• Unlike most other gemstones which are minerals, pearls are organic in nature.
• Pearls are formed when a piece of foreign material makes its way inside the shell of a freshwater or saltwater mollusk, such as mussels, oysters, and abalone. The mollusk secretes soothing substances to ease the irritation of the foreign body. The pearl is built up in layers with each successive coat making it smoother and smoother.
• While pearls are formed naturally, without human intervention, most pearls available today are cultured by pearl farmers who insert an irritant into a mollusk to trigger pearl formation.
• Pearls occur in a wide variety of colors with the most familiar being white and cream.
• The layers of coating that make up a pearl is called nacre.
• The only way to tell the difference between a natural pearl and cultured pearl is by x-ray to view the nucleus of the pearl.
• There are four major types of cultured whole pearls:
• Akoya—This type is most familiar to many jewelry customers. Japan and China both produce saltwater akoya cultured pearls.
• South Sea—Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are leading sources of these saltwater cultured pearls.
• Tahitian—Cultivated primarily around the islands of French Polynesia (the most familiar of these is Tahiti), these saltwater cultured pearls usually range from white to black.
• Freshwater—These are usually cultured in freshwater lakes and ponds. They’re produced in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and colors. China and the US are the leading sources.
• Pearl is the birthstone for June.

Website by Sonia McDowall