Why Tyrian Purple Dye Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Insider Business
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- čas přidán 20. 01. 2023
- Making authentic Tyrian purple dye starts with extracting a murex snail gland. After a series of painstaking steps, Tunisian dye maker Mohamed Ghassen Nouira turns as much as 45 kilograms of snails into a single gram of pure Tyrian purple extract. When he's done, he can sell it for $2,700. Some retailers sell a gram of the pigment for over $3,000. In comparison, 5 grams of synthetic Tyrian purple costs under $4.
So, why is real Tyrian purple so hard to make? And is that why it's so expensive?
Mohamed Ghassen Nouira's website: www.argamanou.com/
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Why Tyrian Purple Dye Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Insider Business
I wish people heard the final words “the main concern should always be to preserve the species because if there’s no murex there’s no dye”
So all the folks attacking him…please stop.
He’s an artisan, this is cultural preservation.
Is it me or was anyone expecting that accent of the guy making the purple 🟣?
Subtitles 😂
Sounds like American to me...
Actually it was shocking but I think he was born there and probably grew up either in the States or UK then moved back after he figured out he can do this! My guess!
Definitely has an accent.
Yeah I was ready to hear some arabic and see subtitles, but this guy sounds like he could be my neighbor
To teach yourself a craft that essentially resurrects a product that was virtually extinct is pretty amazing, and the passion and morals behind it have to be recognized.
I'm a tradesman myself, so I really admire and appreciate a master in their craft. I don't think much of the colour (just my opinion), but big props to your work.
Just my 2cents.
The history and context are pretty amazing. It used to be used in so many cultures including Solomon's temple (as we often call it in English).
There will always be world wars so long as people are too busy being barbarians to spend time considering the morality of their actions.
That moral is to envied for! May God bless him and you always!
@@marzipanmerci1068 God doesn't bless evil
@@UltimaOnlineAlpha What are you on about? God blesses all and continues to. People decide whether to recognise that or not. That's the point. Literally shut up.
Over the years l learned to use Murex meat in so many ways! Grilled, boiled, steamed, fried or sauted it's an amazing treat packed with vitamins and proteins! I wish we could find the time to figure out all the different uses of our food (seeds, peels, shells, leaves...) . If we manage to re-use half of our daily waste the world would have been a much better place
the rise of acids in the ocean affects shellfish first, they are the most vulnerable to it because acids reduce the levels of calcium in the ocean water which shellfish use to grow their shells, so anything that rises thw acid levels in the ocean will affect the shellfish directly
I went to your website and Facebook page. Your work is beautiful.
This is such a cool process. Really wish I could afford something you made. Maybe I'll try to save for my wife someday
We appreciate your hard work and dedication to reviving this tradition ❤️❤️
I like the video and it is very impressive. Can you try grilling Murex meat with hot oil mix green onion hot oil sauce and roasted peanuts on top? I make sure you will like it. :))
It makes me immensely happy to see he is doing this sustainably and minimising as much waste as possible. His comment somewhere in this section highlights how he has kept an eye on the local species population and that its been stable if not better, that he ensures every part of the snail gets used in other industry and/or for consumption.
Wait until you learn about animal cruelty and indifference. These things shouldn't make you happy at all.
What are you talking about?
@@UltimaOnlineAlpha Rather have animals suffer than humans.
@@UltimaOnlineAlpha Isn't there a tree somewhere that needs a hug?
@@synical13 there are many
I am a Tunisian artist and I am happy to see you posting about Tunisian art and we need to see more episodes from the locals because this place is swimming in under valued art in all forms and it will be cool to show it to the world
F Tunisian art this is animal cruelty give your head a shake
@@UltimaOnlineAlpha I was talking about artist not about this guy. they should focus on them more not on this type of content . I agree with you it's a rare species and they should not use them with that massive amount .
Exactement! Je me réjouis de découvrir l'art tunisien. Des pigments naturels, mais quel rêve pour un artiste! Faire ses propres couleurs...
And I am so glad that Tunisians are chosing English at school over French (although my mothertongue is French), or learning English as well as French. Let's all go global! I would love to learn Arabic too, so much culture and history... I just know a few words unfortunately and a few yummy cooking recipes...
