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Natural or cultured Pearl ??? Confused
People are often confused about Pearls . Most common one is- ——“Cultured pearls are fake !” This is absolutely a wrong statement. Let me explain to you how both Pearls are formed;
Natural Pearls-
When a foreign body becomes lodged inside a mollusk, the organism develops a sac around the irritant, secreting calcium carbonate in the form of nacre to cover it. As the mollusk deposits layers of nacre, the pearl gradually grows in size.
Cultured Pearl—
To form a cultured pearl, human intervention is required to assist in starting the pearl producing process in the mollusk. A piece of mantle tissue or a round bead is inserted into the mollusk and then the process of depositing layers of nacre around the irritant just as a natural pearl begins.
Conclusion –whether a pearl is natural or cultured the origins are still the same for both.
It is very difficult to tell the difference between a natural pearl and a cultured pearl.
It is quite common even for experts in the field to mistake the two. The only definitive way to tell the difference between a natural pearl and cultured pearl is to take an x-ray of the pearl, which allows experts to see beneath the surface of the pearl. Exterior of both look same .