| Pearls are formed by a few species of mollusks | | | | each notch and the mussel is returned to the lake. |
| (oysters, clams, mussels) and even a couple of | | | | The mantle tissue forms a 'pearl sac' and the |
| snails. It starts when an irritant gets into the | | | | resulting pearl is harvested in about 3 years. Each |
| mollusk. If the irritant or parasite cannot be | | | | mussel produces many pearls. The mussel can |
| ejected it is slowly surrounded by a substance | | | | also be harvested a second time 2 or 3 years |
| called nacre (pronounced NAY-ker). The nacre is | | | | later. |
| produced by the mantle tissue which produces | | | | Each species of oyster or mussel will create a |
| two substances a protein and aragonite a six | | | | characteristic form of pearl and the quality of the |
| sided flat crystal. Together these are called nacre. | | | | pearls depends on a variety of factors, most |
| It coats the inside of the shell and any other | | | | important of these are the cleanliness of the |
| foreign object in the shell. The nacre accumulates | | | | water and its temperature |
| in layers and builds up over time. This is how the | | | | Pearls have been found in the Red Sea and the |
| foreign object becomes a pearl. | | | | Gulf of Hormuz (now the Persian Gulf) for the last |
| That is the readers digest version of pearl | | | | 6,000 years. These two bodies of water lie on |
| creation. Actually its a lot more complex. | | | | either side of Arabia and have provided pearls to |
| Sometimes the foreign object is a living parasite | | | | both Europe and Asia. Other ancient sources of |
| that kills the oyster before it can be ejected. | | | | pearls are the gulf of Mannar between the Island |
| Other times the object may attach to the inside | | | | of Sri Lanka and India, the warm waters of |
| of the shell and nacre formation cements it to the | | | | southeast Asia, and most of Polynesia. Pearls |
| shell creating a 'blister or button pearl. Most | | | | were sought after by rich and powerful people |
| mollusks will produce a concretion that does not | | | | throughout the Far East. Arabia was a major |
| contain nacre and that has no gem value, they | | | | source of small baroque (uneven or oddly shaped) |
| are commonly dark brown or purplish. | | | | pearls, most of which were traded to Europe or |
| All in all the creation of a fine natural pearl is | | | | India, but Pearls were not generally popular on the |
| extremely rare. Only 1 in 10,000 oysters will | | | | Arabian peninsula. |
| produce a pearl. Most natural pearls are referred | | | | One pearl necklace found in China comes from a |
| to as seed pearls due to their small size and | | | | royal tomb and dates to 608 A.D. This is a rare |
| irregular appearance. Truly fine large pearls are | | | | find. Most of the pearl jewelry we know of from |
| remarkably rare. They command enormous prices | | | | this period comes from royal portraits and very |
| and were worth a hundred times their weight in | | | | few of these have survived. Pearls were most |
| rubies or diamonds before the advent of cultured | | | | popular from the17th century to the end of the |
| pearls. | | | | 19th century. The Manchu dynasty was especially |
| The Chinese knew that pearls could be made by | | | | fond of pearls and believed the finest ones came |
| the 1300s but did not expand on this for | | | | from the fresh water mussels of Manchuria, their |
| commerce, rather they made the occasional pearl | | | | ancestral homeland. One portrait shows a Manchu |
| buddha. A small limestone carving of a buddha | | | | lady wearing an elaborate headdress with strands |
| would be placed in an oyster and allowed to grow | | | | of pearls hanging down from the sides. The |
| for several years. The oyster would then be | | | | communist revolution at the beginning of the 20th |
| harvested and the pearl buddha collected as a | | | | century made jewelry unfashionable in China, but |
| miracle. | | | | that is changing since the death of Mao and the |
| Cultured pearls were first developed for | | | | easing of communist rule. |
| commercial purposes in Japan about 100 years | | | | The story is a little different in India where pearls |
| ago by the Mikimoto Company. Kokichi Mikimoto | | | | appear in paintings in abundance. These paintings, |
| spent many years developing the techniques | | | | "Persian Miniatures" are finely detailed and were |
| beginning in 1893 and this became commercially | | | | used as official records of the participants at |
| viable by 1905. By 1912 European Pearl sellers | | | | many royal ceremonies. Each shows a small but |
| asked the courts in London and Paris to ban the | | | | very accurate portrait (including clothing) of each |
| sale of Japanese cultured pearls, but scientist | | | | person at a particular ceremony. |
| proved that their formation is essentially identical | | | | These miniatures were most popular beginning in |
| to natural pearls. | | | | the 1600s, during the Mogul period, and many |
| Cultured pearls are given a helping hand. The | | | | pieces of jewelry from this period survive in |
| oysters are raised on farms and after 5 or six | | | | private collections and in museums. One of the |
| years of growth they are removed from their | | | | most popular styles of pearl jewelry was long |
| beds. Skilled workers, mostly women, carefully | | | | strands of matched pearls with ruby and emerald |
| open each oyster and insert a mother of pearl | | | | accents. |
| bead and a piece of mantle tissue into the shell. | | | | Pearls and precious stones were worn by both |
| With luck one oyster in three will survive the | | | | men and women in the Mogul Court. In fact India |
| procedure and produce a cultured pearl. Nacre | | | | was both a source and a trading center for pearls |
| accumulates quite slowly in Japanese waters and | | | | and gems. The lavish use of pearls was both an |
| it takes about 3 years for a millimeters worth of | | | | ornament and a statement of power. Pearls and |
| nacre to accumulate and form a cultured pearl. | | | | colored stones were worn as jewelry, sewn onto |
| Some pearl farms in the southern waters from | | | | clothing, mounted into sword belts and armor, and |
| Burma to Australia can boast of a faster nacre | | | | added to to nearly every decorative item you |
| buildup, in some cases up to 3 millimeters a year. | | | | could imagine. Indians considered the pearl to |
| Freshwater pearls are produced by yet another | | | | represent the moon as a symbol of perfection. |
| method. Several species of mussels in Lake Biwa | | | | The only gem more popular was the diamond. |
| in Japan are farm raised. After a years growth | | | | While the Mogul court no longer exists, pearls |
| they are notched in many places along the edges | | | | continue to be popular throughout India and |
| of the shell, a piece of mantle tissue is placed in | | | | southeast Asia. |