Japan's akoya oysters have been preëminent among cultured pearls ever since Kokichi Mikimoto first established the industry in the early part of this century. But since 1994, something has been ...

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 ...

This triggers the oyster's defense 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 ...

While that sounds impressive, Fawcett says a similar marine-cultured pearl — from an oyster grown in a human-controlled environment — would be far more desirable in today’s international market.

Before the creation of cultured pearls in the early 1900s ... During the long history of pearls, the principal oyster beds lay in the Persian Gulf, along the coasts of India and Ceylon (now ...

An curved arrow pointing right. South Sea pearls are the largest cultured-pearl variety, sometimes reaching over 20 millimeters in diameter. The Pinctada maxima oyster can take up to five years to ...

For at least 164,000 years, oysters have been part of the human diet, but people have been finding pearls in oysters for much longer — as early as 2300 BC when Chinese royalty received them as ...

Pistol is implying that he will use violent means to find his fortune, much like breaking open an oyster to seize its pearl. But the expression’s meaning has evolved over the years and has come ...

“These are often referred to as the 24-karat Golden South Sea Pearls. Gold-lip South Sea oysters create gems that range in colors from bright white to deep gold and feature champagne and ...