Cultured pearl
Encyclopedia
A cultured pearl is a pearl
created by a pearl farmer under controlled conditions.
into the pearl sac, a cyst that forms during the healing process. Chemically speaking, this is calcium carbonate
and a fibrous protein called conchiolin
. As the nacre builds up in layers of minute aragonite tablets, it fills the growing pearl sac and eventually forms a pearl. It is a myth that a grain of sand or grit can cause a pearl to form, as nacre will not adhere to inorganic substances.
Natural pearls are those pearls that are formed in nature, more or less by chance. Cultured pearls, by contrast, are those in which humans take a helping hand. By actually inserting a tissue graft of a donor oyster, a pearl sac forms, and its inner side precipitates calcium carbonate in the form of nacre.
A common pearl “seed” is made from a small piece of the Mississippi
pigtoe mussel
shell that has been cut and ground in a sphere. The mantle gland is harvested from one oyster and cut into small pieces. The oyster is placed in warm water to relax the oyster, which is gently pried open. A small incision is made and the seed inserted along with a small piece of mantle gland. The oyster is then placed back in the water and allowed over several years to coat the seed with nacre. The parasite is coated in many layers of this nacre, meaning that, if pearls are sawed in half, visible layers can be seen.
ese researchers Mise and Nishikawa. Although some cultures had long been able to artificially stimulate mollusks into producing a type of pearl, the pearls produced in this way were only blister and mabe, rather than actual round pearls. What Mise and Nishikawa discovered was a specific technique for inducing the creation of a round pearl within the gonad of an oyster. This technique was patented by Mikimoto Kōkichi shortly thereafter, and the first harvest of rounds was produced in 1916.
This discovery revolutionized the pearl industry, because it allowed pearl farmers to reliably cultivate large numbers of high-quality pearls. In contrast to natural pearls—which have widely varying shapes, sizes, and qualities, and which are difficult to find—cultured pearls could be "designed" from the start to be round and primarily flawless. The oysters could be monitored for up to two years until each pearl was fully formed, thus better ensuring their health and survival. And the pearls could be produced by the tens of thousands, thereby bringing their cost down to a point where pearls became accessible to large numbers of people around the world.
In short, the development of cultured pearls took much of the chance, risk, and guesswork out of the pearl industry, allowing it to become stable and predictable, and fostering its rapid growth over the past 100 years. Today more than 99% of all pearls sold worldwide are cultured pearls. Coloured Pearls, which occur due to local chemicals inside the shell, much in the way of rubies of sapphires, cane be made by inserting natural dyes into the mussel shell, e.g cobalt chloride to ensure a pinky colour (Hydrated Cobalt Chloride)
Cultured pearls can often be distinguished from natural pearls through the use of x-rays, which reveals the inner nucleus of the pearl.
Pearl
A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
created by a pearl farmer under controlled conditions.
Development of a pearl
A pearl is formed when the mantle tissue is injured by a parasite, an attack of a fish or another event that damages the external fragile rim of the shell of a molluc shell bivalve or gastropod. In response, the mantle tissue of the mollusk secretes nacreNacre
Nacre , also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some mollusks as an inner shell layer; it is also what makes up pearls. It is very strong, resilient, and iridescent....
into the pearl sac, a cyst that forms during the healing process. Chemically speaking, this is calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime,...
and a fibrous protein called conchiolin
Conchiolin
Conchiolin and perlucin are complex proteins which are secreted by a mollusc's outer epithelium ....
. As the nacre builds up in layers of minute aragonite tablets, it fills the growing pearl sac and eventually forms a pearl. It is a myth that a grain of sand or grit can cause a pearl to form, as nacre will not adhere to inorganic substances.
Natural pearls are those pearls that are formed in nature, more or less by chance. Cultured pearls, by contrast, are those in which humans take a helping hand. By actually inserting a tissue graft of a donor oyster, a pearl sac forms, and its inner side precipitates calcium carbonate in the form of nacre.
A common pearl “seed” is made from a small piece of the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
pigtoe mussel
Rough pigtoe pearly mussel
The rough pigtoe pearly mussel or rough pigtoe, scientific name Pleurobema plenum, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.This species is endemic to the United States....
shell that has been cut and ground in a sphere. The mantle gland is harvested from one oyster and cut into small pieces. The oyster is placed in warm water to relax the oyster, which is gently pried open. A small incision is made and the seed inserted along with a small piece of mantle gland. The oyster is then placed back in the water and allowed over several years to coat the seed with nacre. The parasite is coated in many layers of this nacre, meaning that, if pearls are sawed in half, visible layers can be seen.
The pearl industry
Modern-day cultured pearls are primarily the result of discoveries made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese researchers Mise and Nishikawa. Although some cultures had long been able to artificially stimulate mollusks into producing a type of pearl, the pearls produced in this way were only blister and mabe, rather than actual round pearls. What Mise and Nishikawa discovered was a specific technique for inducing the creation of a round pearl within the gonad of an oyster. This technique was patented by Mikimoto Kōkichi shortly thereafter, and the first harvest of rounds was produced in 1916.
This discovery revolutionized the pearl industry, because it allowed pearl farmers to reliably cultivate large numbers of high-quality pearls. In contrast to natural pearls—which have widely varying shapes, sizes, and qualities, and which are difficult to find—cultured pearls could be "designed" from the start to be round and primarily flawless. The oysters could be monitored for up to two years until each pearl was fully formed, thus better ensuring their health and survival. And the pearls could be produced by the tens of thousands, thereby bringing their cost down to a point where pearls became accessible to large numbers of people around the world.
In short, the development of cultured pearls took much of the chance, risk, and guesswork out of the pearl industry, allowing it to become stable and predictable, and fostering its rapid growth over the past 100 years. Today more than 99% of all pearls sold worldwide are cultured pearls. Coloured Pearls, which occur due to local chemicals inside the shell, much in the way of rubies of sapphires, cane be made by inserting natural dyes into the mussel shell, e.g cobalt chloride to ensure a pinky colour (Hydrated Cobalt Chloride)
Cultured pearls can often be distinguished from natural pearls through the use of x-rays, which reveals the inner nucleus of the pearl.