Pearls – Welcome

Pearls are available in a wide range of shapes, sizes, and colors, with those characteristics being related to the gemstone's chemical compounds. Pearls are naturally porous organic gems that have a softer composition, making them susceptible to tarnishing and damage. Pearls are gemstones, but they are produced organically, so they are not classified alongside common stones. Pearls are made of calcium carbonate that has gathered together into a crystal lattice structure. A pearl has a hardness of 2.5 on the Moh Scale, so most gemstones are able to scratch it. Natural pearls may hold their qualities better than cultured ones but are also relatively soft and susceptible to scratches and chips. Unlike artificial Pearls, naturally occurring ones may exhibit very small imperfections in their form, adding to their appeal, value, and beauty. Pearls are among the finest gems in the world, and although their organic compounds are found naturally within Earth's crust, they are created by living organisms. Whether freshwater or saltwater pearls, pearls are unique because they are the only gems created by living animals. Pearls Have an Organic Source Unlike mineral gems, which formed throughout thousands of years within Earth's crust, pearls are organic, meaning that they are formed from naturally occurring organisms, not mineral compounds. Unlike other gems that originate on the Earth, pearls are formed from mollusks, which can be found in freshwater as well as saltwater. Unlike other gems that may be derived from the earth, Pearl is a result of an organic process produced by living organisms. Organic gemstones usually do not have traditional crystal structures or compositions, but Pearl is made from calcium carbonate (mostly Aragonite), exhibiting an orthorhombic crystal structure. As a composite, the pearl is harder than the Aragonite it is formed from, and the multi-layered structure helps contribute to pearl luster. The oyster that produces that pearl coats it in a thick nacre layer (a layer of calcium carbonate), making it much shinier and more attractive. The oyster then secretes the nacre on top of the seed, finally coating it with mother-of-pearl, and a pearl is formed. Once a nacre substance has been implanted, the host mollusk goes to work, creating layers of nacre to create the pearl, just like if the stimulant had naturally dipped into the shell. Pearls Can Be Grown Organically Rather than being formed naturally, cultured pearls are grown through human farming, inserting a nucleus material into the oyster or muscaria. Cultured pearls are the result of a deliberate injection of beads or pieces of tissue, which are coated by the pearls in the mollusk. Pearls are naturally occurring or grown organic gems formed within soft tissues in a mollusk such as a clam or a mussel. Rather than being a mineral, pearls grow inside of a mollusk, which is a term used for any shells that open and close by a hinge, like oysters, clams, and mussels. Pearls are formed within mollusks, like oysters and mussels, when a tiny sand particle gets trapped within a mollusks shell. Unlike most gemstones, pearls are organic creations found in the sea, a natural phenomenon that occurs as part of mollusks' defense mechanisms. Just like the mollusk's shell, a Pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in a minute, crystalline forms, that have been laid down in concentric layers. All mollusks with a shell may, through natural processes, develop a certain type of pearl, in which a nagging microscopic object becomes trapped in the folds of its mantle, but the vast majority of such pearls are not valued as gems. Only Certain Mollusk Species Make Them Only pearls produced by mollusks with their shells lined with mother-of-pearl (such as some species of both saltwater oysters and freshwater clams) are truly refined pearls; the pearls from other mollusks are reddish or white, porcelain-like, or lacking in pearly shine. Even before harvest, only one out of every 10,000 wild oysters produces pearls, and even then, rarely of pearl-quality size and shape. A single saltwater oyster typically produces just one or two, or at most, four larger pearls at a time, in contrast to the 20-50 pearls a freshwater mollusk produces during a single harvest. Smaller saltwater pearls may require as little as six months for development, whereas larger ones may require as much as four years. For cultured pearls, the beads are placed in the form of seeds (usually made from shells), and oysters may be harvested (and pearls removed) in just six months, though with higher-quality pearls (a thicker mother-of-pearl layer), the harvest might take a few years. The oysters that produce the Tahiti Pearl are larger, which allows larger pearls to be grown within, and only a single pearl may be grown within one mollusk, as opposed to an Akoya oyster, which may grow as many as four pearls within. Conch Pearl Is a Misnomer The name conch pearl is a bit of a misnomer as conch pearls are not foreign bodies coated with nacre, as is the case with actual oyster pearls, but rather are calcareous concretions formed inside an animal's digestive tract, in much the same way as human kidney stones, or bezoar stones (gall stones). When we think of pearls, we generally imagine white, shimmering jewels, but pearls are not always a white color. Perhaps the most beloved gemstone of all time, pearls -- both natural and cultivated -- come in all kinds of colors. Tahitian pearls are available in many colors, including blue, green, gray, black, and purple, though they are called black pearls since they are formed within a black-lipped oyster or Pinctada margaritifera. Pearls are known for their exquisite beauty, which comes from their distinct shine, which is often called jewel luster. Pearls can appear like treasures, but they are formed out of something as modest as grains of sand or floating bacteria trapped within a mollusk's shell. Jewelers typically call pearls made of saltwater eastern pearls, while those made from freshwater mollusks are called freshwater pearls. The values of high-quality natural pearls are determined in the same manner as those for other valuable gemstones, according to size, shape, color, surface quality, orientation, and luster.