Love from a Swiss living in Mumbai to all my Tunisian brothers and sisters!
@@dahaniffer who told you it is rare? It is not as long as we don't over harvest them! Moreover I am not massively using them, my work extended over 16 years so no harm is ever caused to the local Murex population...l honestly believe that mussels, shrimps, cuttlefish and octopus are far more threatened than Murex because of the year long over fishing that nobody seems to worry about yet when "this guy" manages to revive a 4000 years old craft by making a good use of some part of a snail that is going to be consumed anyway so many animal advocates pop up to call "this guy" a serial killer!
Prejudice is ignorance!
@@ghassennouira2301 I thought the video on this process is very cool, as well as the painstakingly long process to make the dye. I’m an artist, and I took fresco painting in collage and got to see raw pigment and use them, and I would have loved to use this Tyrian purple pigment. I also believe in the ancestors and continuing to, or reviving our people’s valuable old traditions in this modern and cynical age. Beautiful purple! I was glad to hear that the crushed snails are also used in meals. Long love Tyrian purple production!
I appreciate that he uses the entire snail! I also appreciate that he cares about the snails not becoming over harvested. Natural dyes are extremely interesting to me! The work put into this process is commendable!!
Again thanks for your nice comments and God have mercy on those who keep accusing without having a single clue about my actual dyeing work or intentions!
I hope this message gets to most viewers since l am not going to spend my time justifying my actions to people who aren't even ready to listen!
Again, more than 90% of the Murex l use are naturally trapped in fishermen nets and that are otherwise either consumed by the fishermen themselves or sold to local seafood restaurants so basically most of the Murex l am using are not caught specifically for dyeing purposes exception made of the small portion caught by the divers.
On the other hands and as mentioned earlier, l respect the seasons and sort the snails by size before processing them. Moreover, l naturally consume these mollusks like so many Tunisians l just make sure not to waste the dye. Also all the other parts of the snail are recycled, shells are turned into lime, opercula as incense fixative and even the guts are processed into garum while hundreds of thousands of tons of other marine creatures are harvested every year in the whole world for meat consumption only while the rest of the creature is dumped and nobody seems to care!!
My work extends over 15 years and no harm has ever been caused to the local Murex which is more abundant than ever here!
Let me remind those who are appalled by the use of a natural ingredient to produce a colorant and prefer replicating it chemically that synthetic dyeing is the world's most polluting industry harming millions of living beings every year so l wonder who the real assassins are!
Finally you can continue calling me names such killer, murderer, psycho, criminal or whatever your mind dictates to you to say without even making the effort to dig further and learn more about my work l honestly don't care because l have total peace of mind about what l am doing and l will definitely not spend my life justifying my actions to people who's only concern is to accuse others without even listening to the other side.
Keep in mind that prejudice is ignorance so may God lead us all to the light!
A big thanks again to all the supporters from all over the world 🌎
🇹🇳 🇹🇳🇹🇳🇹🇳👍
You are clearly very compassionate and well educated person. Don't let anyone make you think otherwise!💜
Some people just spend too much online and take it out on others, don't listen to them your work is valuable and it's great that they have multiple uses
Hi man, why are you trying to justify yourself to internet trolls who have no better business to leave negative comments on purpose. Enjoy your work and don't pay attention! :)
Considering you're reviving a craft that died out with the Byzantine Empire, and it is dead for hundreds of years, I think that's a lot more important than a bunch of snails, even if you throw away everything after removing the gland!!
When you start explaining and justifying what you are doing, the beasts smell the blood and get even worse with comments - so don't pay attention 😄
_If I have few thousand Euros to spare, I would definitely order 1 gram of dye from you, just to have it around, in my possession_ 😄
💜💜💜
I remember learning about this dye and it's making from "sea snails" from my HS World History class. I was taught by a Nun who wanted us to be as fascinated by all of the little fun tidbits of history as she was. She would be so pleased to know you are bringing this back to life. Bless you Sir, and God Rest you Sister Adele.
I'm pretty sure she's saying Hello from the other side...
