(September 20, 2024) Mama Lava shares some precious insights…

Are you familiar with the origins of pearls? I admit I was a bit mistaken in what I thought I knew.

Did you know it’s not a scratchy bit of sand which typically begins the process? A pearl is more commonly a mollusc’s defensive reaction to a parasite.

Natural History Museum informs us that —
‘Pearls are made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a natural defence against an irritant such as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body. The oyster or mussel slowly secretes layers of aragonite and conchiolin, materials that also make up its shell. This creates a material called nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, which encases the irritant and protects the mollusc from it. When pearls are cultured commercially an irritant is manually inserted into a mollusc to promote the production of mother-of-pearl. Nacre can form naturally around almost any irritant that gets inside the shell, creating some very unique and precious pearls.’

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