously, the use of epoxy resin as an adhesive between the matrix layers of the shell of the Meretrix Linnaeus helps to alleviate the brittle nature of the Meretrix Linnaeus shell. In other words, the use of epoxy resins to produce laminate layers for shells used to make pearl nuclei expands the choice and range of useful pearl nucleus materials.

In a second aspect, the present invention is directed to a pearl nucleus comprising an RFID tag held between two substrates. The bead nuclei used can be identified by RFID tags. Typically, but not necessarily, the substrates are made of the same material. The RFID tag has information that uniquely identifies the RFID tag. The pearl nucleus manufacturer can be traced by the pearl nucleus and can be responsible for the quality of the pearl nucleus, the quantity of the pearl nucleus produced and the like.

Preferably, at least two substrates are bonded together by an adhesive, such as an epoxy.

Preferably, the pearl nucleus is a rounded pearl nucleus.

Preferably, the RFID tag is placed in a cavity that is fabricated in at least one of the substrates, the cavity being offset from the center of the substrate surface.

Alternatively, the RFID tag is passive. However, the RFID tag may be an active RFID tag that also includes a signal booster. This allows for stronger detection by the RFID reader and allows for tracking of lost or stolen persons.

In a third aspect, the present invention is directed to a pearl cultured from a pearl nucleus containing an RFID tag for identifying the pearl. The RFID tag allows the pearl to be identified by an RFID reader. Thus, the RFID can be matched with an independent record of the quality and origin of a certified pearl. If a pearl is stolen or lost, the pearl can be detected or identified by RFID.

In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a method for identifying a pearl, comprising the steps of: an RFID reader is used to detect a signal from an RFID tag in a pearl from which the pearl is identified.

possibly, this step further includes determining the source of the pearl based on the identification of the pearl.

Possibly, this step further includes ascertaining the graded grade of the pearl based on the identification of the pearl.

in a fifth aspect, a system for pearl identification is provided, comprising: one or more pearls each containing a uniquely identifiable RFID tag in the one or more pearls, a register (registry) to record a grade of each of the one or more pearls, one or more RFID readers to detect the RFID tag inside each of the one or more pearls, wherein each of the one or more pearls is identifiable by an RFID to make the grade of each pearl available from the register (registry).

The grade of a pearl may be any of five qualities of the pearl, source, date, etc., and preferably includes information indicating the quality of the pearl nucleus, the oyster farm in which the pearl is being grown, the year of the growth, the quality of the water in the oyster farm, and any other information useful in determining the quality of the pearl.

In a sixth aspect, the present invention provides a method for producing a pearl nucleus for pearl culture, comprising the steps of: providing a powdered shell, providing an RFID tag, and mixing the powdered shell with an adhesive to form a bead core containing the RFID tag. Preferably, the method includes rolling the powdered shell and adhesive into a bead core containing the RFID tag.

Advantageously, the method allows the wasted shell (especially powdered shell) from any shell process to be recycled for use as a pearl nucleus. This approach avoids or reduces efforts to cut non-circular bead core matrices and to shape and polish the bead cores into circular beads. Moreover, this method allows the previously described unsuitable shell materials (such as the shell of fragile mussels) to be used as the nucleus material. This is because the epoxy resin can hold the powdered shell firmly together to resist cracking of the nucleus when the cultured pearl is drilled through.

The term "comprises" and its grammatical variants have meanings determined by the context in which they occur. Accordingly, the terms should not be construed as limiting unless the context dictates otherwise.

