Pearl Art Crafts

Many people wonder where pearls come from. Since they are very precious stones, a lot of people usually think that they come from very deep mines like gemstones and diamonds. However, this is not true; pearls are made by sea creatures namely mollusks and oysters. So how do they manage to do this? Naturally, when a foreign body like sand gets into their skin, they get irritated. Therefore, in an effort to expel it from their bodies, they conceal it under what is called nacre, which is a calcium carbonate layer, to sheath their bodies from irritation. By continuing to add layer upon layer of nacre, these creatures unknowingly form a very precious gem. Pearls are usually white, smooth and without dirt marks.

Pearls have a unique shimmer that is called luster. The amount of luster a pearl has is directly proportional to the layers of nacre it has. Low luster is an indication of less layers of nacre. Also temperature seems to be a determining factor in the luster a pearl has since oysters that grow in cold areas are responsible for the production of low luster pearls. Pearls can also be made using abalone, mussels and conch

Many white pearls have a top coating of color that is known as tint. Some of the existing known tints are tints of pink, rose and cream. Pearls with pink and rose tints are more expensive. Silver tinted pearls are very rare. Today there are two types of pearl: natural and cultured. Natural ones are produced by the oysters and mollusks in the sea and they are known as oriental pearls.. Cultured pearls are produced artificially in that a bead is put into the oysters bodies to create the irritating body and cause them to produce layers of nacre thus making pearls. Fresh water cultured pearls are grown all over the world along rivers. They are produced by mollusks. They can be produced in a range of colors which include pink, orange, mauve and golden. They are smaller in size and the sizes tend to differ among the pearls. The concentration of color ranges from light to dark. This is called tone and is the determining aspect in the quality of pearls. The darker the color, the more valuable a pearl is. Pearls can also be dyed and made in different shapes. The varying types of pearls are then used to make high quality jewels that are very beautiful.

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