Pearl as we all know, is a hard, glistering object produced inside an Oyster, a little creature living in the sea. It is produced within the soft tissue of an Oyster.
An Oyster gets eaten by other fishes or bigger members of its own family. They can also crawl on the ground. On the other hand, when it comes to sea-shore to save its life, man eats it. To protect itself, a hard shell is created around its body with a unique substance called “nacre” which is called the Mother of Pearl. Pearls are made within this hard cover.
History
Once a Chinese was suffering from hunger and to satisfy himself, he opened one Oyster to eat. Inside the Oyster, he found a small shining ball like object which later is called as Pearl.
The Pearl is formed of Calcium Carbonate in minute crystal form deposited in concentric layers. It is formed like this. Whenever by chance a sand particle goes inside the shell of an Oyster and rubs against its tender body, in order to sooth the irritation, it starts depositing layers of the shell material on the dust. Many such layers are formed like this. The formation of Pearl inside the shell is completed after sometime.
Shape, Colour and Size
The Pearl thus formed is round, white and shining. This is the pure Pearl. There are many other shapes of Pearls found. The finest quality of natural Pearl is highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty.
Pearl is also created by man using Culturing and Farming from Pearl Oysters, but they are called Artificial or Cultured Pearls. There are imitation Pearls created by man using materials like Glass, Plastic etc. Some sort of coating is also used to make an object look like plastic. Japan and other countries have developed technology for making Cultured Pearls.
Pearl of Lao Tze or Pearl of Lao Tzu, a Pearl found in Philippines on 7th May 1934 weighed 6.37kg with a diameter of 24 centimeters. It was found in the Palawan sea in the Philippines by a diver. It is not considered as a Gemstone Pearl but known as “Calm Pearl” or “Tridacna Pearl”.
Value
Pure, Natural Pearls are very costly. What we buy normally is the Artificial or Cultured Pearls.
Never get cheated when you go to buy Pearl as you may not be able to know whether it is a Natural Pearl, Artificial one or even an imitation on first look. Always get the help of experts to select Pearl.
