Pearls: Ornaments From Accidents of Nature

Pearls: Ornaments from accidents of nature

© 2009 Dr.P.Elayaraja

Pearl

A pearl is a hard and generally spherical object made up of calcium carbonate deposits that are collected within the soft tissues of living shelled mollusk. The shells of these mollusks are also made up of calcium carbonate. Pearls come from both freshwater and marine waters.

An ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth. The good quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. This is the reason the word pearl has become a metaphor for something very uncommon, very fine, very admirable and very valuable.

How is a pearl produced: Is it by accident?

Almost any shelled mollusk can, by natural processes, produce some kind of “pearl” when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within the mollusc’s mantle folds, but the great majority of these “pearls” are not valued as gemstones.

Nacreous pearls, the best-known and most commercially-significant pearls, are primarily produced by two groups of molluskan bivalves or clams. A nacreous pearl is made from layers of nacre, by the same living process as is used in the secretion of the mother of pearl which lines the shell.

Pearls quality and Jewelery

The occurrence of valuable pearls in the wild is very rare. Cultured or farmed pearls make up the majority of those that are currently sold. Pearls from the sea are valued more highly than freshwater pearls.

Imitation or fake pearls are also widely sold in inexpensive jewelery. The quality of the iridescence of such pearl is usually very poor and artificial pearls are easily distinguished from genuine pearls. Pearls have been harvested and cultivated primarily for use in jewelery, but in the past they were also stitched onto lavish clothing. Pearls have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines, or in paint formulations.

The value of the pearls in jewellery is determined by a combination of parameters like the luster, color, size, lack of surface flaw and symmetry. According to jewellers, the most important differentiator is the luster.

This may be a reason for naming my son as ‘Nithyll’, meaning ‘brilliant like pearl’ in Tamil.

© 2009 Dr.P.Elayaraja