@@varunrajgor That was a good one
@@SyCoREAPER athoids moment ...
@@master_wu708 thank you, her message needs to be delivered. Afterall, she must've called a thousand times...
the thing is, sometimes people need to get over stuff like this, they haven't mentioned the difference between real and synthetic dye of this color, which takes me to the point: why all that? why would someone other than fanatic color collector would want this?
And I don't get why would someone bring things back to life, sometimes its better to let the dead rest as well, as long he is happy I guess that's all what matter, but if he is pushing it, then its a lost cause for sure.
I was not expecting him to sound so american
Because most probably he is, lots of Tunisians go back home from the U.S to start businesses.
@@Simplynova69 Ummm, no. Def American accent.
@@yayapoet7862Americans have never been named Mohammad😂
@@yayapoet7862 yes, but his ACCENT is American.
@@yayapoet7862 Are you acting dumb on purpose? Maybe I missed the joke. I apologize if I did. Maybe you were intoxicated when you made that comment. Who knows!
Tyrian purple originates from the Phoenician city Tyr (today located in Lebanon). Phoenicians from Tyr, led by a princess forced to exile, founded the city of Carthage (today located in Tunisia). I didn't know that craftsmen are still using these ancestral techniques to produce this beautiful color ... it's great to see ... Thank you Ghassen !
And Phoenicia is basically Greek for “land of the purple.”
Thank you Insider for this amazing documentary, and kudos to both Slim and Ghassen for keeping this dye making process alive.
I remember reading about tyrion purple in the Roman empire and that it disappeared when the empire fell in my history textbook in high school. So glad it has been brought back. This is one of those things that will stay small scale and niche. That is a good thing in this case. Conservation and responsible production should go hand in hand.
I agree. Conservation and responsible prod is the way to go, as it should be. 😁
Snails only worth
You read?
Responsible production would be to produce none.
Romans took over the purple dye trade after they conquered Carthage, who were the descendants of the Phoncieans. Carthaginian Officer's would often Don a Barbary lion pelt an purple cloak to distinguish their rank. Evidence has been uncovered by coin's discovered at the battle of Zama North Africa, along with bronze Curass an Falcatas.
The Tyrian purple looks absolutely stunning. Seems like the workers are dedicated through and through.
snails only deserve death anyways
@@xCeL46 they are snails bro
@@xCeL46 what did those poor snails do to you?
What about Snails? Just for Human's sake of amusement, we would kill poor creatures?
@@AdarshMadrechaamusement. Lol
It’s always such a pleasure to find someone that takes joy in their craft
This is a culture of the Carthaginians and Phoenicians. If you people don't like the idea, mind your own business. He could farm these snails, but he probably needs the money to make a farming of these shells possible.
Its so amazing how early people discover they can produce such a beautiful color dye from shell gland. True amazing
Like most things, it was simply by chance. Guy was walking his dog on the beach, the dog started chewing on something and it's face got stained in purple. The guy obviously examined what the dog was eating and figured it out.
It's cruelty
@@MoonLight-tn4xe He eats the snails, it's no different then any other animal food source where non edible parts of the animal are used to make other things.
@@maybemints They literally said they manage them.
@@andreaabestano2158 ignorant
I haven't used animal-based dyes but I'm pretty good at using vegetable dyes. You can get a shade of purple that's close to Tyrian purple using Brazilwood (hot pink), Logwood (bluish purple but mostly blue), and Madder (bright red) but it's a little duller in color; not nearly as magnificent and vibrant as real Tyrian purple. It's been awhile since I experimented with purples. My thing of late is extracting the four different pigments from safflower petals. There are two yellows and two red/pinks and each requires a different extraction technique. Dyeing stuff with natural materials is fascinating.
I think indigo dye mixed with beetroot or something else with a bright red would mix together to create a nice purple shade too?
I’ve only played around with common plants natural dyes, mostly ones like purple cabbage, turmeric, carrot and beetroot.
I appreciate both the comment & reply above me. That said, I wonder what the stats are w/ regard to how long the dye - lets say, when used in powder form - lasts before fading? Well, I now know what I'll be reading up on.