Drawings

The present invention will be further described, as convenient, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate possible arrangements of the invention and in which like numerals refer to like parts. Other embodiments of the invention are possible, and therefore the specific details of the drawings are not to be understood as superseding the general principles of the invention previously described.

fig. 1 illustrates a first step in a method of producing a pearl nucleus;

Fig. 2 illustrates a second step of the method of producing the pearl nucleus of fig. 1;

Fig. 3 illustrates an RFID tag used in the method of producing a pearl nucleus of fig. 2;

Fig. 4 illustrates a further step of the method of producing the pearl nucleus of fig. 1;

Fig. 5 illustrates a further step of the method of producing the pearl nucleus of fig. 1;

Fig. 6 illustrates yet further steps of the method of producing the pearl nucleus of fig. 1;

Fig. 6a is a photograph of a pearl nucleus manufactured according to the method for manufacturing a pearl nucleus of fig. 1 to 6;

FIG. 6b is an explanatory view of the pearl nucleus of FIG. 6 a;

FIG. 6c illustrates a system for identifying a pearl using a pearl nucleus;

Fig. 7 illustrates a first step in an alternative method of producing a pearl nucleus; and

fig. 8 illustrates a second step in the method of producing the pearl nucleus of fig. 7.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 to 6 show a method for manufacturing a pearl nucleus for seeding in a mollusk, such as a oyster or any other suitable shellfish, to obtain a cultured pearl.

The nucleus for seeding in oysters is prepared from a first substrate 101 and a second substrate 103. The first substrate 101 and the second substrate 103 are made of a suitable seeding material, such as the shell of freshwater clams 105.

Fig. 2 shows a cavity 201 engraved into the surface of the second substrate 103. The depth and area of the cavity 201 are sized to accommodate a small RFID (radio frequency identification) tag 301, preferably in a compact manner.

RFID is a technology that uses a wireless contactless system, such as a radio frequency electromagnetic field, to obtain data from an RFID tag attached to an object. RFID tags typically have a unique identity that allows identification of the attached object.

Typically, the RFID tag 301 includes a small RF transmitter and receiver that is detectable by a two-way radio transmitter-receiver called an RFID reader. The RFID reader transmits a radio signal to interrogate or detect any RFID tags within close proximity. Any such RFID tag within a nearby range reflects the radio signal to the RFID reader as well as the RFID identity of the tag.

The RFID tag 301 may be passive or active. The active RFID tag 301 has a built-in battery that can amplify the response signal to the RFID reader so that the signal can reach the RFID reader over a longer distance. Passive RFID tags 301 are cheaper and smaller, but the RFID reader must be relatively close to detect passive RFID tags 301.

The RFID tag 301 used in this embodiment is a small, such as an RFID tag of model IM5-PK2525 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical co. FIG. 3 is a drawing of a graph obtained from Hitachi Kasei K.K.,

http:// www.hitachi-chem.co.jp/english/products/ppcm/files/im5_ pk2525.pdf, and showing the RFID tag 301 and the antenna of the tag for receiving and transmitting signals, the specific details of the RFID tag 301 are known to the skilled person and need not be elaborated upon herein, it is only noted that the dimensions of the RFID tag 301 in this embodiment are 2.5mm x 0.4mm, which allows the cavity 201 in the matrix bead core to be considered small.

Fig. 4 shows that the surface around the cavity 201 of the second substrate 103 is covered by a suitable adhesive 401.

Fig. 5 shows the first substrate 101 subsequently placed over the adhesive 401 on the surface of the second substrate 103 to form a laminated structure, illustrated in the form of a laminated cube 501. Thus, the RFID tag 301 is placed between the first substrate and the second substrate within the laminate cube 501. The adhesive 401, the first substrate 101, and the second substrate 103 together make the enclosed RFID tag 301 waterproof.

The adhesive 401 is preferably an epoxy or any similar polymer. The epoxy resin, when applied and cured, acts as an adhesive 401 that bonds the first and second substrates 101, 103 and the RFID tag 301 together. The epoxy is strong and likely to resist the impact and heat of drilling without cracking or splitting. Furthermore, the epoxy resin is stable and does not easily degrade.

