How do we get the pearls?

One can see pearls in women’s rings, necklaces, ear-rings, etc.  You might often have admired their dazzle and shine. And appreciated how they lend beauty to the wearer. But do you know from where these pearls come from?

The pearl, which is one of the most beautiful things in the world is obtained from one of the ugliest of creatures, oysters and clams. The animal kingdom is classified into eight phyla and the pearl-bearing oysters and clams are placed under the phylum mollusca.

The mollusca are distributed widely in the world. They are a soft-bodied species. The whole of the body is enclosed in a calcareous (calcium carbonate) shell.

The phylum mollusca can be divided into seven classes. One of them is ‘bivalvia’ (two-valved), the animal consisting of two hard shells as in oysters clams, etc. The pearls are found in animals belonging to this class only.

A Pearl is formed as a result of an injury. Whenever a foreign body such as a grain of sand or a small parasite in the larval stage gets between the mantle (a membranous layer enclosing the oyster’s body just beneath the shell) and the shell, irritation sets in as the animal reacts to the presence of the foreign body.

 The mantle encloses it in a sac-like structure and secretes a thin layer of ‘mother-of-pearl’ around the foreign body. The quantity of deposition is directly proportional to the degree of irritation. It takes several years for pearls to be formed. The most precious pearls are seen in the pearl oyster.

In Tuba, Japan, a man named Mikimoto evolved a method to introduce foreign particles between the mantle and the shell of the pearl oyster. This discovery made Mikomoto a rich person. At times he served oysters in-the-shell dinner and the lucky guest came home with one or more pearls, as a souvenir. For all oysters do not yield a pearl when ripped open.

The Japanese, collect pearl-forming clams or oysters and artificially introduce small particles between the mantle and the shell. Then they keep them in wire cages in the ocean for several years and thus, cultured  pearls are produced.

Pearl culture is carried on in India off Tuticorin. Divers comb the ocean floor and bring out scoops of oysters. Then the oysters are heaped into lots and auctioned. Each lot is sold to the highest bidder. If he is lucky he will get one or more pearls on breaking the shell and make a fortune. Or else he has to try his luck again at another auction.