A pearl is a gem grown inside a living mollusk, an oyster or a mussel, in salt water or fresh. The pearls in most jewelry are made of nacre, the lustrous material, also called mother-of-pearl, that lines the inside of the mollusk's shell.
How a mollusk makes a pearl
A natural pearl begins when an irritant, such as a parasite, gets into the mollusk's soft tissue. Cells from the mantle, the organ that builds the shell, form a pearl sac around it and coat it with nacre, one thin layer after another. Nacre is made of tiny crystals of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate, bound by a protein called conchiolin. Light bouncing off these stacked layers gives a pearl its glow, which jewelers call luster.
Natural, cultured and freshwater
Natural pearls form with no human help. Thousands of years of pearl fishing have depleted the old pearl beds, so cultured pearls now make up the vast majority of pearl sales. To grow one, a technician places a piece of mantle tissue inside a host mollusk, alone or with a shell bead, and the mollusk coats it with nacre as it would a natural irritant. Saltwater pearls are grown on a bead. Freshwater pearls are commonly grown from tissue alone.
Freshwater cultured pearls are the most commonly produced pearls. They come in a wide range of sizes, shapes and colors at lower prices, one mollusk often grows many at once, and China is the leading source.
Imitation pearls
An imitation pearl is a bead of glass, plastic or shell, coated with a "pearl essence" that copies the shine of nacre. The classic essence was made from fish scales. "Shell pearls" are shell beads under a thin artificial coat. Under magnification they lack the overlapping nacre platelets of a real pearl, and the coating can chip near the drill hole.
A traditional check is to rub a pearl gently along the edge of your front teeth. Cultured pearls feel gritty, and many imitations feel smooth. GIA warns that the test can damage a pearl and that some imitations are made gritty too, so lab testing is the reliable way to tell.
Pearls in Chinese and Buddhist tradition
Buddhist sutras count pearl among the seven treasures, though the lists vary. The Lotus Sutra names pearls among the seven treasures from which great stupas are built. The Amitabha Sutra counts red pearls among the seven jewels, beside gold, silver and lapis lazuli, that adorn the pavilions of Amitabha's Pure Land.
By the 13th century, people in China were fixing tiny lead figures of the Buddha to the inner shell of freshwater mussels, which coated them with nacre. These pearly Buddhas served as temple decorations and amulets.
Chinese art often shows a dragon chasing or catching a flaming pearl, which the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art reads as a symbol of wisdom and enlightenment.
Birthstone and care
Pearl shares June with alexandrite and moonstone, and it is the gem of the third and thirtieth wedding anniversaries. It is soft, 2.5 to 3 on the Mohs scale. Put on perfume, hair products and cosmetics before your pearls, and wipe them with a soft, damp cloth after each wear. Store them apart from other gems and metal jewelry, and never in a plastic bag, which can give off a chemical that damages the surface. See more pearls among our earrings and rings.
Pearls at Buddha.store
- Freshwater Pearl Camellia Necklace and Earrings Set
- Freshwater Pearl and Shell Cat Rose Ring
- Freshwater Pearl Flower Sincerity Bead Bracelet
- Pearl Elephant Charm Sincerity Bracelet
- Pearl Sincerity Bracelet with Tianshan Green Beads
- Gold Plated Pearl Butterfly Stud Earrings
See every piece in our Pearl collection.