The laminated cube 501 formed by bonding the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 103 is then processed and worked according to conventional methods of manufacturing pearl nuclei. That is, if the laminated cube 501 is large, the corners of the laminated cube 501 are cut to reduce the size of the laminated cube. The reduced size laminated cube 501 is then polished by steel and diamond dust in an abrasive disk commonly known in the industry under the japanese name "enban" to produce a generally smooth and rounded bead 601 as illustrated in fig. 6. The round beads can be used as a pearl nucleus 601 for pearl culture.

Although the nucleus 601 is not necessarily circular, a circular shape is preferred as the degree of roundness and smoothness of the nucleus 601 determines the final shape of the pearl to be produced.

In contrast to the above steps, it may be more difficult to make a cavity in an already round and polished bead core, and then embed the RFID tag 301 into the cavity and seal the cavity. If the already circular bead core is broken during the manufacture of the cavity, the effort and effort required to shape and polish the bead core is wasted.

thus, it is advantageous to enclose the RFID tag 301 between layers of unformed substrate, and only cut, form and polish the substrate after it is laminated and bonded together. Also, a non-circular substrate can be more easily retained for making cavities in the substrate. In addition, the lamination and polishing efforts may be applied only to the substrate that is not broken when the cavity 201 is manufactured.

grinding the bead core into a round bead without destroying the RFID tag 301 is a low skill requirement for some human technicians, which is not part of this embodiment.

Fig. 6a is a photograph of a bead core 601 manufactured according to the above steps. Little attention is paid to the line showing the separation between the two substrates used to enclose the RFID tag within the bead core 601.

fig. 6b is an explanatory view of fig. 6a showing a bead core 601, the bead core 601 being a laminate of the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 103, which is rounded into a bead shape.

the small size of the RFID tag 301 allows the pearl nucleus 601 to be small, so the lower size limit of a cultured pearl is low. Thus, cultured pearls are not necessarily large.

Typically, if the RFID tag 301 has dimensions of 2.5mm by 0.4mm, the bead core may be as small as 0.9 bu. Alternatively, other sizes of RFID tags 301 may be used as circumstances require or warrant.

The adhesive 401 prevents water from penetrating between the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 103 and from contacting water when the RFID tag 301 is implanted in a oyster. This prevents corrosion of the RFID tag 301. Furthermore, the adhesive 401 prevents the material in the RFID tag 301 from leaking from the bead core 601 into the nacre deposited surrounding the bead core 601. Without a suitable adhesive 401, the quality of the pearl may be affected if the RFID material leaks into the nacre (even years after the pearl is purchased).

The cavities 201 in the second substrate 103 are preferably located closer to either side surface of the second substrate 103 and not in the center of the surface of the second substrate 103. This reduces the chance that the RFID tag 301 will be located in the very middle of a cultured pearl when the pearl is formed, reducing the likelihood of damage to the pearl when drilling through the center of the pearl. Generally, the probability of damage caused by drilling decreases as the size of the bead core increases (4/3 pi r 3). Furthermore, having the RFID tag 301 located closer to the side of the pearl increases the readability of the RFID signal since the response signal needs to be transmitted through less nacre on that side of the pearl.

when the pearl nucleus 601 is prepared, a living mollusk such as a pearl oyster is opened by a surgical operation and the pearl nucleus 601 is embedded into the oyster. The details of the surgical shell and cutting procedures are well known to the skilled artisan and are performed by highly skilled technicians and need not be described herein. The oysters are then returned to the water for months of care to grow the pearls.

After a period of time, sufficient nacre surrounds the pearl nucleus 601 to form a pearl that can be harvested. Due in part to the adhesive 401 used, the pearl nucleus 601 is resistant to the heat and shock of drilling, preventing the pearl from breaking open under the heat and mechanical pressure of drilling, so the pearl can be drilled through for threading without easily breaking.

The RFID tag 301 in a cultured pearl is able to respond to a detection signal from an RFID reader through the layer of nacre, and the pearl containing the RFID tag 301 is now identifiable by the unique identity of the RFID tag 301.

