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Pearls or Mother-of-Pearl
Pearls
are formed inside the shell of certain mollusks. In response to an irritant
inside its shell, the mollusk deposits layers of nacre around the irritant
and it grows into a pearl. Pearls are usually white, sometimes with a
creamy or pinkish tinge, but may be tinted many other colors.
Both mother-of-pearl and pearls are
made of "nacre". Mother of pearl is a coating of nacre on the inside
of the shell itself and typically includes part of the shell.
See Shells Showcase
Natural Pearls or Cultured Pearls
Natural pearls occur on their own
while cultured pearls are cultivated by the insertion of a small bead or
mantle tissue around which the pearl is formed.
Freshwater Pearls or Saltwater Pearls
Freshwater pearls are
formed in fresh water mussels.
Saltwater pearls
grow in oysters that
live in the ocean, usually in protected lagoons.
Mabe Pearls or Blister Pearls
Both pearls grow on the inside wall of the shell. Mabe pearls are grown by
adhering a small dome onto the inside surface of a mollusk's shell. Once it
has been coated with nacre it is cut away, filled with resin and backed with
mother of pearl. All blister pearl are formed by adhering and object to the
shell but only the dome shaped blister pearls are Mabe pearls.
Osmena Pearls or Turbo Shell Pearls
These are often mislabeled, so we consulted an expert: Turbo pearls
are cut from the side of a turban shell and naturally white, but
sometimes tinted. True Osmena pearls come from the nautilus shell, actually
the inner spiral of the shell. Osmena pearls are naturally silver blue, but sometimes dyed
various colors or bleached white. It becomes difficult to tell which is
which. The term
Osmena is more widely known and Turbo pearls are often called Osmena,
because they are both domed flat backed cabochons. Both pearls are
technically mother of pearl.
Pearl Cabochons
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