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NATURAL PEARLS AND CULTURED PEARLS
Natural pearls in today’s world are very rare and thus extremely valuable. Natural pearls form when an organic foreign object lodges in the soft tissue of a mollusk (oyster or mussel), and the mollusk secretes a protective substance called nacre around the foreign body to protect itself. Multiple layers of nacre form around the natural intruder resulting in a lustrous hard coated pearl that brilliantly reflects light.
Cultured pearls are formed in the same way as natural pearls except man inserts the foreign nucleus irritant such as a bead or tissue (a process called nucleation), and the mollusk secretes many layers of nacre around the irritant to create the iridescent pearl. There are two types of nucleation: tissue nucleation for freshwater mussels and bead nucleation for saltwater oysters. Freshwater tissue nucleation can be done up to 50 times at once for mussels; whereas, saltwater oysters can only be nucleated with one to five beads at the same time. Thus, freshwater pearls are produced more abundantly and less expensively than saltwater pearls. The development of a pearl after nucleation can take between 9 months to 6 years to harvest. Almost all pearls harvested and sold today are cultured. Cultured pearls can be freshwater or saltwater pearls and both types are real not fake.
Pearls are the only gems that require a clean, nutrient-rich, and well-balanced environment in order to properly develop. Pollution, predators, and storms can be detrimental to the growth of cultured pearls and in turn affect the cost and availability of fresh and saltwater pearls. Pearl farmers not only face potential hazardous environmental circumstances but often wait years for pearls to develop and have limited control over the pearls final outcome. The resulting pearl is truly a miraculous product of nature.
REAL PEARLS vs. FAKE PEARLS
Real pearls, whether cultured or naturally developed, serve as a symbol and an investment in you or your loved one. Imitation pearls (also known as costume or faux) are made from plastic, glass, or fish scales and cost anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. Fake pearls will never display the unique brilliance, look and feel that real pearls offer.
Below are several general quick and effective ways to test that your pearls are real.
| Characteristics | Real Pearls | Fake Pearls |
| Temperature | Cool to cold when touched | Room temperature, not cool |
| Surface tested by teeth | Gritty surface when rubbed on teeth | Smooth surface when rubbed on teeth* |
| Weight | Heavy in weight | Light in weight |
| Matching of pearls | Minor difference in pearl matching size, tone, surface | Pearl matching exact; perfect surface |
| Reflection of light | Natural glimmer in light, deep inner glow | Mirror glass reflection and lusterless |
| Color & overtone | Pearl body color is deep, enriched with overtones | Pearl body color is flat, one uniform color |
| Drill holes in pearl | Drill holes are smooth | Drill holes are rough, or not uniform |
*NOTE – some real pearls can be smooth to the touch as well because of how they were polished.
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