Pearl Harvest.

A pearl is a hard, rounded object produced by oysters. Pearls can be used in jewelry and also crushed in cosmetics or paint formulations. Pearl is valued as a gemstone and is cultivated or harvested for jewelry.

Cultured pearls are harvested from the pearl farms after a period of 8 months to 6 years, while freshwater, South Sea are cultured from 2-6 years.

Pearls are most universally harvested in the winter. During this colder months the metabolism of the host oyster has decreased, slowing the nacre deposits around the pearl.

When the actual harvest begins the pearls are brought to shore from their mooring positions. The pearls are then opened individually and the pearl or pearls extracted. In the case of akoya oysters and freshwater mussels the shell and meat is discarded or used for another purpose. South Sea oysters, however, are harvested in much the same fashion as the nucleation. These oysters are opened very slightly, the pearl is extracted, and another is placed into the preformed pearl sac. This oyster than goes through another recovery period and is placed back into the sea to grow another pearl. After all the pearls are harvested they are then cleaned of debris and polished to bring out a higher luster.

After the pearls have been cleaned and polished they are then sorted by quality and size categories

Many of these pearls may then go through further treatment depending on the type of pearl and the factory preparing the finished goods. The pearls may be bleached, heat treated, and pinked (soaked in red dye to enhance the pink coloration of the pearls).A good harvest is determined by the number of marketable pearls produced in relation to the number of oysters which had been nucleated. Of these marketable pearls the more pearls that are considered high-quality have a direct influence on the success of the enterprise. On average only half of the pearls will be marketable, and less than 10% of these will be considered top-quality.

Imitation Pearls

Imitation pearls are artificial, manufactured "pearls". As such, they have no real value as a gemstone. Imitation pearls can be made from glass, ceramic, shell, or even plastic. The bead is then coated with varnish and/or other materials in order to produce a pearl-like and iridescence.

Imitation pearls are generally marketed under descriptive terms such as "faux," "simulated," "artificial," or "man-made." Sometimes regional names are also used: "Mallorca pearls," "Red Sea pearls," "Laguna pearls," etc. In the United States, it is considered a deceptive trade practice to market imitation pearls without clearly identifying them as such.

A common test to determine whether a pearl is genuine or imitation consists of scraping the pearl gently across one's teeth. Imitation pearls feel smooth to the tooth, while genuine pearls feel slightly gritty or abrasive due to the crystalline structure of the nacre.