Pearls are beautiful indeed. But while wearing them or buying them for your loved ones, everyone forgets the pains and effort behind getting the pearls to the market in the present condition. Here is how it is done.
Planting The Nucleus
Experienced pearl workers or technicians open the live pearl oysters and surgically implant a small shell bead, along with a tiny piece of mantle tissue. This bead is the nucleus around which the oyster secretes layer after layer of nacre, the substance that forms the pearl. This step of the culturing process requires tremendous skill and precision. Oysters will allow their shells to be opened less than a centimeter wide, or else they will reject the nucleus. Experienced workers use exacting precision tools to make the tiny incisions.
Back To The Sea
The oysters in which the processing is done (often called nucleated oysters) are returned to the sea and housed in individual mesh pockets that are suspended from floating rafts. They feed and grow in sheltered bays which are rich in natural nutrients. After some time the oysters secrete lustrous layers of nacre around the implanted bead. The oysters are moved to warmer waters in the winter. Pearl workers monitor water temperatures and feeding conditions for the oysters daily at various water depths, and move the oysters to take advantage of the best growing conditions.
Maintenance and Protection
The pearl-bearing oysters are lifted from the sea for cleaning and health care on a periodic basis. They are also treated with compounds to prevent parasites from injuring the flesh of the oysters. These oysters are carefully protected from every conceivable threat to ensure the finest pearls.
Adieu to The Sea
When the oysters are brought back to shore, the pearl farmers get ready for the long-anticipated harvest. Only a small fraction of millions of oysters nucleated every year ends up as high grade pearls. A very small percentage of the total pearls end up with fine quality. The few pearls that make the cut are then cleaned, soaked, and sorted for the final transformation.
The Transformation
The newest bunch of pearls goes through series of various treatments to get them ready for their jewelry use. These pearls are soaked for several days in a mild cleaning solution in the presence of intense (fluorescent) light, to remove any deposits and smells they may have accumulated during their days in the water. Then the pearls are washed to remove the walnut shells. The natural oils which come from the shells provide a soft, gentle polish without harming the integrity of the pearl's surface and preserves its value.
Matchmaking
Once they receive their luscious spa treatments, all pearls are painstakingly matched. First, the pearls are poured into special sized sieves that separate them into size groups. Then they are sorted into increasingly smaller batches according to shape, then body color, overtone, and finally, quality. This process usually may take months to complete.
Size Does Matter
Now the pearls are finally ready to be drilled and mounted. But before that, it undergoes more rigorous screening processes to ensure top quality. The matched lots are further separated into perfect pairs for making various ornaments like earrings. If the size of the pair of the pearls in an ornament is slightly different, shop owners will immediately reject those.
Finally There
After several levels of quality testing and size comparison, the pearls will be ready to be put to use. They find place is the cheapest to the most costly ornaments in thee world. Even in today's world, pearl has not lost its shine. So, next time you see a pearl, remember this short story.
Amazing Facts about Pearl Hunting
Let us close this article with some interesting facts about pearl hunting.
- The pearl divers are forced to go down to more than 100 feet deep water on a single breath
- The divers sometimes apply on their body some lubricants for the conservation of heat, cover the ears with oiled cotton, close the nose with tortoise shell and carry a net for the oysters
- For many thousands of years, most seawater pearls were recovered by divers who were working in the Indian Ocean
- The finest pearl of the world is found in Sulu Archipelago
- At times, the largest pearls belonged by law to the sultan, and selling them could result in the death penalty for the seller
