"The
richest merchandise of all, and the most sovereign commodity
throughout the whole world, are these pearls"
-C. Plinius Secundus,
Roman historian from Natural History, 77 A.D.
Enchantment for the pearl is timeless and universal. Since
the beginning of human history it has been regarded as
one of the rarest, most beautiful and most valued of all
gems. It has been treasured and praised by ancient cultures
of every age including China, Egypt, Persia, Greece and
Rome. Poets have sung its praise and scripture have extolled
its beauty as a symbol of love, wisdom, spirituality and
righteousness.
Since ancient times, pearls have been given as exquisite
gifts from Kings to queens, grooms to brides and fathers
to daughters as a symbol of their everlasting love.
"And Krishna brought forth pearls from the depths
of the sea to give to his daughter on her wedding day."
- The Rigveda, Ancient Hindu Book, c. 1000
B.C.
Because of their exceedingly high value, enjoyment of
pearls has traditionally been reserved for the ultra-rich
and powerful such as European royalty or the kings and
queens of Asia. However, by the early 1900's pearls finally
began to come within reach of the larger pearl-loving community,
thanks in large part to the culturing techniques developed
by enthusiasts such Japan's Kokichi, Mikimoto. Mikimoto
is widely considered the father of today's pearl culturing
techniques, and due to his passion for the pearl, these
natural treasures are finally available to those of us
who fall short of royalty status...
Pearl culturing is the process of creating an environment
that encourages natural oysters to yield genuine pearls
and has mitigated the traditional randomness associated
with scouring the ocean depths for these treasures. Pearl
culturing has also become quite necessary in recent decades,
since the wealth of the earth's ancient oyster beds were
long ago diminished or destroyed by over fishing and pollution.
The pearl culturing technique itself consists of implanting
a piece of an oyster's mantle tissue into the silky wall
lining of another oyster. The oyster's reaction to this
implanted tissue is identical to an oyster's reaction to
a natural intruder such as a sharp piece of sand or burrowing
parasite. In order to soothe the irritant, the oyster begins
to release a milky substance known as "Nacre".
Nacre is the same substance that forms the inner lining
of the oyster's shell and consists of microscopic calcium
carbonate crystals. Gradually, these crystals form layer
upon layer, and after several years they evolve into beautiful
organic gems!
Although there are over 100,000 species of oyster. Only
a very small number of Oyster's are actually capable of
developing genuine pearls. Each variety of pearl producing
oyster will yield pearls quite unique in appearance, size,
color and beauty. The most famous and traditionally treasured
of all varieties is the "Akoya" pearl and is
originally native to Japan. "Akoya" is synonymous
with "saltwater pearls", and are among the most
beautiful and expensive, due to their perfect roundness,
beautiful color, as well as the extreme difficulty associated
with the Akoya culturing process.
Also famous but much less expensive are the lustrous Chinese
freshwater pearls. Chinese freshwater pearls often rival
the luster of even the finest Akoya pearls. However, because
they are much easier to culture, the market price is often
much more affordable. Available natural colors among the
Chinese freshwater pearls are also quite diverse.
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