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Pearls
along with coral,
ruby, diamonds is a popular gemstone,
more used in jewelry,
is found in the seas not the land
and is therefore not of the same
composition nor characteristics of
the earth born gemstones. Care must
be taken to preserve the quality of
pearls. Pearls are made of calcium
carbonate formed within an oyster.
The basic irritant is usually a
grain of sand which stimulates the
oyster to cover it with its own body
secretion - eventually forming the
well known round and perfect pearl.
The luster of the pearl comes from
minute crackles on its surface -
finer than those on opals. Their
luster increases in the body warmth
of human beings and therefore the
practice of allowing the shop
attendants to wear the strings of
pearl has a practical basis.
Different pearl qualities depend
upon colour and size and range from
the tiniest "seed pearls" to the
rare gems of considerable size
Harvesting pearls from the wild is
singularly unrewarding and cultured
pearls have been able to meet the
demand for these beautiful natural
ornaments. Cultured pearls have been
produced in China for several
centuries as now in Japan, Australia
and the Pacific. |
