Pearls are one of the few gemstones that are organic in nature. They 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 a grain of sand into a mollusk to trigger pearl formation.

For thousands of years pearls have been a symbol of wealth and power, the oldest written mention of natural pearls was in 2206 BC. As with many gemstones, legends associated with pearls abound. For example, some thought the pearl was the pearl mollusk’s soul and an ancient Chinese legend claims it rains pearls when dragons battle in the sky. What you may not know is that pearls were also used for medicinal purposes as well. In fact, they have been used more consistently in medicine than any other gemstone. In the thirteenth century Albertus Magnus wrote that pearls helped cure mental illness and heartbreak and Anselmus de Boodt (1550-1632), a Flemish humanist, mineralogist, physician, and naturalist, had a recipe for pearl water which supposedly would restore strength and nearly raise the dead. The Chinese swallowed home-made pearl “pills” for immortality and other Asian cultures thought pearls cured fever, indigestion, bleeding, and eye ailments. Side note--pearls are composed of calcium carbonate which is used today to treat indigestion and other digestive ailments!