Pearl is a pearly organic gem

- Its formation : A foreign body is in contact with the mantle of a mollusk, which contains cells secreting the mother -of -pearl. Layer after layer, mother -of -pearl gives birth to a natural pearl ... sometimes trivial, and sometimes exceptionally beautiful.

- Its hardness: On a scale of 1 (dry soap) at 10 (diamond)The pearl is between 2.5 and 4. Despite its relatively low hardness, the pearl is still very resistant.

- Pearl maintenance: It is recommended to clean it with a soft cloth soaked in lukewarm and slightly soapy water. It is also recommended to wear it only after putting creams and perfumes because it hardly appreciates chemicals. Indeed, once the pearls are pierced and mounted as a necklace, the products can damage them because they penetrate between the pearl layer and the nucleus.

Fine pearls and culture pearls: treasures of the seas

A natural or fine pearl is called a pearl formed without the intervention of man. According to historians, this precious intruder was discovered in the Persian Gulf, the Chinese and European rivers, as well as in Sri Lanka from thousands of years to the new world with Christopher Columbus at the end of the 15th, who Discovered pearls in Venezuela and Panama. Today it is very rare. It was only around 1900 that the pearls of culture were invented by Kokichi Mikimoto, who understood the Moynism by training. The culture pearls are also natural, simply man helped nature to finish his work: for fine pearls, the foreign body came to accommodate by chance in the mollusc. In terms of culture pearls, man meets the mollusk, and controls each stage of the pearl growth. The intruder is therefore replaced by a round mother -of -pearl kernel, of different diameters.

Portrait of a pearl with multiple reflections

The pearl of culture is available under many identities, according to its origin and the molluscs from which it comes. There are 2 main types of pearls: sea water and fresh water. Among the sea water pearls, there are the Akoya, the Tahiti pearls and those of the South Seas. These are born in oysters. While freshwater pearls come to life in giant molds.

- The Akoya pearl: It is cultivated in Japan, China and Vietnam and appeared in the early 1900s. It is the best known in the general public. Most Akoya pearls are white-cream-in-colored, passing through yellow and then the rosé or light gray. In general, its diameter varies between 6 and 10 mm.

- The pearl of the southern seas: It generally comes from Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines but is also cultivated in Thailand and Myanmar and appeared in the 1950s. Most of the time, the color of this pearl goes from white-cream to the color of the 'gold. This is the biggest known pearl: its caliber varies between 8 and 18mm, sometimes more.

- The pearl of Tahiti: It is mainly cultivated in French Polynesia and off the Cook Islands, it appeared in the 1960s. Its color goes from gray to black via green, bluish purple and can display a unique metallic reflection. Its usual size varies between 8 and 16 mm in diameter.

- The freshwater pearl: Unlike the aforementioned examples of pearls cultivated at sea, the freshwater pearl is cultivated in rivers and lakes. Unlike other culture pearls, the mollusc of a freshwater pearl can produce several pearls simultaneously, making it more affordable than the others. It is found in China, Japan and the United States. It can be very variable colors. It appeared in Japan in the 1930s and China in the 1970s. Its size varies between 2 and 13 mm. While seawater culture pearls are the fruit of an establishment of a piece of coat combined with a mother -of -pearl kernel used to form the heart of the future pearl, the freshwater culture pearls do not have Need a nucleus so their mother -of -pearl layer is thicker. They are mainly produced only from a piece of coat grafted in a mollusk. China is the most important producer of culture pearls in the world. It is estimated at only 10% the rate of pearls produced of gem quality, exploitable in jewelry. This shows that the work provided by humans and the leniency granted by nature are not always sufficient to create the sumptuous pearls put into display in the jewelers. It is indeed a long -term work for which workers of the perlières farms must arm themselves with patience. These marvels of pearls, fruits of chance and nature, require many months, sometimes years of growth before being freed from their shell. But what a fabulous show when the result is perfect!

There are also other types of pearls. Among these :

- "Blister" pearls: these pearls"Bulbs" form a solid heart inside a mollusk. Unlike other pearls, the part facing the shell has no mother -of -pearl and is flat.

- Keshi: these" poppy seeds " are so -called natural pearls from southern seas and are baroque (irregular)

- Mabé: Assembly made up of a half-nacre halfnoyau, which also makes a flat pearl.