Do You Know This About Pearl

Do You Know This About PEARL

Pearls are the only jewels created by a living animal. A natural pearl of value is found in less than 1 in every 10,000 wild oysters.

All pearl oysters are born male and transform into females at around three years of age.

There are three major types of saltwater cultured pearls: Akoya, tahitian and South Sea.These pearls account for approximately 5% of the total weight of global pearl production. Although they share many of the same characteristics, they can look vastly different as each pearl is sourced from a different species of oyster. These oceanic oysters typically grow only one pearl at a time.

Freshwater pearls account for approximately 95% of total global pearl production but are much less valuable than saltwater peals. China produces the overwhelming majority of freshwater pearls in pearl farms that may range from a farmer's fishpond to massive lakes filled with over million mussels. A single freshwater mussel will typically produce between 30 and 50 pearls at a time.

Even with cultivation practices, South Sea pearls are incredibly rare. By way of comparison, the weight of Diamond production each year is about 10 times greater than the weight of the annual Australian South Sea pearls harvest.

Recently, a two thousand year old pearl was found in an Australian Aboriginal Archaeological dig in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.