@@kneau if you use a mordant or dye fixative, then you can get natural dyes to last a very long time, though they may fade more easily if they are left in the sun or are washed on hot.
However as natural dyes have to be used on natural fibres (cotton, hemp, wool, linen, etc) in order for the dye to fix, it is reliant on that fabric also not breaking down over time.
However synthetic dyes can be used on synthetic fabrics, which means that even in 100 years, those synthetic dyed plastic clothing will still be around, but the natural dyed natural fibres will have disintegrated by then.
@@elenalizabeth I've never had success with beets as a dye plant. They'll stain your counters and your kitchen sink but for some reason they won't stain wool. Purple cabbage makes a lovely robin's egg blue and is great for dyeing Easter eggs. You can use woad and madder to make a purple but always dye your madder first (red). Woad and indigo both are difficult to work with to achieve an even dye job. That's one reason why your jeans are kind of mottled, even the really dark blue ones. They're all dyed with indigo. There are other blues but right now, it's past midnight and my brain went to sleep. LOL
@@LauraS1 I used beets by just grating them up into a pulp, boiling that in a large pot of water, then putting the item in the boiling water along with the fixative (I can’t remember what it was but I had to add a lot of salt too).
I was dying pure cotton fabric, so I don’t know how it would go on wool as it needs a different kind of mordant and I’m too lazy to make that haha
Nothing but respect for his hard work and beautiful craft. Natural dyes are superior. Cancer rates are skyrocketing, and it's because we are using synthetic cheap barely regulated products on ourselves. People used these natural dyes for hundreds if not thousands of years. As long as it's sustainable (and it appears to be), I'm all for it. The respect he has and the fact he uses every part is awesome to me. I hope he flourishes 😊and teaches more people so this unique way of making dye continues on. ❤
Thank you so much for your support, l really appreciate it ❤
Purple is my favorite color - so seeing it created through its ancient natural process, was really fascinating!❤
This particular documentary were felt like a journey to me it was amazing. Like eating a extraordinary food from a famous chef and having an endless aftertaste in your mouth. Thanks a lot crew.
it's amazing how high level of expertise and skill this craft needs and even more amazing that he figured it out himself after the craft has already been lost! i do hope this craft won't disappear seeing as it's very niche. I hope he'll have apprentices that are as passionate about this as he is.
It's not amazing it's cruelty to animals
@@tenziicjchoe8193 Oh shut up. Go stop all the huge farms and factories killing cows and chickens first, before berating a single man who is sustainably doing his craft.
@@tenziicjchoe8193 THANK YOUUUUUU.
As a painter that is allways experimenting with traditional and natural based dyes, I found your work trully inspiring and enlightening, and I wish people where able to diferenttiate between vocation and passion un preserving knowledge, from industrial exolotation
Amazing! As someone who has done a LOT of dying fabrics, I can appreciate this incredible ancient craft. Fascinating.
This process is so amazing. Purple and INDIGOES have always been my Fave colors. 💜💜💜
💜 love how elaborate this vibrant color processing is! Conservation of these wonderful 🐌snails are first priority always...
Thank you for reviving this art as well as saving this species and those that depend on them.
Amazing I love the fact that you keep it small ,this is very special and not to be exploited ..so I salute you in keeping it that way !! Simply Beautiful 💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜
In Mexico we have a another species of mollusk that creates a purple dye, the difference is that we don’t have to kill the mollusk for the dye. It creates a different Shade of purple from the tyrian purple
They said that there were tree strains of snails that each produce a slightly different color, so it makes sense that the ones in your area make a related color.
@@loistverberg900 I know right, I just searched about it and there is actually four types of snails that produce colour. Two in the mediterranean that produce different purple dyes. One in the canary islands that makes a red dye. And one that can be found in the pacific ocean from mexico to Peru that makes a purple dye.
@@andresmaynez3060 oh yeah! I've read about those before. If i remember correctly the step is to blow air gently into the snail so it'll come out, then you can extract the dye. Fascinating stuffs.
Interesting to see what David Blaine is up to in his free time
😂 I kept thinking he looked familiar but couldn’t pinpoint it.
Thought the exact same thing...funny!
