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