Mother Of Pearl Sterling Silver Jewelry Part III Origins

Reflecting the rainbows of the ocean beds,won widespread popularity and is now exported
iridescent Mother of Pearl is the Opal of the sea.worldwide.
Like amber, Mother of Pearl is organic, but unlikeCeylon Oyster (Pinctada Radiata)
any other gemstone it forms locked away withinFrom the time of antiquity up to the 1920s the
its creator: the mollusk.Red Sea and the Persian Gulf supplied the world's
Mother of Pearl or Nacre forms in the shells ofdemand for Mother of Pearl and pearl. The source
bi-valve mollusks found in salt and fresh water.of the majority of Mother of Pearl came from
These mollusks are found around the world fromthe Ceylon oyster, known as bil-bil by the
the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australiafishermen of the Red Sea. The large demand
to the Gulfs of Mexico, Panama and Venezuela.almost drove this particular species to extinction
Abalone Oysters (Haliotis)but remarkably this oyster has endured the
Used in trade for thousands of years Abaloneravages of time and new techniques in cultivation
oysters are found in abundance around the world.have seen numbers increase.
As well as being produced for their meat, theyAtlantic Oyster (Pinctada Imbricata)
are an excellent source of highly iridescent MotherBefore leaving, the Queen of Spain told
of Pearl and Pearl, ranging in beautiful colors fromChristopher Columbus that Mother of Pearl and
turquoise, green, cream and rose.Pearl along with gold and silver were the treasures
Green Abalone (Haliotis Fulgens)that the Spanish monarchy desired the most.
Green Abalone thrives in the cold and rockyWhen Columbus landed on the Venezuelan coast
waters in the Gulf of California. They are oftenin 1498, the royal request was answered on the
encrusted with small clams that adhere to theirislands of Margarita and Cubagua. For one hundred
surface whose presence gives rise to the creationyears, the fruits of millions of Atlantic oysters
of blister pearls within the Abalone. Blister pearlsfrom the region were shipped to Europe to
are formed when the clams bore into the shellsatisfy the European monarchy's desire. The
from the outside, the Abalone responds infragile Atlantic oyster came close to extinction;
defense to the intrusion by secreting layers ofhowever, commercial farming ventures in the last
nacre, which coat the foreign body on the insidecentury have seen an increase in numbers.
of the shell eventually solidifying forming naturalLa Paz Oyster (Pinctada Mazatlanica)
blister pearls.Before the discovery of the Pacific's black-lipped
Black-Lipped Oyster (Pinctada Margaritifera)oyster the only other Mother of Pearl that came
Harvested since millennia, the black-lipped oyster,close to the beautiful colors of the oysters of
covering the widest geographical area of anyPolynesia came from the La Paz oysters in the
known species, was the preferred color ofwaters of Panama and California. At one time La
Mother of Pearl of Indian and Persian monarchs.Paz oysters, preferring open oceanic conditions,
However, despite this oysters name the nacre iswere near extinction but recent culturing ventures
rarely pure black, instead the colors range fromin the Gulf of California are replenishing numbers
gray to green with blue or rose overtones.and seeing a return of black pearls and Mother of
Mother of Pearl produced by Pacific black-lippedPearl to the world market.
oysters is the most sought after on the world'sMabé yster (Pteria Penguin and Pteria
market today.Sterna)
Silver-Lipped Oyster (Pinctada Maxima)These two species of thin-shelled oysters are the
Sometimes referred to as the gold-lipped oyster,most common sources of mabé ¢lister
these giants have been harvested for theirpearls. Mabé °earls are artificially
Mother of Pearl for more than a hundred years ininduced or cultured, they form when a mold
the South Pacific. They were first cultured for itsmade of plastic is inserted between the oyster's
pearls in the late 1800s but only became widelyshell, this causes the oyster to produce layers of
distributed in the late 19th Century. Today thenacre or Mother of Pearl which eventually covers
silver or white Mother of Pearl or Nacre producedthe mold, the mould is then cut from the shell.
by this oyster is the mainstay of the Australian,These oysters occur naturally in the Red Sea,
Japanese and Philippine cultured pearl industries.Indian Ocean, and the tropical western Pacific.
Ayoka Oyster (Pinctada Fucata)Copyright ? SilverShake Corporation. All Rights
Japan is famous for its Ayoka pearl producingReserved.
oysters, but this has only been the case since theThis article was written for the Silvershake
1920s. Before this time Japanese divers placedwebsite, an online retailer of sterling silver jewelry
little value on Ayoka pearls, discarding them andat wholesale prices. See 100's of mother of pearl
keeping the Mother of Pearl, which was used assilver pendants items at prices 80% below normal
decorative inlay in jewelry and householdretail prices. Make one purchase per month and
ornamentation. By the 1950s, with new culturingreceive silver jewelry worth up to $60...Absolutely
techniques, Akoya Mother of Pearl and pearl hadfree, everytime!