- Home
- Womens Interest
- How to Make a Cultured Pearl
How to Make a Cultured Pearl
- By Jayne Waldorf
- Published 10/12/2008
- Womens Interest
- Unrated
Jayne Waldorf
Jayne Waldorf lives in England with her husband.If you would like to learn more about wedding jewelry and other wedding goods please visit Jayne's web site Waldorf Elite today
View all articles by Jayne Waldorf
Pearls are created by living creatures called mollusks unlike gemstones which are created from within the earth.
Mollusks have a soft body and a hard shell like a snail has.
Today there are 100,000 species of mollusks they live in salt water, in fresh water and on land. Their evolution history dates back 530 million years.
If a mollusk produces a shell it can produce a pearl. Naturally occurring pearls are rare they are found in one out of every 10,000 animals. More pearls are produced today than at any other time in history. Since the 20th century the cultured pearl industry has thrived.
It has developed techniques to improve these odds.
The core from which the pearl is created begins when a grain of sand, a parasite, a fragment of shell or a fishbone wedges itself into the tissue of a mollusk. Out of millions of cores only 20% or so survive producing marketable pearls. Every pearl has its own quality and character. . If the pearl-mollusk is taken care of, regularly fed, and its temperature regulated then it is called cultivated.
The process for cultivated pearls may take one to several years.
Cultivated pearls are smoother and are a high quality.Pearls is the only gem that is created by a living organism.
All pearls are different from each other. They have been worn for more than 4,000 years. The pearl was the first gem to be discovered and is known as the Queen of Gems. Pearls can be found in many shapes
and colors not just white.
A small grain of sand or grit is placed inside the muscle tissue of an oyster or other mollusks in order to produce cultured pearls. The oyster then begins discharging a substance Nacre or mother of pearl, this is formed around the grit in order to reduce the irritant, and it grows in size until it forms a pearl. Mother of pearl lines the inside of the shell. Most pearls on the market today are cultured pearls; real pearls are rare and expensive. Luster, surface condition, , shape, color and size determine the quality of Cultured pearls, matching of quality in a strand of pearls is also important.
Pearls can be spherical, cylindrical, elliptical, and even cubical. They come in many colors but the most highly valued are cream, black, white and rose. The Indian rose pearls are the most esteemed.
Color varies according to the environment of the mollusk and its species.
Unlike other gems, pearls are not cut or polished. They are injured by heat and acids as organic products they are soft and subject to decay.
White is the most common color for fresh water pearls but they can be found in yellow salmon, pink, , bronze, lavender, , green, cream, blue, copper brown, silvery white, purple red and white.
Natural pearls are not as desirable as cultured pearls; they tend to be irregular in shape. Natural pearls that have a very symmetrical shape and are large in size (diameter) are extremely rare. It can take many years of near-perfect conditions for natural pearls to form in nature and make a significant gain in size
Mollusks have a soft body and a hard shell like a snail has.
Today there are 100,000 species of mollusks they live in salt water, in fresh water and on land. Their evolution history dates back 530 million years.
If a mollusk produces a shell it can produce a pearl. Naturally occurring pearls are rare they are found in one out of every 10,000 animals. More pearls are produced today than at any other time in history. Since the 20th century the cultured pearl industry has thrived.
It has developed techniques to improve these odds.
The core from which the pearl is created begins when a grain of sand, a parasite, a fragment of shell or a fishbone wedges itself into the tissue of a mollusk. Out of millions of cores only 20% or so survive producing marketable pearls. Every pearl has its own quality and character. . If the pearl-mollusk is taken care of, regularly fed, and its temperature regulated then it is called cultivated.
The process for cultivated pearls may take one to several years.
Cultivated pearls are smoother and are a high quality.Pearls is the only gem that is created by a living organism.
All pearls are different from each other. They have been worn for more than 4,000 years. The pearl was the first gem to be discovered and is known as the Queen of Gems. Pearls can be found in many shapes
A small grain of sand or grit is placed inside the muscle tissue of an oyster or other mollusks in order to produce cultured pearls. The oyster then begins discharging a substance Nacre or mother of pearl, this is formed around the grit in order to reduce the irritant, and it grows in size until it forms a pearl. Mother of pearl lines the inside of the shell. Most pearls on the market today are cultured pearls; real pearls are rare and expensive. Luster, surface condition, , shape, color and size determine the quality of Cultured pearls, matching of quality in a strand of pearls is also important.
Pearls can be spherical, cylindrical, elliptical, and even cubical. They come in many colors but the most highly valued are cream, black, white and rose. The Indian rose pearls are the most esteemed.
Color varies according to the environment of the mollusk and its species.
Unlike other gems, pearls are not cut or polished. They are injured by heat and acids as organic products they are soft and subject to decay.
White is the most common color for fresh water pearls but they can be found in yellow salmon, pink, , bronze, lavender, , green, cream, blue, copper brown, silvery white, purple red and white.
Natural pearls are not as desirable as cultured pearls; they tend to be irregular in shape. Natural pearls that have a very symmetrical shape and are large in size (diameter) are extremely rare. It can take many years of near-perfect conditions for natural pearls to form in nature and make a significant gain in size
