These small, precious balls are the result of shell formation around something as small as a grain of sand inside the oyster shell. The same genes and proteins involved in forming the protective oyster shell are also involved in developing the pearls.
The typical price range for oyster pearls can range anywhere from $20 to $5,000 or more per pearl, based on various factors. Natural pearls will fetch a higher price range, as will those of exceptional quality or ulterior significance.
While any oyster — and clams and mussels — can produce pearls, some species of oysters are more likely to produce pearls, while others may be harvested primarily to serve as food.
The oyster or mussel slowly secretes layers of aragonite and conchiolin, materials that also make up its shell. This creates a material called nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, which encases the irritant and protects the mollusc from it.
The best known Australian pearl oysters are found in Broome, and are valued for their white-silver colour with pink hues, while pearl oyster meat is considered a delicacy.
After the pearls are extracted from the oysters, one-third of oysters are “recycled” and put through the culturing process again. The others are killed and discarded. For those concerned about the environment, there is another reason to avoid pearls.
There is no obvious sign that an oyster has a pearl inside. You have to open the shell to see if there's one inside. However, larger, older oysters are more likely to have pearls.
The process of producing a pearl can range from 6 months to several years. Even before this, it takes about 3 years for the mollusk to reach a mature age in order to produce a pearl. A mollusk is only able to begin the pearl making process naturally or with the help of humans when it reaches this mature age.
Tahitian pearls, frequently referred to as black pearls, are highly valued because of their rarity; the culturing process for them dictates a smaller volume output and they can never be mass-produced because, in common with most sea pearls, the oyster can only be nucleated with one pearl at a time, while freshwater ...
One fascinating discovery about the sex of pearl oysters is its influence on pearl quality. Males produce high-valued pearls compared to females. They also produce pearls with good features such as luster, smoothness and evenness, while the pearls produced by females have scratches and are uneven.
Intestingly enough, most natural pearls never leave the sea. They live and die with the animal.
Saltwater oysters will only produce 1 to 2 pearls per typical nucleation. Akoya oysters can be nucleated with up to 5 beads but the use of only 2 is most common.
If the pearl is a good pearl, the oyster is renucleated to produce another pearl in the next 18 months to 2 years. If not, the oyster is killed, the meat is eaten and the shell may be reused for mother of pearl beads or mother of pearl inlay.
To obtain another, larger pearl in the same oyster, farmers often take out the small pearl and replace it with a larger bead. In another two to three years, if all goes well, that bead will get covered with nacre, to form a large, shiny pearl.
The lip determines the pearl color. While the white pearls are also priced by jewelers, the gold pearl variety is the most coveted color. The gold South sea pearl's color can range from creamy white to deep gold, and the darker the color, the more expensive it becomes.
Some pearls can develop in a period of six months. Larger pearls can take up to four years to develop. This is one of several reasons why larger pearls can yield higher values. Pearl farmers must have immense patience to wait for a pearl inside an oyster shell to develop.
Nacre (/ˈneɪkər/ NAY-kər, also /ˈnækrə/ NAK-rə), also known as mother of pearl, is an organic–inorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed.
The Kimberley Region
The remote Kimberley coastline in the North-West of Australia is the perfect location for growing South Sea Pearls. The area is home to huge tidal variations of up to 12 metres (the second largest tides in the world).
1 in 10,000 – The odds of actually finding a natural pearl in an oyster. 1 in 1 million – The odds of one of those above-mentioned mollusks producing a pearl of gemstone quality.
Yes! Oysters are a superfood that are packed with nutrients and minerals. This is based on their nutrition-to-calorie ratio, which is higher than most other seafood and even some fruits and vegetables. An average serving of oysters contains just under 30 calories but packs in a whopping 8 grams of protein.
Rule of thumb is at least 4,000 years old. Foodie tradition dictates only eating wild oysters in months with the letter “r” – from September to April – to avoid watery shellfish, or worse, a nasty bout of food poisoning.
Does Removing the Pearl Kill the Oyster? Around a third of the oysters are thrown back into the water to undergo another cycle. Whether or not they go through another round of this stressful experience, all animals used for pearls are ultimately killed.