As I understand it, cultured pearls are formed by inserting a spherical bead made from mother-of-pearl, or other shell material, into the mantle of a living oyster and leaving it there long enough that it becomes coated with a layer of nacre, thus giving it the appearance of a full-sized natural pearl.
OK, so the intent is to mimic natural ideally-spherical pearls, but is it technically possible to start with a differently-shaped blank and still have the oyster coat it with a nice layer of shiny nacre? Could we make cultured pearls in the shape of cubes, pyramids, teddy bears?
You could make pearls roughly like pyraminds, cubes, etc., but they would be rounded and in no way perfect. It would be the holy grail for pearl farmers if they could just choose a perfect shape.
Btw, random shaped pearls (i.e. not recognizably round, drop, coin etc.) are called ‘baroque’. I collect pearls so ask me anything.
EDIT: A perfectly round non-cultured pearl is EXTREMELY rare and would be worth a lot of money. Most people have never seen a non-cultured pearl in their lives.
I thought the nacre layer on cultured pearls was typically less than 1mm thick - that doesn’t seem like it would be enough to round them off too noticeably.
The ‘seed’ is very small, so it would be rounded, the nacre wouldn’t be laid down perfectly evenly - the whole point of pearl-making (for the oyster) is to rid itself of irritants, and smoothing out edges is one way they do this.
Nacre thickness can be more than 1mm - the thicker the nacre the more expensive the pearl. Some pearly buyers will cut a pearl in half before they buy to check the nacre.
Not in a lot of the examples I’ve seen - such as some of those in thisimage search.
Is that correct though? Wikipedia claims the grit/sand origin story of pearls to be a myth.
While I was searching for images of sliced cultured pearls, I found thissite, which has an example of the sort of thing I had in mind - so it sounds like I’m only 800 years too late with this brilliant idea…
By ‘small’ I don’t mean microscopic or THAT tiny. They’re clearly visible to the naked eye.
The link with the buddha - I think many would argue that’s not really a ‘pearl’ - it’s an object with an extremely thin layer of nacre on it - not sure about objective definitions, tho, maybe it IS a pearl? I mean, you could put a pyramid shaped bead into an oyster and hopefully get a thinly-layered-with-nacre pyramid back our shortly afterwards. The thickness of the nacre is one of the main qualities looked for in excellent pearls, so I dunno, I don’t think in financial terms they would ever be worth much.
As for Wikipedia saying the irritant theory is a myth - really? I haven’t heard anything about that. What does Wiki say is the motivation behind a pearl, then?
I am wondering what kind. colour etc. pearl I would get if I could choose shape. Geodesic dome? In teal Tahitian? Yeah.
OK crazydoglady, since your information is handy and I’m too lazy to look it up, a few questions:
-How long does it take an oyster to turn the inserted bead (or the irritant) into a pearl?
I would have though the size of the pearl had to do with how long the irritant was inside the oyster and the size of the oyster. Is that at all correct?
How does the above question relate to the 1mm nacre discussion? Big pearl, 1mm nacre???
Does harvesting the pearls kill the oyster or can they be used to make more pearls?
Just thought I’d ask.
If it’s got an external layer of nacre on it. it’s a cultured pearl by any meaningful definition. Arguments could be made about the quality, for sure.
It just appears to dismiss the abrasive irritant theory - I guess a parasite or injury might still qualify as an irritant, but not because of roughness.
How about a ring, carved out of some hefty shell or other (abalone maybe?), to a diameter calculated to fit on a finger after receiving a decent coating of nacre. Not sure it’s even possible - and I reckon the failure rate would be high, but that could make it valuable.
Hey! I will answer as well as I can…
-How long does it take an oyster to turn the inserted bead (or the irritant) into a pearl? That depends on how thick you want the nacre - it also depends on how long you’re willing to risk the oyster (to disease, predators etc.) in the water - the best pearls are cultured for at least around a year and I’m not sure any go over 4 years (in a farming situation).
I would have though the size of the pearl had to do with how long the irritant was inside the oyster and the size of the oyster. Is that at all correct? Yes, although I am not 100# sure about the second part. Pearl farmers always have to try and find the balance between letting the pearls grow for long enough, and not risking their oysters - loss of pysters goes up as time passes.
How does the above question relate to the 1mm nacre discussion? Big pearl, 1mm nacre???
INot sure about this - a very big oyster with a very short-term pearl could conceivably prodice a large pearl with very thin nacre.
Does harvesting the pearls kill the oyster or can they be used to make more pearls?
No, it kills them. Saltwater pearls, anyway - I think there are some kinds of freshwater pearls that don’t involve killing the mussel.
Did you know that conch pearls exist? They can’t be farmed and are therefore very rare and expensive. My dream is to own one.
Are you considering getting into the hobby? It is expensive and addictive, I am warning you.
EDIT: Here is Jeremy Shepherd (California based pearl expert/seller/guru) in Australia at the famous Paspaley farm with ‘the’ Paspaley pearl (21mm perfectly round South Sea): http://www.flickr.com/photos/pearlparadise/3429693166/ and a closeup of the pearl: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pearlparadise/3428877805/ Paspaley isn’t selling it and I doubt ever will - that quality and size of pearl is so rare that lifetime pearl farmers would generally never expect to see one.
