Published: Nov 16, 2022 by Bertland Hope

How are Pearls formed?

Natural pearls are made in oyster shells. The oyster sits on the bottom of the sea and keeps its shell shut, but occasionally a grain or two of sand sifts in. When that happens the oyster finds it irritating. It squirts out some stuff (like the stuff that makes its shell) to surround the sand and make it less irritating. The tiny grain of sand gets bigger and bigger in size as the stuff surrounds it and hardens. Eventually it gets to be quite a good sized “thing”. That “thing” is a pearl. The pearl can be pulled out of the shell and drilled.

In cultured pearls, people help the process along. They actually inject the sand into the oysters in pearl farms, and check to be sure the pearl is growing. When it is the appropriate size it is harvested and drilled.

Freshwater pearls are shaped liked grains of sand, but salt water pearls and cultured pearls are round.