Introduction Pearl is a Gem produced within the mantle of a living shelled mollusk. It is a mineral and is composed of Calcium Carbonate. Pearls were the first Gem discovered by human beings thousands of years ago. Pearls are the only organic Gem and it requires no processing. The ideal Pearl is perfectly round and smooth. According to Indian system of gemology of nine “Maha-Ratnas”, the Pearl is only next to diamond. Pearls are viewed as symbol of purity, love or source of wisdom & power. Hindu believes that Pearl brings happiness, to Chinese it brings wealth and to Egyptians it brings love. While the demand of pearls in India and other countries is increasing, their supply from nature is reduced due to over exploitation and pollution. India is importing a large amount of cultured pearls every year from international market to meet the domestic demand. In nature, a pearl is formed when a foreign particle viz; piece of sand , insects, etc. by chance enters into body of mussel and cannot reject that out and instead makes a shine coating on the particle layer by layer. This simple phenomenon is being desisted in pearl culture practices. The pearl is similar to the inner shining layer of shell called 'mother of pearl layer' or nacre, constituted by calcium carbonate, organic matrix and water. The pearls available in the market could be artificial. Imitated pearls are not pearls but pearl-like material that simply contains a rigid, round core or base and outer pearly coating
History Long known as the 'Queen of Gems', pearls were once the exclusive property of the rich and powerful. No one can say who 'discovered' pearls - probably they were first found by ancient people searching the shores for food. The Romans and Egyptians prized pearls and used them as decorative items as far back as the 5th Century BC. Chinese records mention them earlier still. Pearls have a place in Hindu, Islamic and Christian traditions - often to symbolize purity and perfection. The principal oyster beds lay in the Persian Gulf, along the coasts of India and in the Red Sea. Chinese pearls came mostly from rivers and lakes whilst Japanese pearls were found in salt water. As Europe expanded into the New World and pearl beds were discovered in the waters of Central and South America, pearls became increasingly popular at the royal courts of Europe. Some countries passed laws forbidding all but nobility to wear them. The popularity of pearls came at a price. By the 1800's overfishing had depleted most of the American oyster populations. Until the end of the 19th century, pearls were available only to the rich. In the early 1900's, a revolution in pearl production occurred. Kokichi Mikimoto, son of a Japanese noodle maker, harnessed techniques for introducing an 'irritant' into the oyster to stimulate the secretion of nacre which forms the pearl. The era of cultured pearls had begun though it would take decades before the original techniques were perfected. Rome in the first century lusted for pearls and didn't hesitate to plunder it's conquered territories for the gems. The Emperor Caligula (41 AD), having made his horse a consul, decorated it with a pearl necklace. His unfortunate subjects were not so lucky. It's said that the Roman General Vitelliusa paid for an entire military campaign by selling one of his mother's pearl earrings. One place even the Romans were unable to pillage is Tahiti and the islands of French Polynesia. The area's first pearl farm was founded in the mid-1960 but it was not until twenty years later that significant quantities of Tahitian pearls appeared on the market. Despite the common misperception, Mikimoto did not discover the process of pearl culture. The accepted process of pearl culture was developed by the British Biologist William Saville-Kent in Australia and brought to Japan by Tokichi Nishikawa and Tatsuhei Mise. Nishikawa was granted the patent in 1916, and married the daughter of Mikimoto. Mikimoto was able to use Nishikawa's technology. After the patent was granted in 1916, the technology was immediately commercially applied to akoya pearl oysters in Japan in 1916. Mise's brother was the first to produce a commercial crop of pearls in the akoya oyster. Mitsubishi's Baron Iwasaki immediately applied the technology to the South Sea pearl oyster in 1917 in the Philippines, and later in Buton and Palau. Mitsubishi was the first to produce a cultured South Sea pearl – although it was not until 1928 that the first small commercial crop of pearls was successfully produced. The original Japanese cultured pearls, known as akoya pearls, are produced by a species of small pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata, which is no bigger than 6 to 8 cm in size, hence akoya pearls larger than 10 mm in diameter are extremely rare and highly priced. Today, a hybrid mollusk is used in both Japan and China in the production of akoya pearls. Other species of oyster used for producing cultured pearls are the penguin's wing oyster Pteria penguin and the Pacific wing-oyster Pteria sterna. India recognized the Pearls about thousands of years ago and has a long and glorious history of appreciating Pearls. Pearls were mentioned in the Rig-Veda, which is the oddest of the Vedas about 3,000 years ago. About 2,500 years ago, the Artharva-Veda mentions an amulet made of Pearls and used as a talisman in India. The Indian epic book, the Ramayana, describes a necklace which was made with 27 Pearls. Ancient Hindu text provides evidences that Lord Krishna discovered the first Pearl. Hyderabad is known as the Pearl City from the time of royal kings of Nizam.
