How is a pearl born?

To fully appreciate the value and unique character of pearls, it is useful to know how a pearl is formed.. In today's article we want to debunk the common belief that it is born in pain, and the main cause of its formation is a grain of sand that got inside the clam. It's a fact, pearl-bearing clams are responsible for the production of pearls, but the way they are made is a bit different than the one at the forefront of many people's imagination.So it's time to explain what pearls are and how they are formed.

Construction of a clam - a handful of useful information

To get a good understanding of how pearls are made, it is useful to first learn how clams are constructed. It is inside them that these unique specimens of pearls are created, which later adorn the necks and wrists of many women and men.

Mussels are crustaceans that live in fresh and saltwater. In simple terms, they consist of internal organs, a mantle and a shell that surrounds them. Between the mantle and shell is the epithelium of the mantle, which forms its shell, or protective layer of the mollusk. It has three layers:

• external - conchiolin,
• center - porcelain,
• internal - pearl.

As the shell grows, the epithelial cells change their function, forming a protective layer for the mollusk's delicate body. It follows that the mantle epithelium produces a mother-of-pearl, from which the pearl is later formed. How does this happen? We already explain.

How is a pearl created?

Now that we know that the mantle epithelium forms a mother of pearl, it's easy to move on to the next step of explaining how pearls are formed. This is done by placing a piece of epithelium inside the body of the mollusk. All you have to do is make an incision in the inside of the mollusk and place a piece of epithelium there, which will regenerate, forming a closed pearl sac. In this way, inside it, layer by layer, a pearl will be formed. Here is the answer to the question of how eggless pearls are formed.

In jewelry, we still distinguish nuclear pearls, for the production of which, in addition to epithelial tissue, the nucleus of the pearl extruded from the shell is used. In this way, it is possible to speed up the process of pearl production, as well as to take care of its regular, spherical shape.

These are known and have been used for years to grow natural pearls.This is a time-consuming and attention-intensive task, because the process of pearl formation inside a clam can take about 3 years. The sizes of the pearls vary, from a few to several millimeters. On average, they range from 8 to 12 millimeters. This, among other things, shows why jewelry with pearls is so unique and loved by thousands of people.

Pearls used to create pearl jewelry

There are several types of pearls. We can divide them by origin, so freshwater pearls and sea pearls - Akoya, Tahiti and South Sea. We also distinguish between their color and shape. We have round, semicircular, oval and teardrop pearls. The more regular the shape, the higher the price of such a pearl. As for their color, we distinguish white, pink and salmon pearls in the case of freshwater pearls. Saltwater ones, on the other hand, are usually white, pink, gold and dark specimens. It is also possible to dye pearls in other shades, such as green, purple or burgundy.

After the finished pearls are disguised, they are sorted to select specimens that are as similar in shape and color as possible. Properly selected pearls are used to make beautiful pearl necklaces or striking bracelets. When producing pearl earrings, you need to be even more careful, because the pearls chosen should be almost identical to form a cohesive whole.

As you can see, the whole process of growing pearls is not an easy one. However, it is worth to be patient because thanks to this we have a chance to obtain beautiful and unique specimens of pearls, which we later use to produce impressive jewelry. At Apearl, we have been creating original jewelry with pearls for years. With us you will find quality pearl necklaces, earrings with pearls, bracelets and rings, as well as entire sets of beautiful gold and silver jewelry decorated with natural cultured pearls.