| Customers who yearn for pearl jewelry are | | | | itself against irritants caught inside its body ,like |
| following a tradition that extends back though the | | | | sand and parasites .The animal coats the intruder |
| ages . According to legend , Cleopatra ground up | | | | with nacre , a natural substance that's also part of |
| a pearl in a cup of wine and told Marc Antony she | | | | the inside of its shell . The layers build on top of |
| was swallowing a country's riches .British | | | | each other , a process that produce the pearl's |
| monarchs, including Queen Elizabeth I and King | | | | luster . This rarely happen in nature . Declining |
| Henry VIII, adorned their necks and wardrobes | | | | environmental quality and commercial fishing have |
| with pearls .To the ancient Greeks , pearls | | | | wreaked havoc on the world's natural oyster |
| represented love and marriage ,an association | | | | beds .Today , jewelry lovers looking for natural |
| that grew over the years . Pearls and marriage | | | | pearl ring usually have to comb estate jewelry |
| are still linked in the public consciousness today | | | | collections to find them . Indeed, until the |
| .According to the Cultured Pearl Information | | | | development of commercial pearl cultivation , only |
| Center (CPIC), 37% of all pearls sold in the United | | | | the wealthy could afford these natural jewels . |
| States are purchased for bridal occasions .The | | | | Today , more pearls on the market are cultured , |
| bridal market is the second largest U.S. market | | | | a process that blends mollusk activity with human |
| for pearl sales, next to holiday purchase (42% of | | | | ingenuity . A shell bead is surgically implanted in the |
| sales) . Pearls items are extremely appropriate for | | | | oyster or mussel , stimulating it to produce a |
| bridal-party gifts , but because pearl necklace are | | | | pearl jewelry . A lay person would need a X-ray in |
| a classic complement to a business suit ,they're | | | | order to tell the difference between a natural and |
| also appropriate gifts to mark graduations and | | | | a cultural pearl . Although he didn't invent the |
| promotions. They're june's birthstone and a | | | | process , Kokichi Mikimoto- the famed "Pearl |
| traditional gift for third and 30th anniversaries . It's | | | | King"-helped develop the best method for culturing |
| no wonder the pearl's popularity has persisted | | | | pearl necklaces on a large scale in the early 1900s |
| .After all , it's the only gem formed within a living | | | | . Saltwater oyster and freshwater mollusks |
| creature . A mollusk produces a pearl to protect | | | | produce different types of cultured pearls . |