History of Pearls

NATURAL & CULTURED PEARLS

A pearl is a natural gem created by a living organism. When a foreign object is introduced into a mussel or oyster, the animal is stimulated into coating the irritant.

So begins the process that results in the creation of a pearl. A natural pearl will occur without any human intervention. As most of the worlds wild natural pearl producing oyster beds have vanished because of over-fishing or pollution; fine quality natural pearls are virtually non-existent now. These days the most beautiful pearls in the world are cultured or cultivated pearls.

A cultured pearl occurs when a skilled technician implants a nucleus to irritate the oyster or mussell. After the implanting proceedure , the mollusc is returned to the water for its cultivation period. Over a period of time the nucleus gradually becomes coated with layers of nacre that form the pearl.

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