Pearls

Pearls are formed in the soft tissue of live, shelled mollusks (oysters, for example) and are composed of material like that of the shell of the mollusk. They form in the mollusk when a foreign object, such as a grain of sand, often microscopic in size, enters the mollusk and becomes an irritant so that the mollusk creates a protecting shield around the object to relieve the irritation.

Natural pearls occur spontaneously in the wild without any intervention by humans. They are very rare, not necessarily because of how infrequently they are formed, but rather because of how infrequently they are found. Natural pearls can vary significantly in size, shape, color, and texture because of the variations in the environment in which they are created. Factors such as water quality, temperature, hydraulic pressure, source of the irritant object, and other factors can influence the characteristics of the pearl.

Cultured pearls are real pearls in that they are formed within a mollusk around foreign material or irritant in the mollusk just like natural pearls. Cultured pearls differ from natural pearls in that the foreign object is intentionally planted within the mollusk by a human being. In addition, the pearl is allowed to grow in the mollusk in a highly controlled farm-like environment and then harvested on some kind of definite time schedule. Therefore, the characteristics of the cultured pearl such as its size, shape, color, and texture are more consistent and uniform among the pearls that are harvested. For example, the shape of a cultured pearl is generally more nearly perfectly round (spherical) than that of a natural pearl. Most real pearls available today are cultured rather than natural pearls.

Simulated pearls are not real pearls; that is, they are not created by or within a living mollusk. They are artificial pearls created by a manufacturing process and generally are made with plastic, glass, or other man-made material. While the sizes of simulated pearls can vary significantly depending upon the manufacturing process, the shape, color, and texture of simulated pearls exhibit little variation, again depending on the manufacturing process and the material used.

   Close   

or click the blue title bar at the top of the page