All About PearlsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Pearl Attributes
A pearl is a hard, rounded object produced within the
soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled
mollusk. Just like the shell of mollusks, a pearl is
composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline
form, which has been deposited in concentric layers.
The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but
many other shapes of pearls occur, see baroque pearl.
The finest quality pearls have been highly valued as
gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries,
and the word pearl has become a metaphor for
something rare, fine, and admirable.
Almost any shelled mollusk can, by natural processes,
produce some kind of "pearl" when an irritating
microscopic object becomes trapped within the
mollusk's mantle folds, but virtually none of these
"pearls" are considered to be gemstones.
True iridescent pearls, the most desirable pearls, are
produced by two groups of molluscan bivalves or clams.
One family lives in the sea: the pearl oysters. The other,
very different group of bivalves live in freshwater, and
these are the river mussels, for example, see the
freshwater pearl mussel.
Saltwater pearls can grow in several species of marine
pearl oysters in the family Pteriidae. Freshwater pearls
grow within certain (but by no means all) species of
freshwater mussels in the order Unionida, the families
Unionidae and Margaritiferidae. All of these bivalves
are able to make true pearls because they have a thick
inner shell layer composed of "mother of pearl" or
nacre. The mantle of the living bivalve can create a
pearl in the same way that it creates the pearly inner
layer of the shell.
Fine gem quality saltwater and freshwater pearls can
and do sometimes occur completely naturally, but this
is a rare occurrence. Many hundreds of pearl oysters
or pearl mussels have to be gathered and opened
(killed) in order to find even one pearl, and for many
centuries that was the only way pearls were obtained.
This was the main reason why pearls fetched such
extraordinary prices in the past. In modern times
however, almost all the pearls for sale were formed
with a good deal of expert intervention from human
pearl farmers.
A true pearl is made from layers of nacre, by the same
living process as is used in the secretion of the mother
of pearl which lines the shell. A "natural pearl" is one
that formed without any human intervention at all, in
the wild, and these are very rare. A "cultured pearl"
on the other hand, is one that has been formed on a
pearl farm. The great majority of pearls on the market
are cultured pearls.
Imitation or fake pearls are also widely sold in in-
expensive jewelry, but the quality of the iridescence
is usually very poor, and generally speaking, fake pearls
are usually quite easy to distinguish from the real thing.
True pearls have long been greatly valued as gemstones.
They have been harvested, or more recently cultivated,
primarily for use in jewelry but were also historically
worn stitched onto lavish clothing as worn, for example,
by royalty. Pearls have also been crushed and used in
cosmetics, medicines, or in paint formulations.
Pearl is considered to be the birthstone for June. Physical Properties
The unique luster of pearls depends upon the reflection and refraction of light from the translucent layers.
The thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl,
the finer the luster. The iridescence that pearls display
is caused by the overlapping of successive layers,
which breaks up light falling on the surface.
Pearls are often white or cream, but the color can vary
quite a lot according to the natural color of the nacre in
the various species of mollusk used. Thus pearls can
also be black, or various pastel shades. In addition,
pearls (especially freshwater pearls) can be dyed
yellow, green, blue, brown, pink, purple, or black.
Freshwater and Saltwater PearlsFreshwater and saltwater pearls may sometimes look
quite similar, but they come from very different sources.
Freshwater pearls form in various species of
freshwater mussels, family Unionidae, which live in
lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water.
These freshwater pearl mussels occur not only in
hotter climates, but also in colder more temperate
areas such as Scotland, see the freshwater pearl
mussel. However, most freshwater cultured pearls
sold today come from China.
Saltwater pearls grow within pearl oysters, family
Pteriidae, which live in tropical oceans. Saltwater pearl
oysters are usually cultivated in protected lagoons.
The three main types of saltwater pearls are Akoya,
South Sea and Tahitian.
Creation of a PearlThe difference between natural and cultured pearls
focuses on whether the pearl was created
spontaneously by nature — without human intervention,
or with human aid. Pearls are formed inside the shell
of certain bivalve mollusks: as a response to an irritant
inside its shell, the mollusk creates a pearl to seal off
the irritation.
The mantle of the mollusk deposits layers of calcium
carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of the minerals aragonite
or calcite (both crystalline forms of calcium carbonate)
held together by an organic horn-like compound called
conchiolin. This combination of calcium carbonate and
conchiolin is called nacre, or as most know it, mother-
of-pearl. The commonly held belief that a grain of sand
acts as the irritant is in fact rarely the case. Typical
stimuli include organic material, parasites, or even
damage that displaces mantle tissue to another part of
the animal's body. These small particles or organisms
enter the animal when the shell valves are open for
feeding or respiration. In cultured pearls, the irritant
is typically a cut piece of the mantle epithelium,
together with processed shell beads, the combination
of which the animal accepts into its body. [1][2][3]
Natural Pearls
Natural pearls are nearly 100% nacre. It is thought
that natural pearls form under a set of accidental
conditions when a microscopic intruder or parasite
enters a bivalve mollusk, and settles inside the shell.
The mollusk, being irritated by the intruder, secretes
the calcium carbonate substance called nacre to cover
the irritant. This secretion process is repeated many
times, thus producing a pearl. Natural pearls come in
many shapes, with round ones being comparatively rare.
Cultured PearlsCultured pearls (nucleated and non-nucleated or tissue
nucleated cultured pearls) and imitation pearls can be
distinguished from natural pearls by X-ray examination. Nucleated cultured pearls are often 'pre-formed' as
they tend to follow the shape of the implanted shell
bead nucleus. Once the pre-formed beads are inserted
into the oyster, it secretes a few layers of nacre
around the outside surface of the implant before it is
removed after six months or more. When a nucleated
cultured pearl is X-rayed it will reveal a different
structure to that of a natural pearl. It exhibits a solid
center with no concentric growth rings, compared to a
solid center with growth rings.
