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Home | Types of Pearls | Shopping Guide | Pearl Information | Contact Us |
Types Of Pearls
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Pearl FarmingAlthough it is widely believed that pearls are formed from a grain of sand lodged in a mollusk, this is more myth than reality. Instead, a pearl typically forms when an irritant such as a parasite, wayward food particle or other organic matter becomes trapped in the mollusk. This causes the mollusk to coat the object with layers of aragonite and conchiolin, forming a pearl. With cultured pearls, instead of waiting for a natural irritant, a pearl farmer insets an irritant, such as a mother-of-pearl bead, into the tissue of a pearl bearing mollusk. Once inserted, a cultured pearl grows the same way as a natural pearl. |