Pearls have been a symbol of elegance and class for centuries.

From the Maharajas of India and European queens who adorned themselves with pearls as a symbol of their prestige to 2018's Catholic Church-inspired Met Gala, where celebrities walked the red carpet dripping in pearls.

Uma Thurman's dress had over 3,000 white pearls sewn to it, while Rihanna's pope-inspired outfit was encrusted in pearls.

At the 2019 Grammys, Cardi B was basically dressed like an oyster.

The most expensive pearl ever sold was Marie Antoinette's pendant. It sold for R459 million in a 2018 auction.

Marie Antoinette's pearl was part of a diamond-studded pendant, and it has important historical significance, which increased its value. But there are several other factors that determine the value of a pearl.

“Assessing the value of a pearl is probably the most complex gem to assess,” said Tom Moses, a gemmologist at the Gemological Institute of America, where he oversees diamond grading, coloured stone identification, and pearl identification.

He says because it's a natural pearl, one of the key factors when it comes to determining value.

Natural pearls are hard to find. They're rare, and this makes them worth more money.

Natural pearls form when some kind of irritant, usually a small organism, makes its way into the shell of a mollusc like an oyster or a mussel. To protect itself from the invader, the mollusc starts to coat the debris with nacre, or mother-of-pearl, the same material that lines the inner layer of its shell.

It continues doing this, and the irritant grows into a shiny pearl.

Cultured pearls are formed by the same process, but instead of the irritant entering the shell accidentally, it's put there intentionally by a human. Pearl farmers insert a piece of mollusc tissue, which is called donor tissue, into the shell of the oyster where they want the pearl to grow. This triggers the oyster's defence response, and it starts coating that piece of tissue with nacre.

The vast majority of pearls on the market are cultured pearls.

The Gemological Institute of America uses X-rays to tell if a pearl is natural or cultured. If you look closely you can see the difference. According to Moses, under scrutiny a natural pearl would have all of those concentric layers of growth from the very inside out.

A cultured pearl, on the other hand, is like an orange, with a large centre and a thinner layer of pearl growth around that. The large centre is the manmade irritant placed in the shell to encourage nacre formation.

--------------------------------------------------
Follow Business Insider SA on Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Follow Business Insider SA on Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Follow Business Insider SA on Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
Read more on Business Insider SA: [ Ссылка ]
--------------------------------------------------
Fast, fair, fearless and fun – this is the Business Insider way.

свернуть