Pearls Part 1: Natural Pearls

At the end of Part 2: Carats and Karats, I said the next post would be a gemstone that has a connection to an octopus. Intriguing, no? 

Since the title of this post is called Pearls Part 1: Natural Pearls, it is pretty obvious that pearls have a connection to an octopus. What is that connection? Can an octopus form a pearl?

Pearls form in sea creatures known as mollusks. A mollusk belongs to the phylum of Mollusca. So do octopuses, squids, snails and slugs. The class that octupuses and squids belong to do not form pearls.

The vast majority of mollusks that can produce pearls are from the Bivalvia class. This class includes clams, oysters, scallops, geoducks, mussels and resists. (Source: Wikipedia) They are invertebrates with a two-part shell that opens and closes on a hinge. The shell protects its soft body.

So how does a pearl form? Truth be told, natural pearls (i.e., the ones that are formed without any aid of humans) are really formed by accident. The popular belief is that the foreign substance is a grain of sand. It is not usually a grain a sand. Mollusks are very, very good at filtering out sand. It is more likely that substance is a small organism or piece of food floating.

Once that foreign substance gets between the mantle tissue and the shell, the mollusk goes into protection mode. It starts to secrete a substance called nacre to coat the irritant. Nacre is often know by its more common name of mother-of-pearl. It is the iridescent material that can be found on the inside of mollusks shells.

If you go for a walk along the beach, whether that be at Banana Island or Sealine Beach you can find shells that have nacre on the inside.

Depending on the species of mollusk the nacre will have different body colours. The colour of the mother-of-pearl that is inside of the mollusk shell will dictate the colour of nacre that is secreted. These differences are why there are a rainbow of pearl colours. The mollusks secretes thousands of microscopic layers that coat the irritant. As more layers surround it, the foreign substance becomes less irritating.  

Let’s rewind a bit, as you might be thinking, what is the mantle tissue? Well, the mantle tissue is an organ in the mollusk that protects its other organs. I like to think of it as the skin of the mollusk. In the picture on the left, it is the dark, brown tissue around the pearl.

Once an irritant gets under the mantle tissue, the mollusk is not able to remove it. That is why it will secretes nacre. Although, not exactly the same, you could almost think of it like how human bodies will swell with fluid around an injured area. The body wants to protect itself. With a mollusk, the protection becomes something beautiful. 

Ideally the layers are perfectly spherical and equal to form a round pearl. These perfectly round natural pearls are rare (as are their cultured counterparts). The majority are baroque or semi-baroque shaped. A baroque pearl has no distinct shape. A semi-baroque pearl is not quite symmetrical. For more information on pearl shapes, Pearl-Guide.com is a wonderful source.

Bivalve mollusks live in bodies of both freshwater and saltwater. Therefore, you can have both freshwater and saltwater natural pearls. It all depends on the mollusk that produces the pearl.

Now onto the topic of buying natural pearls. Can you go out to buy natural pearls today? The good news is yes. Kari Anderson of Kari Pearls, is one of the most trusted sources for natural pearls. She has a vast variety of natural pearls for sale including freshwater pearls from the United States, Basra Pearls from the Gulf and Conch Pearls to name a few. She is even has a blog dedicated to natural pearls. Here is the link to her website as well as a link to her Instagram page.

Living in Qatar, are you able to go and find the beautiful pearls from our waters? The bad news is that the ones from Qatar are extremely rare. This is due to over fishing, the rise of cultured pearls and the wealth found in the natural gas reserves of the country. The pearls that came from Qatar are now generally in found collections, shown at museums and put up for auctions! Do not plan on finding natural saltwater pearls for sale in the Souq. All hope is not lost as Al Fardan Fine Jewellery does sell certified Gulf natural pearls in Abu Dhabi and ships world wide.

And that my friends brings us to the end of the Pearls Part 1. I look forward to talking about cultured pearls and the history of pearls in Qatar.

Photo 1: flight of octopus in the deep ocean by Kondratuk Aleksei

Photo 2: pink pearl oyster shell by mujijoa79

Photo 3: Real pearl in an oyster by ZoneFatal

Photo 4: Set of baroque pearls close-up isolated on white background by Chursina Viktoriia

This article has been updated to reflect the Instagram account that Kari Anderson of Kari Pearls is using.