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Treasures WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
A NATURAL PEARL AND A CULTURED

PEARL?

of the Sea A natural pearl begins its life as a foreign object

that accidentally lodges itself in an oyster’s
soft inner body where it cannot be removed.
The oyster’s body takes preventive measures
to attack the irritant, and begins to secrete a
smooth, hard crystalline substance around it in
order to protect itself. This substance is called
‘nacre.’ As long as the irritant remains within its
Pearls have been treasured for centuries by cultures both body, the oyster will continue to produce layer

ancient and modern worldwide. They became important upon layer of nacre to encase it, resulting in a
lustrous gem called a pearl. Natural pearls are
symbols of wealth and status as well as religious belief. extremely rare and valuable. Most pearls today
are cultured. In the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, Japanese researchers discovered a
method of producing pearls artificially.

Cultured pearls inside oyster shell

Cultured pearls are formed in a similar way,
but require careful human intervention using
a process called nucleation. A surgical
procedure is performed by highly skilled
technicians who carefully open live pearl
oysters. An incision is made in the oyster’s
body and a tiny piece of mantle tissue (the
nucleus) from another oyster is placed in a
safe location within the original oyster. The
cells from the mantle tissue develop around
the nucleus forming a sack which closes and
The ancient Greeks proclaimed pearls to be tears of B.C. Cleopatra, who owned the world’s two largest and
joy shed by the goddess Aphrodite. Ancient Egyptians most valuable natural pearls is said to have dissolved one starts to secrete nacre. The nucleated oysters
associated pearls with Isis, the goddess of healing and life. in a glass of vinegar and drunk it down in front of Mark are returned to the sea or special pearl farms
Chinese historical records mention natural pearls as far Antony as a display of her enormous wealth. where they feed and grow, depositing layer
back as 2206 B.C. and according to some historians one of Pearls are the only gemstones which are grown inside a after layer of lustrous nacre onto the nuclei
the reasons Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. was to living organism. Almost all other gemstones are formed by implanted within them. Observing the growth of pearl mussels
obtain freshwater pearls. mineral deposits that must be mined, cut, and polished to
The Romans and Egyptians cherished pearls and used reveal their sparkling beauty.
them as decorative items from as early as the 5th Century

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