Pearls- nature Vs Nurture
Pearls: Why Simulate If They’re Cultured?
Man’s fascination and love with luminous pearls dates back to ancient times. Glorious myths and folklore surrounds this gem which was once reserved only for royalty. Natural pearls, from days of yore, were created from a small irritant being trapped in a mollusk. The organism, out in the wild, would try to rid itself of the pest by secreting nacre over the problem all while trying to survive the elements and attack from predators. Its a wonder that a pearl ever came into existence.
Because the demand was so high for these natural beauties and the supply was so limited, culturing techniques were developed. Today, we have saltwater pearl culturing which involves a mother of pearl bead nucleus and a piece of mantle tissue and we have freshwater culturing which involves only mantle tissue. Both of these processes allow us to have these glowing gems that have captured our hearts. However, even with culturing, the supply isnt endless. The method is long and tedious and Mother Nature can still eliminate an entire crop of pearls before a single one is ever harvested.
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