Do you like pearls? I’ve always thought those little orbs were quite fascinating to look at, even more so as they originate in a fascinating way. As you might know, pearls were accidentally invented by nature – or maybe not quite so. Well, pearls do come from oysters (as well as other types of clam), and they’re generated when a speck of sand invades the clam shell. Actually they’re generated just afterwards, in the course of weeks of months; as the clam tries to protect itself from the intrusive grain of sand, it generates layers upon layers of a distinctive shiny coating. As the coating grows bigger and rounder, a pearl is eventually created!
Actual salt water pearls are quite rare, and extremely expensive. This kind of pearl is found occasionally nested in a prize oyster, among millions of other oysters. However, there are also techniques that allow the mass-production of real pearls! This kind of cultured pearl is generated from man-made grafts – and since it’s mass produced, it’s not quite as rare or nearly as expensive as wild pearls.
The thing about salt water pearl grafting is that it’s quite a tricky procedure, which requires high specialization. However, there’s another alternative: fresh water pearls, the very kind which is used to make this pearl necklace or this pearl earring. As the name suggests, these pearls come from freshwater clams such as mussels; the grafting procedure to produce this pearls is relatively simple, and it yiealds a greater volume of pearls.
That’s why freshwater pearl jewelry is relatively unexpensive, but still looks pretty darn good! I’ve been looking around for a video showing the pearl grafting procedure, but I only found this one focusing on salt water pearl grafting. To your enjoyment, here it goes:
