How pearls form in nature. How pearls are grown

Pearl is a sea gift, symbolizing loyalty, truth, love. It is an organic material, valuable all over the world.

Legends and stories

About how pearls are formed, people have been thinking since ancient times. One of the most beautiful legends says that these are the tears of a beautiful nymph mourning love and family. They say it happened that a magnificent maiden descended from the sky, lured by the ocean, and then met a fisherman boy of incredible beauty. Time after time, descending from heaven, she watched the hardworking young man and finally, having gained courage, spoke to him. Nymphs learned that a young man is fishing every day to cure his mother.

A beautiful maid took pity on the poor man, made sure that the extraction increased day by day. Time passed, the mother went on the mend, and the young man offered the girl to become his wife. The nymph, who fell in love with the fisherman, gave his consent, and they healed happily. Over time, the couple even had a son. But the gods have seen about the earthly well-being of the heavenly inhabitant and punished her, locked in the tower. How is pearls formed? Tears of the maiden flow into the ocean, inhabited by mollusks, and become in their shells magnificent beads.

Value since ancient times

It is not known whether the pearls first became popular and then they came up with a legend, or the opposite happened, but in ancient Greece and Rome, the necklaces of the sea treasure were highly valued. Knowing according to legend how pearls are formed, people considered it a symbol of conjugal happiness and fidelity.

Time passed, and the popularity of pearls only grew. In the Middle Ages, the wedding dress of the bride was decided to be embroidered with sea gifts. To show their love for the girl, young people gave pearls adorned with pearls. This was considered the most reliable symbol of love for life and even a vow of fidelity.

Fame all over the world

Legends about how pearls are formed are as many as many peoples live on the planet. In all the places where, since ancient times, the extraction of this value is known, there are stories about the origin of the magnificent treasure in the plain shell.

For a long time, the beauty of the maritime gift is glorified in the poetry of all nations. "Pearl" in many languages is consonant with the words "radiant", "unique". Traditionally, it is common to compare women's beauty with the beauty of the sea treasure.

Want to know more about pearls in literature? Pay attention to the poetic works:

• Japanese;
• Chinese;
• Persian;
• Byzantine;
• The Roman.

And what will science say?

If you turn to the scientist with the question: "Pearls how is formed?", You can find out that this happens in the synthesis of a specific calcium carbonate, popularly known as mother of pearl. In addition, in the composition of one bead there is also conchiolin, which plays the role of horny substance.

If there is some foreign object in the shell of the mollusc, pearls appear with time. How is the treasure formed? The mollusk senses that a foreign body has appeared in its "house". It can be:

• grain of sand;
• larva;
• Shell fragment.

The body tries to remove this element from the living space, during which the body is enveloped in mother-of-pearl. There is a biochemical reaction in the body, and a jewel is formed.

Who, how, what?

It is already known for certain that hundreds of varieties of marine and freshwater inhabitants can form pearls. The key condition is the presence of a shell. But the beads are not the same: the shape and the color are different. The classic option is a little "powdered" greyish shade. In addition to it, the sea gives mankind pearls:

• Pink;
• Blue;
• Gold;
• Black;
• Bronze;
• Greenish.

Since the pearls in the shell are formed under the influence of the environment, it is the chemical composition of the waters in which the mollusk lived that determines the coloring of the treasure. In addition, a variety of mollusks is affected, since different species are characterized by different compositions of salts in the body.

Since ancient times, the most valuable pearls are mined in the waters of the Persian Gulf, which give people cream-white and pink pearls.

Valuable marine treasures, which get out of the water near:

• Madagascar;
• South America;
• The Philippines;
• Myanmar;
• Pacific islands and archipelagos.

Is it only natural?

One of the biggest producers of this maritime gift these days is Japan. Surprisingly, there are few deposits in this country, but local people invented several methods of artificial cultivation of pearls.

Special conditions are created that are as close as possible to natural ones. Simultaneously, processes characteristic of wild nature are simulated. Since in these conditions pearls are produced naturally, it is highly valued.

Specifications

They talk about how pearls are formed in the shell, photos taken on the seabed and special cultivation plants.

The resulting beads have the following characteristics:

• Hardness - 2.5-4.5 Mohs;
• The density is 2.7 g / cm ³ .

Special surface treatment is not required.

The pearl lives a half or three centuries. The specific duration depends on the origin. Organic matter, after decades, loses its moisture, making the decoration dull, it breaks down, the processes of decomposition begin.

To pearls live longer, he needs care:

• Do not store in a damp, dry place;
• Inadmissible to hit direct sunlight;
• At fading wash with salt water;
• At the first signs of destruction use ether, carbonic acid.

Contemporary myths

Despite the fact that people have long known how pearls form in nature, and to this day there are some beliefs associated with this process. They are the strongest on the islands that live at the expense of pearl divers.

In Borneo, people believe that the ninth pearl has a unique property - it produces similar ones to itself. Therefore, locals take small containers, into which pearls are piled, mixing it with rice - two grains for each maritime gift, and then wait when the treasure becomes bigger.

Pearl and high technology

Since people found out how pearls form in mollusks, it was possible to build factories for the cultivation of marine treasures. It is the cultivated beads that occur today most often.

Cultivation was invented in 1896, at the same time the process was immediately patented. The author of the idea is the Japanese Kohiki Mikimoto. To make the pearl larger, the inventor has thought up to place a bead in the shell, which he extracted a mature, beautiful, large pearl a few years later.

Having studied how natural pearls are formed, several variants of manufacturing artificial analogues were invented. However, in their beauty, they are incomparable with the gifts of the sea. As a rule, this is a glass base, decorated with pearl powder or covered with a thin layer of mother-of-pearl. To understand what is in front of you, put an experiment: throw the object on a stone plane. Natural pearls bounce high and similar to the ball, and artificial - no.

Another method of separating fake pearls from natural pearls is to make a product in the teeth. If you feel that the surface is rough, this is a natural material. But industrial imitation will feel absolutely smooth.

Interesting features

In the world there is only one precious mineral, which does not need to be processed. This is a natural pearl. How the pearl is formed is described above. It is the peculiarities of this process that determined such beauty, smoothness, suitability for carrying the sea gift immediately after its extraction.

As archeologists say, pearls were the first precious material that interested man because of his beauty.

The use of pearls was invented by the Chinese 42 centuries ago. The treasures extracted in China were used:

• As decorations;
• As money;
• To denote the social status.

No less appreciated pearls in Egypt and Mesopotamia. They decorated themselves with the treasures of Semiramis, Cleopatra, extracted from the sea waves. The legend says that the Egyptian beauty once, arguing with Mark Antony, dissolved the pearl in wine and drank a drink.

Another important historical milestone is related to the extraction of pearls as follows. When Alexander of Macedon was going to capture India, the advisers recommended him to start with Socotra, a well-known in those days prey for marine jewelry. The great warrior was struck by the beauty of pearls, especially the magnificent combination of black, white and pink flowers. Since then, he began to collect the threads of pearls, which soon carried away other noble and wealthy people. This passion for collecting precious stones does not weaken even in our days.

Pearls and rulers

A variety of natural pearls are valued. How is it formed (photos taken from under the water, let it see) such a rich variety of jewelry from just one type of raw material? The secret is that nature gives people different shapes of beads. There is an international classification that distinguishes:

• Buttons;
• Ovals;
• Pear-shaped;
• Spherical;
• Round;
• Semicircular;
• Teardrop-shaped;
• Pearls of irregular shape.

Since sea gifts have always been highly valued, they have traditionally been used to decorate royal costumes. For example, at the baptism of Louis XIII, Maria Medici was dressed in a dress decorated with 30,000 pearls.

But the black pearls Europeans first saw only in the XV century. It happened thanks to Hernando Cortes. Centuries later, the origin of this species was found near the shores of North America, in the Gulf of California. In many ways, it is precisely because of this that La Paz has flourished, which is still considered to be the international center of black pearls.

But the English Queen Elizabeth I appreciated first and foremost the pearls from China. She adorned herself with a few strings at once, and summarily only on the ruler's neck one could observe up to a thousand precious beads.

The Spanish ruler Philip II owned a pearl, called "Perigrina". It is known to connoisseurs in our time. The jewel passes from hand to hand. She was possessed:

• Napoleon III;
• Maria Tudor;
• Elizabeth Taylor.

It was the efforts of the latter "Perigrina" that became the central element of the luxurious jewelry created by the "Cartier" jewelers.

Famous pearls

The specificity of the origin of pearls is such that the fusion of several beads into one is extremely rare. If catchers extract such a sea treasure, this produces a furore among connoisseurs. One of the legendary pearls, consisting of several at once, was called the "Great Southern Cross". It consists of nine elements.

Another famous name is "The Princess of Palawan". It was formed in the mollusk Tridakna. The weight of the sea treasure is 2.3 kg. In the diameter of the bead is more than 15 cm. This sea gift was put up for auction at the auction Bonhams in Los Angeles, organized by the Museum of Natural History.

But the most precious pearl is the "Regent". She looks like an egg and was a family relic of the Bonapartes. The story tells that the pearl was purchased as a gift for Maria Louise, who in the future became the wife of the emperor. The deal was completed in 1811. Then the sea treasure came to Faberge and was stored in the St. Petersburg collection. At the auction in 2005, a magnificent jewel went for $ 2.5 million to the new owner.

The largest of the treasures, extracted from the sea abysses on our planet, was called the "Pearl of Allah". Place of origin - Philippines. Weight - 6.35 kg, and diameter 23.8 cm. Value - 32 000 carats. The pearl is included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Tahitian pearls

Of all the cultivated pearls, the black Tahitian was later created. For its prey, the Pinctada margaritifera mollusks are grown. These days the black treasures produced by these organisms are the only known natural species. Any other beads are dyed.

Feature of Tahitian pearls - rapid growth. On the other hand, only a small percentage of marine life can create a pearl. Each jewel is unique, different from the others. In many respects, for this reason, jewelry from black Tahitian pearls is valued, because the process of working with it is painstaking and requires a lot of skills, forces and time. Jewelers select suitable for work pearls of hundreds and thousands of beads, created by mollusks.