Many thanks, as a kid I loved to read history, Tyrian dye was one of those things that sparked even more interest in more history. Like any art form, it takes time, patience on both sides, either the creator and or the viewer. Seeing shades of a hand made colour lets the mind wonder naturally as well.
After watching this, brought back memories as well of a friend who could not afford her own paints, so learned how to make her own colours, many years later people would always simply ask why. Those that understood would just laugh and reply, so you're not an artist, what do you do....
Historically, I appreciate the value of it.
All fabric looked pre used and bleed out.
Rather let down in the expectation of something grand & worthy of nobility.
Not at all! The dyed fibers are richly colored and absolutely colorfast but the light wasn't right and the camera did not capture the right hues at all!
1:34 didn't expect him to talk like that!
what a pleasant surprise! haha
Thanks Mohamed, for carrying on our ancestor's craft. From a Lebanese cousin!
Thank you for keeping history alive . I absolutely love that colour
I actually learned about this in an ancient history class because purple dye was so rare it needed this context for some events.
purple was the colour of royalty, it was so expensive and so hard to produce only kings could have deep purple clothing, other royalty had to have lighter shades due to how little dye they could afford
The color of Tyrian Purple is absolutely stunning though, it's so vibrant. That's a ton of work though.
Beautiful purple. Also, that’s some patience the guy has! Serious respect!
This is truly amazing
Loved the video. Keep 'em coming 💜💜
Started in Lebanese and brought over by the Phonecians who became Carthaginians in Tunisia. GLad to see our other Arabian brothers in Tunisia still doing it.
What an amazing ancient craft!
Also glad you recognize the need to maintain a sustainability of the snails
This is a stunningly amazing presentation. Absolutely unbelievable. Crazy unbelievable. Seriously, I can't believe it. Kings wore purple.
As a seafood enthusiast who loves mollusks, it’s good to know that the rest of the snail is consumed. 😊
That was the first question I had… glad to know that is the case…
Thats amazingly, the colour is so strong and powerful
It better be if you are commuting a snail genocide to make it
So is the smell 😂
@@staywoke2198 they eat the snails ???
I remember this topic from our history class. For starters, we found out that goods like authentic purple dye and saffron always cost at least twice if not thrice the weight of gold.
Purple is such a beautiful, wonderful color..kudos!
Always love this old method and ancient craft brought to life
wow, great video, loved the history lesson and very interesting why purple is related to the upper echelon
It is one of the pigments I wanted and would love to learn how to make even if it’s hard to make. According to history Tyrian purple is so unique and rare.
As far as I know even Julius Caesar wore clothing dyed in Tyrian Purple at his triumphs
Dope how the purple is a class and technique not just a single color using many ways to produce
Tyrian Purple is my favorite color. I've loved purple since my earliest years of life and Tyrian has such a mystique to it, worn by royals and legends, and the curiosity of who the first person was to figure this out. I know the legend involving Heracles, but the reality of it is so interesting.
Fun fact; The legend involving herakles (hercules) was in fact regarding the pheonician god Melqart and his dog that the greeks attributed to herakles.
I remember there being an ancient law that allowed women to get divorced from their husband if he was a pigment producer, because the process was so smelly.
The historical documentation about making the purple and indigo dyes always mention the horrid smell. Some believe that the Romans considered that smell as a status symbol bc it further proved they were using only the "best" dyes. While it's absolutely beautiful, I don't think I could get passed any lingering odor. 🤣
Indigo dye comes from leaves and it has no smell
@@MoonLight-tn4xe the way they dyed it involved urine
this is fascinating! i love the shades of the dye.
i can‘t remember where i read it, but there supposedly is a technique that keeps the snail alive and you can harvest more colour over time. the snail is brought to cough out the pigment. if i‘m not wrong that was the technique used in precolumbian mexico in the lower mixtec region.
Can't believe your English is so perfect! The colors are gorgeous. You have a great life!
Thank you for your service Mohammed
Amazing how someone figured out this gland in this snail turned into this dye.
I thought this art had died out, glad to see it’s still alive.
