Cultured Pearls Vs Natural Pearls

A natural pearl is thus born.

Cultured pearls vs natural pearls.

Cultured pearls are real pearls grown inside real oysters at pearl farms in japan australia indonesia china and many more locations. Pearls evoke a sense of sophistication style and opulence. White south sea pearls are some of the most stunning pearls cultivated today. When it comes to naturally occurring pearls and cultured pearls there are a few distinct differences.

All pearls both natural and cultured are created biologically not in the laboratory. They are both made by living creatures with nacre through an organic process that occurs in the water. A natural pearl is formed when an irritant accidentally gets into the soft tissue of the mussel in an oyster. These pearls are nucleated with either a small mother of pearl bead nucleus or a square 1mm piece of mantle tissue which irritates the mollusk into forming a pearl sac and then subsequently coating the seed with crystalline nacre layers eventually forming a pearl.

As a defense mechanism the animal produces secretions to coat the irritant. Pearl natural or cultured is a us birthstone for june together with alexandrite and moonstone. Cultured pearls versus natural pearls. Natural wild pearls are typically found by shellfish harvesters purely by accident.

It s this rarity that gives them their high price tag not necessarily their beauty. What s the difference between natural pearls and cultured pearls. The difference is more akin to the difference between wild caught and farm raised fish. However there aren t any synthetic pearls.

Many layers of coating are deposited on the irritant making the irritant smooth. For cultured pearls the mollusk is usually a tiny bead. Many natural gemstones have lab made counterparts. And always remember cultured pearls are real pearls.

Natural pearls look more organic than cultured pearls. Natural pearls grow without any human intervention whereas cultured pearls form when a farmer inserts a mollusk into the oyster shell. For natural pearls the mollusk is an organism in the water. Imitation pearls on the other hand are commonly made of glass plastic or another type of material inside a lab.

Natural pearls form in the bodies or mantle tissue of certain mollusks usually around a microscopic irritant and always without human help of any kind. When you are shopping for pearl jewelry you will encounter a variety of different pearls and you may be wondering which types are right for you. You might have to open 10 000 oysters to find a single decent quality natural pearl. Pearl experts recognize both natural pearls and cultured pearls as authentic pearls.

Cultured pearls natural pearls.