What Does A Natural Pearl Look Like

A look inside shows how pearls form in oysters oysters continuously rotate a single lustrous orb for at least a year before the pearl becomes jewelry.

What does a natural pearl look like. A pearl is a hard glistening object produced within the soft tissue specifically the mantle of a living shelled mollusk or another animal such as fossil conulariids just like the shell of a mollusk a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate mainly aragonite or a mixture of aragonite and calcite in minute crystalline form which has deposited in concentric layers. Imitation or simulated pearls often have rough or rounded edges. There is nothing like them therefore owning a piece of such jewelry is truly special. If your pearls look perfectly round to you there s a good chance they re artificial.

Newer cultured pearl techniques are producing larger bead nucleated freshwater pearls like edison pearls that routinely measure 14 0 16 0mm on average. Because they re products of nature every real pearl is slightly different just like snowflakes or fingerprints. If you place a natural pearl against a dark background like a box lined in black cloth and put it under a strong light the natural pearl will look like a small white homogenous ball with no discernible inner rings. That said purchasing natural pearls can be a bit of a tricky process.

Pearls whether saltwater or freshwater come in a range of colors. Most pearls won t be perfect spheres they ll usually be slightly oblong or have minor defects. Pearls strung along a strand will have holes drilled for the silk string to pass through. On one hand natural pearls are some of the world s most rare and unique gemstones.

Look around the pearl drill hole. A natural pearl begins its life inside an oyster s shell when an intruder such as a grain of sand or bit of floating food slips in between one of the two shells of the oyster a type of mollusk. Natural pearls are less transparent than cultured pearls. There are both pros and cons when it comes to purchasing natural pearls.

A real pearl will have well defined edges like a hollow cylinder. It is possible for real pearls to be perfectly. Also look for chipped paint or coating around the hole. As fake pearls rub against.