Amazing video! Courage Ghassan vous êtes incroyable
That's amazingly, The color is so strong and powerful
I hope and wish Tunisia all the best in preserving its unique purple history.
It's not unique to Tunisia, the video glosses over that for some reason. It originated in Phoenicia now Lebanon
@@hx0d Most CZcams videos do gloss over facts. :)
Rare to see someone putting that much effort to revive something that has gone extinct for a while.
Amazing video! Very interesting, informative and fun to watch. Plus, if the snails are cooked and eaten after, there's pretty much zero waste! (I'm sure they even find use for the shells!) Thank you for sharing this incredible process with the world!! 🙂❤
Great video! Admirable man, G-d bless him 💛
This show is so cool, not just this episode.
mohamed is amazing! makes me want to visit him and learn
Anytime dear
@@ghassennouira2301 That's kind!
Terrifically interesting!
Amazing dedication!
I'm Lebanese.. this person took me too to my bronze age roots!
Whats truly inspiring for me is he reconstructed a lost art from old texts, thats a feat on its own
Keep up the good work Mr Ghassen. ✌
Wow that's truly amazing
glad to know the whole snail is used for other stuff. (similar to cows) and not just the gland only
This guy speaks perfect English.
I remember learning about this in high school so neat 👌
This is so cool!
Basically the harder it is to make something the more expensive it becomes, that is what I have learned from these videos
technique and ingredient availability are what makes something expensive and valuable.
@@junkyyard2273 so I’m right?
@@dynamitedingo7720
mhm
This was incredibly interesting! Love this series
Thank you! 🥰
Woooooooow that purple is beautiful ❤️❤️💕
I am Proud Of You Mohammad Ghassan . Amazing . keep walk 🙏🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Me sitting on my couch covered in chips dust: you go Muhammed 👍
Keep on going Mohammad Ghassan. Great work!👍👏
An amazing guy.
Good for him.
The term royal purple makes a bit more sense now. Amazing work.
*_Traditional crafts are still important. Recently I saw another video about rare Red dyes._*
When it takes 100 grams of rare snail gland to make 1 gram of pure Tyrian Purple Dye, and many laborious steps done entirely by hand, it is by definition rare and expensive. I hope Mohamed Ghassen makes a decent profit and that he has a long and bountiful life. He has taken a path very few other people have ever taken.
*_There will always be a market for rare ingredients used in traditional crafts._*
Holy shit I did not expect his voice to sound like that
Very beautiful
I'm an artist and have always been fascinated by the history and evolution of pigments.
You're accomplishments are extraordinary.
What probably would be advantageous, though I'm not a marine biologist I do know that many civilizations artificially raise shellfish, clams, oysters, mussels, oysters for farm raised pearls, snails, and so on, with the help of chemists, marine biologists, and the technohnology involved in raising farm raised shellfish, it might just be possible to farm your own snails. Also geneticists can also or might be able to breed snails that can yield more dye, and bred for specific colors.
Thank you for this opportunity to better understand this extradinary dye of antiquity.
After all, where would humanity and civilization be without color?
and as far as the negative comments - ignore them. you've demonstrated that you are conscientious in the harvesting of the murex snails and nothing goes to waste (even garum!! :-)). you're someone to be emulated in your craft, not criticized or denigrated!
I was super worried about a gust of wind when he was scraping the powder on the roof glass!
Fun fact: Carthaginian Officer's during the Punic wars, often wore purple cloaks over there bronze Curass, They also donned the now extinct Barbary lion pelt over their helms, in honour off their god patron Melqart.
This is fascinating.
wooooooooow! amazing!
Not certain why I was disappointed learning there was no actual Tyrian purple; but that it can range between many shades.
He could probably sell the leftover purple dye on his fingernails for like $500
You are amazing. Keep it up!
this is so fascinating omfg
That was so funny when he was racking out lines of dye on the table lmao
Really cool video! I kind of feel sorry for the snails but it’s very interesting see someone reviving and rediscovering the techniques of producing Tyrian purple and great that they are sensitive to the importance of their conservation.
I felt sorry but as long as the snails are being consumed, its alright
This is insanely impressive
Learned of purple being from snails from. The Secret Life of Colors. This is awesome.