Pearl facts

First of all: Why should you care about pearls?

Because they’re classy as fuck! You’d want to buy that special lady in your life some pearls. Or you can buy them for yourself of course. Either how, this is how I promise you’ll feel and look when wearing pearls.

Now, let’s get started!

Pearls are the only gemstone made by living animals. Pretty neat, huh?
All pearls come from mollusks and all pearls are cultivated in what they call Pericultures.

Harvesting "natural" pearls was compromised by water pollution, tsunamis, and other phenomena that made it difficult to leave the oysters safely in the water long enough to grow sizeable pearls.

Harvesting pearls from mollusks in the Pericultures does not kill the animals, as they can be re-implanted and used to make more pearls.

The presence of a foreign object, like a grain of sand or a piece of shell causes an irritation inside of an oyster/mollusk. The irritation causes the secretion of nacre, which forms around the irritant, and thus, creates a pearl.

Saltwater pearls come from oysters, while freshwater pearls usually come from mussels, although all mollusks can make pearls. (Though not as valuable because of their undesired size and shape, like these penis-shaped ones)

Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. This makes the pearl dissolve in vinegar, wine or other slightly acidic solutions.

Pearls take their color from the inside of the shell in which they are growing. They range from white to gold, and from purple to almost black. Tahitian pearls are the darkest, as shown in the picture.

So, how can you tell imitation pearls from genuine pearls?

Imitation pearls are smooth. Pearls that occur in a natural environment are gritty, and create a sense of friction as you move your fingers over them. Alternatively, you can gently move the pearls against each other and look for a powdery residue. If they feel completely smooth and you can’t see any residue, they’re probably fake.

Ever heard that a real pearl will not scratch against your teeth? Well, that statement is not entirely true. A freshwater pearl will scratch against the teeth. Saltwater pearls, on the other hand, will not. This is because the nacre of the saltwater pearl is much more compact.

Now I hope you all learned something today. Here is a Patrick for your time!

Sources: http://www.pearlllc.com/ http://www.dolmapearl.com/ and of course Wikipedia.