Pearl is obtained from a sea creature, mollusc that takes years to prepare one outstanding pearl. Often, tourists on sea beaches look for shell and then peep inside to see a pearl. Not all oyster shells contain pearls. It is out of 10,000 oyster shells, that one will produce a natural pearl. However, if you go to a pearl farmer, you will find plenty of shells and each containing many pearls.
Since natural pearls are getting extinct, but demand for pearls remain the same, therefore to meet the demands of countries like Japan, China, US, Indonesia have started cultivating them. Pearl farmers as they are called, put a foreign object like sand grain inside a shell and leave it in river, lakes, sea, ocean bed for years. This foreign object creates irritation inside hence; mollusc excretes nacre, which is a fluid that coats the object to avoid abrasion. This nacre coats various layers on it, which makes it lustrous and that is how pearl is formed.
Now there are endless types of pearls available in market. There is affordable and expensive piece pearl jewelry set with different shades and size of pearls in it. The worth of one pearl depends upon its lustre which happens to be priceless if nacre quality is good. Also, surface quality, shape and size determine if the pearl was harvested with full care.
There are different sorts of pearls in market that can be identified through its shades –
- Akoya pearls are the utmost lustrous pearls found in Japan’s coastal region. They are white in colour but also have overtone of pink, and silver.
- Freshwater pearls are affordable and are produced in lakes, rivers, sea etc. they are also known as baroque pearls due to their shape, available in pastel shades like lavender, peach and pink.
- Tahitian or black pearls are obtained from special large oysters, black lip oysters. They are obtainable in darker shades like black, grey, peacock, etc. and are larger than Akoya pearls.
- South Sea pearls, golden or white, are valuable after Hanadama pearls and also the largest.
Since it is an amazing creation of Mother Earth that is why it is adored so much. Unlike other stones like diamond, ruby, sapphire, land isn’t being damaged. Thus, respect your ancestors pearl set that has been passed on to you from generations.
