Cultured pearl

What Are Cultured Pearls?

Cultured pearls are special pearls that people help to make. They grow inside living animals called molluscs, which live in water. To make a cultured pearl, a tiny piece is placed inside the mollusc. This makes the mollusc make a beautiful pearl.

Cultured pearls look the same as natural pearls because they are made from the same material. They can grow in both seawater and freshwater. Today, most pearls that people buy and wear come from this careful process. This makes pearls easier to find for everyone.

How Do Pearls Grow?

A pearl starts when a mollusc makes a substance called nacre. Nacre is made from calcium carbonate and a protein called conchiolin. The mollusc puts layers of nacre around the tiny piece placed inside, and this forms a pearl.

Natural pearls happen by chance in nature, but cultured pearls are made by people. They put a small piece from another mollusc inside, which makes a pearl sac form. This sac then makes the calcium carbonate that creates a pearl.

Fun Facts About Pearls

People have been making cultured pearls for a very long time. In ancient China, during the Song Dynasty, people made tiny pearl shapes. Today, most pearls sold around the world are cultured pearls. Scientists can tell cultured pearls from natural ones by using X-rays.