Creation of a pearl

A pearl is a round shaped hard object of calcium carbonate which is produced within the delicate tissue of a living shelled mollusk. It is said that the history of this gemstone dates 4000 years ago. The inhabitant of the countries like Rome, China, and Italy admired these stones not only because of their beauty, but also because of the rarity.

Pearl is the only gem whose creation takes place inside a living creature. It is created in the form of radiant nacre around a nucleus that irritates an oyster.  This happens when a foreign particle is invaded by some parasite in the shell. The shell secretes nacre which is crystalline in nature. This nacre deposits and forms the inner and outer walls of lustrous gemstone, pearl. It takes a very long time for the formation of the walls of the stone. This entire process is very difficult if it happens in total natural conditions. This is why, it is almost impossible to find a natural pearl with the desired shape. The perfect shaped pearls are the spherical shaped Natural pearls which are very rare. However, if any such pearl is discovered, it is considered priceless.  Out of 8000 species of shell fishes, only 20 have the ability to produce pearl.

However, these days a large number of cultured pearls are found in the market. They are not formed in complete natural conditions. Though the nucleus may be natural, little amount of sand or shell, or beads of Mississippi pig-toe mussel shell are rooted to create a large artificial pearl. The modern cultured pearls can be round, half-round, or irregularly shaped. At times these are half-round pearls made by putting in empty plastic shapes to the shell wall of the oyster in the last year of its production. Some of these are irregularly-shaped natural pearls with no artificial nucleus.

A large number of Australia’s South Sea pearls are produced from Broome's P. maxima oysters. These pearls are famous as the finest and largest pearls in the world. They have an overtone of rose, or a silvery whiteness, or gold or blue. Some of the best pearls are formed by contented oysters. The various operations of pearl farms are planned in a way to minimize the stress on these oysters. This is done by moving them when tides and temperatures are comparatively even. They are also cleaned off the marine parasites, and are kept hung from panels in the water column. By doing this, they are flushed with nutrients and the waste is carried away. However, it is a lot of hard work and is very labor intensive. Tending the oysters is an on-going process and is aimed at keeping the development of the gems smooth. Also, it ensures that the stress on the organism does not lead to any blemish on the gem.

A four years production is expected from a good oyster. Seeding it during the first two years, and in its last year it is expected to be used for half-shell production. It is said that the longer the pearl takes to develop, the deeper and thicker will be the coating of the nacre. Also quality of the pearl will be high. Though the cultivators always aim for smoother round shaped cultured pearls, the irregularly shaped or pearls with no artificial nucleus offer most of the scope in jewelries.