The Provenance of Pearls

Pearls are organic gems produced by mollusks: two-part shellfish such as oysters and mussels. Pearls grow within these particular shellfish lodged in the middle of the interior of the shell covering, and the organism dwelling within.

Pearls are built up of layers of a substance called nacre, also known as mom of pearl. Nacre is produced by an organ within the mollusk, as a defense against organic matter that gets caught inside the shell. Nacre itself is made up of layers of calcium carbonate and a protein called 'conchiolin'; which gives the pearl its basal color and acts as a binding substance in the middle of layers.

Pearl

After nacre is secreted, it settles colse to the foreign particles, and in doing so protects the oyster's internal organs. Layer after layer, the secreted nacre hardens, finally forming a pearl. The extensive ability of the pearl and its luster is dependent on the uniformity of the secreted nacre layers.

The Luster Of A Pearl

Luster is a term oftentimes used to divulge the rate at which light is diffracted from a pearl's face combined with the light that emanates from deep within the pearl. The best luster is attained from numerous uniform layers of nacre, which let diffracted light pass uninterrupted. Pearls that possess a bright, mirror-like luster fetch higher prices, compared to Pearls which have a low, dull luster.

The ability of luster is dependent on the environmental factors external to the mollusk throughout the pearl's formation. Mollusks are unable to control their temperature, and so are very susceptible to any changes in the surrounding waters. When the water climatic characteristic is high the mollusks metabolism is increased, and the rate at which they inexpressive nacre is accelerated. This can lead to imperfect nacre crystal buildings and a consequently a duller pearl. When water temperatures drop the mollusks metabolism lowers, producing nacre at a decreased speed. Consequently, the nacre layers and their crystal buildings are more constant and furnish a pearl of good translucency and luster.

The Orient & Color Of A Pearl

People often confuse the terms luster and orient when discussing pearls; luster is a phenomenon that describes the deeper glow while orient refers more to the face qualities. A synonym of orient is iridescence, visible by a rainbow consequent over a face similar to the kaleidoscope of colors that shine over soap bubbles.

Like luster the color of a pearl is also dependent on the environmental factors external to the mollusk. Pearls come in a gamut of colors ranging from pure white, silver, gold, pink, green, grey and black with every nuance in-between. While it is true that a pearl derives its color from its D.N.A. It also gets color from its diet and trace metals in the water, as well as depth and salt levels in the surrounding waters.

The D.N.A. Of any one mollusk will give the pearl its overriding color. For example, a silver-lipped oyster will furnish white or silver pearls, whereas a black-lipped oyster will originate black or grey tones. However, colors are also contributed by diet. Bivalve mollusks filter feed, drawing water in and extracting from it puny algae called phytoplankton.

There are absolutely millions of distinct phytoplankton in the water at any one time and one species will be proliferation and another in decline agreeing to time of year. When ingested the assorted phytoplanktons are broken down and used to furnish the binding protein conchiolin, used in nacre, the color of which contributes to pearl's pigmentation. Metallic particles extracted from the digested phytoplankton and water can also decide the color of a pearl; for example trace elements of copper can consequent in a green or blue hue whereas magnesium can consequent in yellow.

The Shape & Size Of A Pearl

Pearls come in all shapes and sizes, but are most often represented in their round form. The shape and size of any pearl is dependent on the species of mollusk, it's health, the location of the pearls formation within and it's time there and in the case of a cultivated pearl the shape and size of the nucleus at the center. In addition, there are the environmental factors to consider; location, water temperature, algae and saline content. All these elements combined, forecasting the shape of a natural pearl is impossible, but with today's controlled cultivation techniques pearl farmers can growth the opening of producing a round pearl by true monitoring of water content the oyster's growth and the implanting of perfect round nuclei.

Perfectly round pearls are the rarest of all shapes and are priced accordingly; irregularly shaped pearls are more likely to occur and are therefore cheaper. The majority of pearls have what is known as an axis of symmetry, meaning that it is potential to pierce the pearl through its center and spin the pearl on its axis: a round pearl will not shudder when spun on its axis. Pearls that shudder when doing this are called Baroque. Semi-baroque pearls are by far the largest group and comprise drops, buttons and ovals. This does not dictate ability as a perfect drop is just as indispensable as a perfect round due to its rare occurrence.

The Provenance of Pearls

See Also : The Bests Rings