Cultured Pearls

Cultured Pearl

Cultured pearls form the same way as natural variants – in living mollusks. However, human intervention is required to create cultured pearls, even though they can form in fresh or saltwater mollusks.

More than 9 out of 10 pearls you see in jewelry stores are cultured pearls. These pearls are easy to find, offer better conditioning options and much more. Many jewelers prefer cultured pearls since these stones are easier to work with and offer similar features as natural variants.

Cultured pearls are ideal as jewelry pieces, items for art effects, and so much more. Jewelers and artisans can work cultured pearls into beautiful necklaces and other attractive items. But there’s so much more to know about cultured pearls if you ever want these stones to feature in your precious items collection.

That’s why this article provides all the essential details you need about cultured pearls, its origins, maintenance tips, how they form, and other vital information.

History of Cultured Pearls

The Sung Dynasty of ancient China has a record of Buddhist figures made from lead and inserted into freshwater mussel shells to form a pearly coating. The process gained wide acceptance from 1000AD and still forms major parts of how to make present-day cultured pearls.

Chinese historians documented how to make pearls in Tiangong Kaiwu, a Chinese encyclopedia, in 1637. The process made its way to Europe through Silk Road trading and gained wide acceptance among pearl harvesters.

How are Cultured Pearls Made?

Cultured pearls are a thin layer of calcium carbonate and conchiolin that form around hard objects inserted into living freshwater or saltwater mollusk shells.
Uses of Cultured Pearls

Cultured pearls largely feature as adornments on jewelry. Skilled artisans also weave cultured pearls into streaks in one or more colors. Luxury cultured pearls typically come in silver or white and may be more expensive than bright-colored variants.

Cultured pearls are also useful in detailing ornaments, statues, artworks, and much more. Many jewelers, artisans, and decorators prefer cultured pearls since they serve similar purposes to the natural variant. Cultured pearls are also easier to source than harvested variants.

Chemical Properties of Cultured Pearls

• Main element formula: CaCO3, conchiolin (jointly called nacre)
• Cleavage: None
• Birefringence: 0.156
• Pleochroism: Nil
• Dispersion: Nil
• Crystal system: Orthorhombic
• Fluorescence: Variable
• Density: 2.73 g/cm3
• Specific Gravity: 2.6 – 2.85 g/cm3
• Mohs Scale Rating: 2.5 – 4.5
• Refractive Index: 1.53 – 1.69

Maintenance Tips for Cultured Pearls

You can maintain your cultured pearls with:

Proper storage is the easiest and safest way to maintain cultured pearls. Pearls are sensitive – these gems don’t need too much maintenance or they might lose their shell.

Also, you can preserve how your cultured pearls look with a dry brush or polishing cloth. Use a polishing cloth or brush to dust off dirt from your cultured pearls. Be careful, so you don’t leave scratches on the pearls.

Don’t use jewelry cleaning solvents on cultured pearls. Most commercial jewelry cleaning solutions feature highly concentrated ammonia and could erode the surface of your gems.

Cultured pearls also don’t need to stay too long under a jeweler’s torch. Also you can’t soak cultured pearls in liquid soap and water solutions. The surface on some cultured pearls could become dull or erode completely after contact with liquid soap or other concentrated cleaners.