Be grateful to everyone

At depths as great as 260 feet,
divers gather these oysters
while adhering to strict quotas.

In the wild, a pearl forms
around a parasite or a shell
that becomes lodged within the oyster.

The oyster reacts by secreting laying down
layers of nacre—
a smooth, hard crystalline substance—
around the irritant unwanted thing,
and those layers eventually form a pearl.

On board a vessel that serves as a floating laboratory,
technicians implant place inside each oyster
a spherical piece of freshwater mussel shell,
around which, in theory,
the oyster will secrete nacre.

Every two weeks,
the nets are briefly brought on board
to remove from the shells
any marine growth
that might disrupt interrupt the formation.

Only about half will produce a pearl.
Less than one percent of those
will be of the quality Chanel uses.

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[Closing gesture — pending]

Image register:
The rosebuds spring from thorns.
No one asks the vine what it cost.