Raw round cultured pearl In natural pearls the core or nucleus in minutes with thick pearl nacre. Generally, a natural pearl is small in size and irregular in shape. A cultured pearl is also natural pearl, the only different being the human intervention in surgical implantation of a live mantle graft and nucleus for hastening pearl formation to the desired. Pearl It is a Gem having deep luster with wide ranges of colors and is perfectly round in shape. It is a composition of 85% of calcium carbonate 12% organic matrix and water. Pearl has 3.5 to 4.5 hardness with a specific gravity of 2.7. Any shell mollusk can produce a Pearl of some sort, but those mollusks who gave a Pearl lining or Pearl nacre in the interior of the shell surface can produce lustrous Pearls. The mollusks, the univalve gastropods and the two bivalves, with a nacreous layer can produce Pearls. Pearl is Produce by oysters in marine & mussels in the freshwater environment. Pearls are classified into three types; Natural Pearls Cultural Pearls Artificial or Imitation Pearls.
Raw round cultured pearl
In natural pearls the core or nucleus in minuts with thick pearl nacre. Generally, a natural pearl is small in size and irregular in shape. A cultured pearl is also natural pearl, the only different being the human inervention in surgical implantation of a live mantle graft and nucleus for hastening peral formation to the desired.
Pearl It is a Gem having deep lustre with wide ranges of colors and is perfectly round in shape. It is a composition of 85% of calcium carbonate 12% organic matrix and water. Pearl has 3.5 to 4.5 hardness with a specific gravity of 2.7. Any shell mollusk can produce a Pearl of some sort, but those molluscs who gave a Pearl lining or Pearl nacre in the interior of the shell surface can produce lustrous Pearls. The molluscs, the univalved gastropods and the two valved bivalves, with a nacreous layer can produce Pearls. Pearl is Produce by oysters in marine & mussels in the freshwater environment. Pearls are classified into three types:- Natural Pearls Cultural Pearls Artificial or Imitation Pearls
Natural Pearls Natural Pearls Natural Pearl is small in size & irregular in shape. The surface of a natural Pearls are rough. The nucleus of natural Pearl is small with thick crystalline nacre. When a foreign particle such as piece of sand or parasite enters into any species of mollusks that cannot be expelled, then natural Pearls are formed. A mollusk secretes nacre to coat the foreign particle to avoid irritation due to it. As a result of which many layer by layer around the irritant of natural Pearl is formed. There are very less natural Pearls left due to the over-exploitation of the natural stocks.
Cultured Pearl Cultured Pearls It is also a natural Pearl, the only difference being the human intervention in surgical implantation of live nucleus of desired shape into the body of mollusk where it cannot be expelled. Cultured Pearls are generally larger and are of a more consistent size and color than that of natural Pearl. Cultured Pearls are produced in both marine and freshwater environment with desired size, shape, color & luster. Pearl Culture is done in many Asian countries including India. There are various steps and methods involved in Pearl Culture. Most wild, natural pearl producing oyster beds have vanished due to over-fishing, oil drilling and pollution. Today, the world's most beautiful pearls are cultured. Cultured pearls share the same properties as wild pearls. The difference is that a technician opens the shell and inserts the irritant which stimulates nacre production. Seawater oysters have a round shell bead (traditionally from an American freshwater mussel) grafted in as the irritant. This is called 'nucleating'. Oysters are suspended in water from rafts and at risk from typhoons, parasites, predators and algae. Freshwater mussels have a small piece of mantle tissue (nacre producing tissue from another mussel) introduced as the irritant. This tissue desiccates leaving a solid pearl. Mussels are farmed in inland lakes and rivers.
Pearl Colours Pearls come in a variety of colors. Natural colors are mainly down to the breed of mollusk. Other influences include diet, water temperature and pollutants. No-one can predict or control what color pearls will be produced in any hatchery. Black pearls are rarely jet black but blue, green, silver, grey, aborigine, copper, peacock and more. Green is the predominant color. Naturally colored black pearls come from the pearl farms of French Polynesia (Tahitian pearls) as well as Indonesia and the Philippines.