The pearls can then be sent out for quality testing and rating by qualified persons. The grade of the pearl may then be recorded in a register along with the RFID of the pearl. Preferably, but not necessarily, the registers may be accessible online.

In general, the grade of a pearl may be based on conventional pearl characteristics such as the five traits described above. However, if desired, the grade of a pearl may include a description of the growth conditions of the oyster, the quality of the feed water, the exact period of feeding the oyster and leaving the pearl to grow, the quality and type of pearl nucleus used, the thickness of the nacre, and the like.

fig. 6c illustrates how any trader of a pearl may now use the appropriate RFID reader 603 to detect 604 the identity of the cultured pearl 605 and look up the established grade of the cultured pearl 605, including the quality and source of the cultured pearl 605 and the pearl nucleus 601, in a register or database 607 after the cultured pearl 605 is placed on the market.

The RFID reader 603 is inexpensive and widely available and can be readily used by any jewelry vendor to read the RFID tag 301 in a cultured pearl 605. This allows both the trader and the consumer to easily identify the pearl 605 and its quality without the need for specialized instruments to view the interior of the pearl 605.

Fig. 7 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention. Shell material 701, such as mussel shell material of mississippi river, usa, is ground to a powder 703. The shell powder 703 is mixed with a suitable binder or adhesive, such as epoxy, to form a bead core bead 801 that houses an RFID tag 803 as shown in fig. 8. The skilled person understands that epoxy resins need to be cured. This method avoids the need to grind the surface of the laminated bead core to round it. Moreover, this method allows the use of a shell of a giant clam or other frangible shell, as long as the adhesive 401 ensures that the pearl nucleus bonds well so that it does not easily break during pearl drill-through. The adhesive 401 ensures that the RFID tag 803 inside the bead is waterproof. Moreover, the use of the adhesive 401 prevents the RFID material from leaking into the nacre and also prevents the RFID tag 803 from corroding when the oyster containing the laminated bead core is submerged in water.

Pearl breeders and consumers often ignore the effect of the pearl nucleus 601 on the quality of the cultured pearl 605. This can now be mitigated to some extent by the described embodiments. An RFID-identifiable pearl nucleus and an RFID-identifiable pearl as described would allow a manufacturer of pearl nuclei to be tracked placing responsibility on the manufacturer for the quality of the pearl nucleus, and to some extent the quality of the cultured pearl. In this manner, this embodiment allows pearl oyster breeders to identify suspected or non-standard manufacturers.

Furthermore, the farmer himself can also be tracked by the nucleus 601 he bought or used.

The consumer would benefit particularly because this embodiment may allow the consumer to retrieve objective information from the database 607 regarding the quality of the pearl 605 and reduce the likelihood that the consumer will be deceived.

RFID may also allow pearls to be traced for security reasons, such as in a theft event or at the state's customs.

Accordingly, the described embodiments include a method of producing a pearl nucleus 601 for pearl culture, comprising the steps of: providing a first substrate 101, providing a second substrate 103, applying an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag on a surface of the second substrate 103, adhering the first substrate 101 to the surface of the second substrate 103, and shaping the adhered first and second substrates 101, 103 into a suitable shape for use as a bead core 601.

moreover, the described embodiments include a system for pearl identification, comprising: one or more pearls 605 each containing a uniquely identifiable RFID tag 301 in the one or more pearls 605, a register record of the grade of the pearl 605, an RFID reader 603 for detecting the RFID tag inside the pearl 605 so that the pearl 605 can be identified and the grade of the pearl 605 can be looked up in the register.

Furthermore, the described embodiments include a method of producing a pearl nucleus 601 for pearl culture, comprising the steps of: providing a powdered shell, providing the RFID tag 301, mixing the powdered shell with an adhesive 401, and rolling the powdered shell and adhesive 401 into a bead core containing the RFID tag 301.

