Pearls of Wisdom

Mike Levine

Pearls don’t just happen. They form through an amazing process when an irritant, a foreign body like a grain of sand, fishbone or shell fragment, works its way into the soft tissue of an oyster, clam or mussel. The mollusks, in a defense mechanism, produce special secretions to coat the irritant. Those layers of coatings become the pearls, the only “jewels” produced by living animals. Different types of mollusks can produce different pearls in terms of color, size and shape.

Natural pearls:  It can take thousands of oysters to produce enough pearls for one single necklace. And that doesn’t guarantee that the pearls will be the same size or color.

Cultured pearls: Human intervention, in the form of a “pearl farmer,” is required to introduce an irritant that can’t be expelled. This starts the secretion process. You’ve probably heard the name “Mikimoto” associated with pearls. Japanese entrepreneur Kokichi Mikimoto was the first person to create this process and produce a cultured pearl. He patented the process way back in 1896.

Freshwater pearls:  These are formed in non-saline water like lakes or ponds. They’re normally not as round as cultured or natural pearls and not as expensive. A bargain!

Stop in to David Craig Jewelers and ask about our pearls!

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