Visitors
to Phu Quoc Island may not know that Phu Quoc pearls are said to be the
best in the country, but they will certainly notice the abundance of
pearl stores dotting the island. Despite the fame of Phu Quoc pearls,
most pearls sold do not originate there, and are mostly cheaper
fresh-water pearls. Connoisseurs say genuine Phu Quoc pearls are scarce
and expensive.
Ho Phi Thuy is the owner of the largest pearl producer on Phu Quoc Island.
The 39-year-old man, who could not afford to attend university, has
over 1.5 million oysters, capable of producing about 200kg of pearls
each year.
"No shop on the island buys pearl from my workshop," Thuy said, "Our products are mainly exported to Japan."
Although pearls are sold everywhere on the island, Thuy’s claim should
spark the curiosity of visitors. Many stores claim to sell Phu Quoc
pearls, and prices vary widely from store to store, ranging from
several hundred thousand dong to thousands of dollars for a necklace.
According to a manager of a pearl shop on Phu Quoc island, the price is dependent on the pearls’ age and lustre.
Normally, it takes between six months and one year to produce a pearl.
This explains why there are only four pearl producers on the island.
Most of them are joint ventures with foreign companies.
Asked if the pearls were from Phu Quoc, a shop owner named Le Bich Ngoc
in Rach Ham Hamlet, Ham Ninh Commune replied, "I do not know where they
come from. It is said that these pearls are brought in the north."
Ngoc said visitors had usually bought pearl necklaces for a few hundred
thousand dong each. She said the most expensive one she had sold was
worth VND3 million (US$181).
Director of the Centre for Gem and Gold Research and Identification,
Pham Van Long, said Phu Quoc pearls were the most beautiful in Viet Nam
because the island water was cleaner and the layer of mother of pearl
was usually thicker and more lustrous than pearls grown in other parts
of the country.
The price of one Phu Quoc pearl ranges from $2 to $2,000, depending on
its size, shape and colour. For example, a beautiful, shining pearl of
between 15mm and 16mm is sold at $2,000.
Sea-water pearls are more lustrous than those grown in fresh water.
Long said Chinese pearls were rampant in the island, with 90 per cent of them grown in fresh water.
Local business
Island people recall their ancestors diving for pearls, but nowadays
they use nets to trawl for oysters. They said that some families had
found very valuable pearls this way.
Known as the pearl island, Phu Quoc is surrounded by pure, blue water gulfs where oysters abound.
Holding a handful of Phu Quoc pearls, Ho Phi Thuy’s wife Khong Thi Truc
said she had sold pearls for VND9 million each. She said she had sold
one pearl at a price of VND100 million. The cheapest necklace she sold
was worth several million dong.
Head of Kien Giang Planning and Investment Department’s Business
Registration Section, Le Quoc Tuan, said one local had bought a pearl
production establishment from a Japanese business in An Thoi Town. But
Tuan said he did not know where the establishment was located at
present.
Thuy, who now owns the business, worked odd jobs for years after high
school, with one stint as a deep-sea diver that left him with
perforated eardrums and temporarily deaf.
His company in An Thoi Town, Duong To Commune now employs 30 workers
who get a monthly salary of VND2 million ($120) each. Last year, he
earned a monthly profit of VND2.6 billion ($156,626).
Originally from Quang Nam Province, Thuy grew up in a poor family with
many children. After graduation from high school, he tried his hand at
many jobs before moving to Phu Quoc Island in 1989 to deep-sea dive.
"That was a very dangerous job, although I made good money," he said.
"But my eardrums were perforated from having to dive so deep and I had
to have an operation."
Thuy, whose hearing was restored, then decided to sell his fishing boat
to a Japanese man who cultivated pearls on the island, and began
working for him.
After the Japanese company went bankrupt following the Asian financial
crisis in 1997, Thuy, who had learned cultivation techniques from his
boss, bought equipment, cages and vessels from the Japanese company.
Beginning with 3,000 breeding oysters, Thuy began to turn a profit and
expanded his business to two hectares. In 2005, his pearls brought him
VND4 billion ($2.4 million) in profit.
He is now re-employing his ex-boss at US$2,500 a month.
The real Vietnam's Mekong delta tour
PHU QUOC BEACH VACATION (4 days/ 3 nights)
Phu Quoc Island Getaway - 4days 3 nights
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