BAHRAIN – The Arabian Gulf’s magical island is the world premiere location of natural pearls. The majority of Bahrain’s population was involved in pearling in the 1920s. However, the cultured pearl industry and the rise of oil jobs in the region; caused the natural pearl market to fall.
In 1928, Bahrain banned the import and sale of cultured pearls to preserve the Kingdom’s heritage and embarked on a campaign to protect the natural pearls. As a reflection of Bahrain’s ancient pearling history and the strong desire to protect this heritage, DANAT; Bahrain Institute for Pearls & Gemstones was established as the guardian of global gemological excellence.
DANAT is an authority on industry standards, scientific knowledge and education, and is committed to maintaining the highest standards of professional and personal ethics and plays a vital role in ensuring, protecting and enhancing public trust in pearls, gemstones and jewellery.
Delighted to share with you all a laboratory tour of DANAT: Bahrain Institute for Pearls & Gemstones and the expertise of their gemmologists and the state-of-the-art equipment they use to test pearls.
DANAT LABORATORY:
Video credit: The Diamond Talk
Natural pearls undergo various procedures from “sticking” to X-Ray imaging, identification and differentiating them from cultured pearls. The data is analysed in the DANAT laboratory by a team of well-trained gemmologists, many of whom are women!
DANAT CERTIFICATE:
Video credit: The Diamond Talk
The Supreme Report is presented in a luxurious red leather trifold folder containing the Standard Identification Report (inclusive of the Micro-Card Report), a high-quality enlarged image of the item and a letter that describes the item’s relevance to the market.
The Supreme Report is one of the most comprehensive and luxurious of its type available and details the full examination of the pearl necklace, gemstone or any other jewellery item and documents all of the processes adopted and research is undertaken. The accompanying letter details the item’s relevance to the market based upon finding from the authentication testing process; additionally, high-level security is inherent in the Supreme Report and contains built-in security features to prevent forgery or duplication.
RESEARCH at DANAT:
DANAT focus’s a lot on research for natural pearls and other gemstones to offer high-quality third-party verification services.
Video credit: The Diamond Talk
During our visit, Dr Reem Al Mealla, Research Manager spoke about Research and Development at DANAT, she shared the “The Ecological aspect focus’s on knowing the source of pearls and the Sustainability of the species that creates pearls, and the Gemmological aspect focuses on determining the origin and the different chemical composition that makes up these pearls and what differentiates them around the world.”
Watch the full video to hear valuable insights from Dr Reem Al Mealla.
PEARL STRINGING:
Video Credit: The Diamond Talk
This art is carried by skilled artists from India.
DANAT is also dedicated to developing the local and regional pearl & gemstone industry and offers training programmes to gemmologists both in Bahrain and in the surrounding region.
It was indeed a day well spent, got to see a different side of the pearl & gemstone testing process! Much gratitude to the entire team at DANAT for a very informative and educational laboratory tour.
Credit: DANAT, David Borough.