Also, a pearl nucleus comprising at least two substrates bonded together to enclose the RFID tag 301 has been described.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in the foregoing description, it will be understood by those skilled in the technology concerned that many variations or modifications in details of design, construction or operation may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.

For example, although the RFID tag is described as being implanted within a cavity 201 fabricated in the second substrate 103, the RFID tag may alternatively be printed on the surface of either of the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 103 and sandwiched therebetween. In this case, there is no need to make cavities in any of the substrates.

The first substrate 101 and the second substrate 103 may be made of any suitable material for causing secretion of nacres in oysters. But preferably, at least one of the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 103 may be made of mother-of-pearl or crushed pearl flakes. The first substrate 101 and the second substrate 103 may be made of the same material, or each may be made of a different material.

although oysters are mentioned in the examples as organisms for producing nacres, the skilled artisan will appreciate that the present examples are intended to include other types and species of mollusks and shellfish that are capable of secreting nacres, including freshwater or marine oysters.

Although reference is made to shells for the nucleus of a pearl being obtained from the freshwater mussel of the mississippi river, usa, the skilled person will appreciate that other shells such as the chinese freshwater shell may be used, or even the shell of a giant clam may be used as long as the adhesive 401 holds the substrate together as the pearl is drilled through.

although pearls have been described that contain RFID beads manufactured according to embodiments, pearls containing RFID identifiable beads manufactured by methods other than the specific embodiment are also intended to be included within the scope of this specification.

Claims

1. A method of producing a pearl nucleus for pearl culture, comprising the steps of:

Providing a first substrate;

Providing a second substrate;

Applying an RFID tag to a surface of the second substrate;

Bonding the first substrate to the surface of the second substrate; and

Shaping the bonded first and second matrices into a suitable shape for use as the bead core.

2. The method of producing a bead core for pearl culture according to claim 1, wherein applying the RFID tag on the surface of the second substrate comprises the steps of:

Fabricating a cavity in a surface of the second substrate; and

An RFID tag is placed within the cavity.

3. The method for producing a pearl nucleus for pearl culture according to claim 2, wherein the cavity is manufactured such that the cavity is offset from the center of the pearl nucleus.

4. The method for producing a bead core for pearl culture according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein the first substrate is bonded to the surface of the second substrate using an epoxy resin.

5. A pearl nucleus comprising an RFID tag held between two substrates.

6. The pearl nucleus of claim 5 wherein at least two of said substrates are bonded together by an epoxy.

7. The pearl nucleus according to claim 5 or 6, which is a rounded pearl nucleus.

8. The pearl nucleus of claim 5 wherein said RFID tag is located in a cavity made in one of said substrates, said cavity being offset from the center of said pearl nucleus.

9. A cultured pearl using a pearl nucleus containing an RFID tag for identifying the pearl, wherein the pearl nucleus is a laminated pearl nucleus comprising at least two substrates bonded together with the RFID tag positioned between the two substrates.

10. The cultured pearl of claim 9, wherein the at least two substrates are bonded by an epoxy.

11. A method of identifying a pearl comprising the steps of:

Detecting a signal from an RFID tag inside a pearl using an RFID reader;

Identifying the pearl from the signal; wherein

The RFID tag is held between two substrates that form the nucleus of the pearl.

12. the method of identifying a pearl according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of:

Identifying a grade of the pearl based on the identification of the pearl.

13. The method of identifying a pearl according to claim 11 or 12, further comprising:

determining a source of a pearl nucleus for use in breeding the pearl based on the identifying.

14. A system for pearl identification, comprising:

One or more pearls, each containing a uniquely identifiable RFID tag;

An RFID tag in each pearl of the one or more pearls, the RFID tag being held between two substrates that form a pearl nucleus;

a register to record a grade of each of the one or more pearls;

One or more RFID readers to detect the RFID tag inside each of the one or more pearls; wherein

Each of the one or more pearls is identifiable by an RFID such that a grade of each pearl is retrievable from the register.