|
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&9;s shell. To
protect its delicate body from the irritant, the Pearl
secretes a substance called nacre to surround the
irritant. The oyster never stops secreting nacre, so
over the years the nacre layers build up into a genuine
Pearl. Natural Pearls are extremely rare. In nature,
only about one in 10,000 oysters will produce a Pearl.
Of those, only a small percentage will achieve the size,
shape, and color of a desirable gemstone. The odds of
finding a perfect natural Pearl are around one in a
million. Because of their rarity, natural Pearls are
hardly ever found in most Pearl jewelry stores. Most
Pearls for sale in the market today have been cultured.
The number of natural Pearls is relatively small. Without
cultured Pearls, only the extreme wealthy would have the
chance to own the treasured gems.
Pearls without Human Intervention
Of all the parts of the body of a Pearl only the mantle
lobe (tissue) can secrete the Pearl substance called
nacre. The part of the middle lobe that can do this is
located just under the shell. When, for various reasons,
some of these outer cells get into a deeper part of the
tissue, the mother oyster begins to grow a bog called a
"Pearl sac." This Pearl sac then begins to secrete nacre
and a Pearl is formed. Natural Pearls then, are the
result of the Pearl sacs being formed without human
intervention. Non-cultured Pearls develop naturally in
wild mollusks although few contain Pearls. A 6mm Pearl
can take 10 years to grow and the time needed to
increase it even 1-2mm increases exponentially while
chances of harming its beauty also increases.
The Most Prized Gem Prior to 19th Century
Prior to the 19th century, when they were superseded in price by
diamonds, natural Pearls had, throughout history, been valued above all
other gems. Although their beauty, and the fact that they come out of
the mollusk ready to use, were important factors, it was sheer rarity
that drove their value to the highest levels. The formation of a large,
beautiful and perfect natural Pearl is an event so unlikely in Nature
that only those at the pinnacle of wealth and power in a society were
able to own them. Depending on the species between 1/1000 to 1/500,000
mollusks will form Pearls during their lifespan, and the vast majority
of those formed will be small, off-color or flawed.
Most Pearls are Really Natural Pearls
Any Pearl that is grown and marketed today (other than
those from the Persian Gulf) are considered cultured Pearls. This is
because these Pearls would not exist without human intervention. A
freshwater Pearl, although it may be solid nacre, is still a cultured
Pearl because the mussel was nucleated with a piece of mantle tissue.
All Pearls cultured in saltwater are nucleated as well, but with a piece
of mantle-tissue, and a mother-of-Pearl bead.
Before the creation of cultured Pearls in the early 1900s, natural
Pearls were so rare and expensive that they were reserved almost
exclusively for the noble and very rich. A jewelry item that today&9;s
working women might take for granted, a 16-inch strand of perhaps 50
Pearls, often costs between $500 and $5,000. At the height of the Roman
Empire, when Pearl fever reached its peak, the historian Suetonius wrote
that the Roman general Vitellius financed an entire military campaign by
selling just one of his mother&9;s Pearl earrings.
Read more...
What is a Pearl?
A Pearl is a smooth, round growth formed naturally within
the shell of a mollusk due to an irritant and used as a
gem. A Pearl is a hard, roundish object produced within
the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living
shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of mollusks, a
Pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute
crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric
layers. The ideal Pearl is perfectly round...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
Pearl Luster
Luster is what many experts term the heart and soul of
the sea-grown gem. Throughout history, this unique luster has separated
Pearls from all other gems. For cultured Pearl experts, luster is
perhaps the most important indicator in evaluating cultured Pearl
quality...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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..
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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....
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
|
What is Natural Pearls?
