Blister Pearls

A blister Pearl (also called a button Pearl) is a Pearl that developed attached to the inside of a mollusk's shell. This type of Pearl must be cut off the shell, and is therefore hemispherical. Because of their shape, blister Pearls are mostly used for earrings. Some people call blister Pearls "Mabe Pearls". This is only accurate if the blister Pearl was grown in a Mabe oyster. The Mabe oyster is a penguin wing oyster that produces blister Pearls with better luster, iridescence, and color than other species. Mabe Blister Pearls have a rainbow spectrum of colors on their brilliant nacre - hence they are also called Rainbow Pearls. Nearly all Rainbow Mabe Pearls sold today are semi-spherical Pearls or so called 'The Mabe Blister Pearl'. These are hemispherical, taken from Mabe oysters, and give off a unique rainbow-colored sheen. Thanks to developments in Pearl culturing technology in recent years, we now have been able to cultivate a few spherical Mabe Pearls, in addition to the original hemispherical shape. Though Mabe and South Sea half Pearls are the same shape, we make a clear distinction between them, as they are cultivated from different species of oyster.

Blister Pearls are left attached to the shell backing and the shell is polished to a smooth surface. Blister Pearls are often cut into lovely freeform shapes, showing both the inner shell and the Pearl. They can also be cut so that just the round Pearl is left. These are in essence "half-Pearls" and are often used in earrings, rings, and pins where a flat back is desirable.

Mabe Pearl is also used to refer to the process of creating a half-Pearl - even when the Pearl was not grown in a Mabe oyster. These half-Pearls are manufactured by a specific method - the cultured blister Pearl is cut off the shell, the manually planted nucleus is extracted, the inside of the nacre coating is painted, the void left by the nucleus is filled with an epoxy, and the Pearl is finished by covering the bottom with a polished piece of mother-of-Pearl.

Mabe Pearls

Mabe Pearls are large, hemispherical cultured Pearls that grow attached to the inside shells of oysters. Mabe Pearls are of hemispherical shape, grown against the inside of the oyster's shell, rather than within its tissue. Mabes occasionally appear in nature...

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Rainbow Mabe Pearls
In general, you would think that all Pearls are round shaped or spherical. However, Mabe Pearls are not completely round. They come in various shapes. The subtle hues give it a unique presence, a quality that can't be found in other Pearls. Mabe Pearls are suitable for...

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The Birth of a Pearl
The birth of a Pearl is truly a miraculous event. Unlike gemstones or precious metals; which must be mined from the earth, Pearls are grown by live oysters far below the surface of the sea. Gemstones must be cut and polished to bring out their beauty...

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The History of Pearls

The History of Pearls
No one will ever know who were the earliest people to collect and wear Pearls. George Frederick Kunz a gemologist in his 1908 masterpiece - The Book of the Pearl, states his belief that an ancient fish-eating tribe, perhaps along the coast...

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Types of Pearls

Although there are many varieties of Pearls available today, there are 5 basic types of Pearls. Pearls may be rice-shaped, round, pear-shaped, button-shaped, or irregular (baroque) and are valued in that order. Pearls found attached to the inner surface of the shell...

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Natural Pearls

A natural Pearl is a Pearl that forms in nature with no human intervention. Natural Pearls, What is a Natural Pearl Natural Pearls are grown in wild oysters. The process begins when an irritant, such as a grain of sand or a piece of shell, gets inside an oyster's shell...

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Freshwater Pearls

Freshwater Pearls are a kind of Pearl that comes from freshwater mussels. They are produced in Japan and the United States on a limited scale, but are now almost exclusive to China The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires that freshwater Pearls are referred to as..

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Biwa Pearls

Biwa Pearl is a freshwater Pearl cultivated in a mollusk only in Japan's Lake Biwa. Biwa Pearls are produced at lake Biwa, Japan using freshwater clams. They are irregular in shape but have good color and luster. Instead of a bead a small square of mother of...

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Saltwater Pearls

Although freshwater Pearls can be grown in mussels and other mollusks, saltwater Pearls are always grown in oysters. Most saltwater Pearls are harvested in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the coastal waters of India and Japan. Generally, saltwater Pearls...

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Cultured Pearls

Cultured Pearls are those in which humans take a helping hand. By actually inserting a foreign object into the tissue of an oyster or mollusk, Pearl farmers can induce the creation of a Pearl. The same natural process of Pearl creation takes place...

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South Sea Pearls

South Sea Pearls is a generic name for the Pearls, usually 9mm-16mm in size, produced by the two groups of large Pearl producing oysters. These oysters can grow to 25-30 cm in size, and are much rarer than their Akoya counterparts....

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Tahiti Cultured Pearls

Tahiti cultured Pearls are Pearl concretions that are secreted inside the black-lipped Pinctada Margaritifera species of Pearl oysters cultivated mainly in the lagoons of French Polynesia. They consist of thick Pearly layers containing organic substances..

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Akoya Pearls

Akoya Pearls are found only in Japan, China, and Vietnam. Japanese Akoya Pearl farms are shifting towards the warmer Chinese waters, where these Pearls take only half as long to grow. Overtone colors of Akoya Pearls include white, cream, rose, silver, and green...

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Mother of Pearl

Mother of Pearl, also called nacre, is an iridescent layer of material which forms the shell lining of many mollusks. The Pearly internal layer of certain mollusk shells, used to make decorative objects. Also called nacre. Pearl oysters and abalone are both sources of mother of...

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Keshi Pearls

Tiny Pearls, some a little bigger than a grain of sand, which form naturally in many cultured Pearl oysters. Keshi is a Japanese word for "poppy seed". Thus, keshi is also called the seed Pearl deriving the name from its size. Keshi Pearls are irregularly shaped...

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The Pearl Myths

There are many myths about Pearls that have continued through the centuries. "Pearls of Wisdom", is a common saying and even shares the title of some books in areas such as medicine, country living, inspiration and wisdom collections and Oriental teachings...

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Back to 'All About Pearls' Summary
Ever since the ancient Egyptians first started creating jewelry, Pearls have become one of the highest regarded gemstones. Even today Pearls still hold their value due to the rarity of "mother nature" creating this form of jewelry. Pearls are created from a core. The core of a natural Pearl is simply a fragment of shell or fishbone, or a grain of sand that strays into the unsuspecting Pearl oyster's shell. To protect itself from this irritant the oyster secretes multiple layers of nacre, forming a Pearl...

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