Pearls

Treasures from the Sea

A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a live shelled mollusk. A pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in crystalline form which has been deposited in concentric layers. When an irritating microscopic intruder (object) becomes trapped within the soft tissue of the mollusk's mantle folds, the mollusk begins to secrete calcium carbonate to cover the irritant. The mollusk repeats this process many times (layer upon layer), thus producing a pearl. The thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the luster. The overlapping of successive layers which breaks up light on the surface of the pearl is what creates the iridescence that pearls display.

A "natural pearl" is a pearl that forms without any human help. Hundreds of oysters and mussels are gathered, opened and killed just to find even one natural pearl. At one time, this was the only way to get a pearl (which is why they carried such a high price).

A "cultured pearl" is a pearl that is formed on a pearl farm with the help of human intervention.

"Saltwater cultured pearls" are created by planting a nucleus into saltwater oysters. The nucleus is a polished bead prepared from mother-of-pearl. The bead is surrounded by a small piece of mantle tissue taken from another oyster. Through a surgical procedure, the bead and tissue are implanted in the oyster's gonad (reproductive organ).

"Freshwater cultured pearls" are created by grafting freshwater mussels using a piece of mantle tissue only (no bead). An incision is made in the mussel's mantle instead of the gonad. The small piece of mantle tissue is placed into the incision. Both sides of the valve (bivalve means a mollusk that has a shell that consists of two halves or valves) can be grafted, so an average freshwater mussel will produce 24 to 32 pearls during a culturing cycle.

After the nucleating surgery, the oyster are given a few weeks to recover. During this time period, some of the oyster may reject and expel the implanted nuclei. Other oysters may become sick or die. Fortunatly, most will fully recover. The oyster are placed in cages or nets and taken to the oyster bed where they will be tended to as the pearl developing process takes place. this process can require up to several years.

Once the pearls have developed fully, they are harvested. The pearls are then extracted from the oysters, washed, dried, polished by tumbling in salt and water, and sorted into general categories. They are then sold to jewelers, manufacturers, and pearl dealers.

Cultured pearls can be distinguished from natural pearls through X-ray examination. A cultured pearl reveals a solid center with no concentric growth rings, whereas a natural pearl reveals a series of concentric growth rings.

The vast majority of pearls being sold on the market today are cultured pearls.

Pearls come in several basic shapes:

Round:

Perfectly spherical. Round pearls are the rarest and most valuable shaped pearl.

Potato or Semi-Round:

Round to the eye but have a slightly oval or flattened shape.

Button:

Round on one side and flat on the other.

Drop:

Teardrop or pear shaped pearls.

Oval or Rice:

Ends are more narrow than the center. Oval shaped pearls can be formed when two pearls in the same mollusk join together.

Baroque:

Is both non-symmetrical and irregular in shape. It's abstract shape can resemble a round pearl with a tail , cross, stick, tadpole, cacti, mushroom, or some other shape.

Circled:

Are characterized by concentric ridges, or rings, around the body of the pearl. Most common in Tahitian and South Sea pearls and are gaining popularity because of their unique look.

The color of the pearl is produced by the oyster as the pearl is being formed. Pearls come in many colors. Natural pearls can be white, cream, silver, gold, green, blue, black, pink, peach, lavender, rose, red, copper, bronze and brown. Cultured pearls can be dyed to any color desired.

The size of the pearl greatly depends on the type of the pearl. Freshwater pearls can range in size from about 3.0 - 7.0 mm, Akoya pearls range in size from about 6.0 - 8.5 mm, and Tahitian and South Sea pearls can reach sizes as large as 13 mm.

Taking care of your pearls is very important. Pearls are damaged by extreme dryness, acids, hair spray, cosmetics, and perspiration. Pearls have a low hardness so caution should be taken when wearing or storing them so they do not come in contact with metals or harder stones that may damage them. Do not expose pearls for a long period of time to direct sunlight or ultraviolet rays because the protein in pearls become yellow under this light. Human sweat and oil from the skin can cause the calcium carbonate in pearls to dissolve and will diminish the pearl's luster. To prevent this, after taking them off and before storing them away, immediately wipe the pearls well with a soft clean cloth.

Pearls have been used in jewelry for centuries. Royalty stitched pearls onto lavish clothing. Crushed pearls are used in cosmetics, medicines, or in paint formulations.

Pearls are beautiful "treasures from the sea" and have been objects of beauty for many centuries. As the statement was once made....Diamonds are a girl's best friend, but "Pearls" make a woman!

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