Was: [Source] Cultured Diamonds
A cultured pearl is made by a bivalve mollusk
note that the species of mollusk generally used for cultured pearls
is generally different from the species in which typical natural
pearls might be found. At least as regard the japanese akoya
pearls…
around a bit (large or small) of stuff that man puts in the oyster instead of it getting in there through some act of nature.
The the “stuff” put in there is just wildly different from anything
nature would put in. In a natural pearl of any significant size, the
originating irritant might still be a tiny speck. In the cultured,
it’s a bead that’s almost the size of the finished pearl, made of a
material totally different from what the usual natural irritant would
have been…
It is made by an oyster-- it's "real"-- not simulated or artificial.
Well, no. not “It’s “real””, but rather, just that thin outer nacre
that the oyster added. Unlike a natural pearl where the built up
nacre usually accounts for almost all the pearl, in the cultured
ones, only a small percentage is added by the oyster. The bulk of the
mass is decidedly not “real”…
It is not a "natural" pearl, but it is still a pearl. Just in the same way that a lab-grown gem is "real", but not "natural"
Only sorta. In the lab-grown gem, there are generally minor
differences of structure that allow separations to be made
gemologically, but the basic chemistry and gemology of the entire gem
duplicates that of the natural version. In the cultured pearl, only
that thin outer layer does so. While a cultured pearl duplicates the
look of a natural pearl as well as much of it’s utility, it does not
duplicate the full structure.
I know, I know. Gettin picky here. But then gemological definitions
and nomenclature in general tends to be that way… (grin)
Peter.