Gemological IdentificationA well equipped gem testing laboratory is able to
distinguish natural pearls from cultured pearls by using
a gemological X-ray in order to examine the center of
a pearl. With an x-ray it is possible to see the growth
rings of the pearl, where the layers of calcium
carbonate are separated by thin layers of conchiolin.
The differentiation of a natural pearls from or tissue-
nucleated cultured pearls can be very difficult without
the use of this x-ray technique.
Natural and cultured pearls can be distinguished from
imitation pearls using a microscope. Another method of
testing for imitations is to rub the pearl against the
surface of a front tooth. Imitation pearls are
completely smooth, but natural and cultured pearls
are composed of nacre platelets, which feel slightly
gritty.
Value of a Natural PearlQuality natural pearls are very rare jewels. The actual
value of a natural pearl is determined in the same way
as it would be for other "precious" gems. The valuation
factors include size, shape, quality of surface,
orientation, and luster.
Single natural pearls are often sold as a collector's
item, or set as centerpieces in unique jewelry. Very
few matched strands of natural pearls exist, and
those that do often sell for hundreds of thousands
of dollars. Yachtsman and financier Cartier purchased
the landmark Cartier store on Fifth Avenue in New
York for $100 cash and a double strand of matched
natural pearls valued at $1 million.
Keshi pearls, although they often occur by chance,
are not considered natural pearls. They are a byproduct
of the culturing process, and hence do not happen
without human intervention. These pearls are quite small:
typically a few millimeters in size. Keshi pearls are
produced by many different types of marine mollusks
and freshwater mussels in China.[4] Today many "keshi"
pearls are actually intentional, with post-harvest shells
returned to the water to regenerate a pearl in the
existing pearl sac.
Origin of a Natural Pearl Previously natural pearls were found in many parts of
the world. Present day natural pearling is confined
mostly to seas off Bahrain. Australia also has one of
the world's last remaining fleets of pearl diving ships.
Australian pearl divers dive for south sea pearl
oysters to be used in the cultured south sea pearl
industry. The catch of pearl oysters is similar to the
numbers of oysters taken during the natural pearl
days. Hence significant numbers of natural pearls are
still found in the Australian Indian Ocean waters from
wild oysters. X-Ray examination is required to positively
verify natural pearls found today.
Different Types of Cultured Pearls 
Black pearls, frequently referred to as Black Tahitian
Pearls, are highly valued because of their rarity; the
culturing process for them dictates a smaller volume
output and can never be mass produced. This is due to
bad health and/or non-survival of the process,
rejection of the nucleus (the small object such as a
tiny fish, grain of sand or crab that slips naturally
inside an oyster's shell or inserted by a human), and
their sensitivity to changing climatic and ocean
conditions.
Before the days of cultured pearls, black pearls were
rare and highly valued for the simple reason that white
pearl oysters rarely produced natural black pearls,
and black pearl oysters rarely produced any natural
pearls at all. Since pearl culture technology, the black
pearl oyster found in Tahiti and many other Pacific
Island areas has been extensively used for producing
cultured pearls. The rarity of the black cultured pearl
is now a "comparative" issue. The black cultured pearl
is rare when compared to Chinese freshwater
cultured pearls, and Japanese and Chinese Akoya
cultured pearls, and is more valuable than these pearls.
However, it is more abundant than the south sea pearl,
which is more valuable than the black cultured pearl.
This is simply due to the fact that the black pearl
oyster Pinctada margaritifera is far more abundant
than the elusive, rare, and larger south sea pearl
oyster - Pinctada maxima, which cannot be found in
lagoons, but which must be dived for in a rare number
of deep ocean habitats.
Black cultured pearls from the black pearl oyster —
Pinctada margaritifera — are NOT south sea pearls,
although they are often mistakenly described as black
south sea pearls. In the absence of an official
definition for the pearl from the black oyster, these
pearls are usually referred to as "black Tahitian pearls".
The correct definition of a south sea pearl — as
described by CIBJO and the GIA — is a pearl
produced by the Pinctada maxima pearl oyster.
South sea pearls are the color of their host Pinctada
maxima oyster — and can be white, silver, pink, gold,
cream, and any combination of these basic colors,
including overtones of the various colors of the
rainbow displayed in the pearl nacre of the oyster shell
itself.
Other "Pearls" Biologically speaking, under the right set of circum-
stances, almost any shelled mollusk can produce some
kind of "pearl," however, most of these molluscan
"pearls" have no luster or iridescence. In fact the
great majority of mollusk species produce pearls
which are not attractive to look at, and are sometimes
not even very durable, such that they usually have no
value at all, except perhaps to a scientist, or as a
curiosity. These objects would be referred to as
"calcareous concretions" by a gemologist, even though
a malacologist would still consider them to be pearls.
One unusual example of calcareous concretions which
nonetheless can sometimes have value, are the "pearls"
which are found very rarely growing between the
mantle and the shell of the queen conch or pink conch,
Strombus gigas, a large sea snail or marine gastropod
from the Caribbean Sea. These "pearls", which are
pink in color, are a by-product of the conch fishing
industry, and the best of them show some chatoyance.
Somewhat similar gastropod "pearls", this time more
orange in hue, are (again very rarely) found in the horse
conch Pleuroploca gigantea.
The Largest Example of Another "Pearl" The largest "pearl" known, was found in the Philippines
in 1934. It is a naturally-occuring, non-nacreous,
calcareous concretion from a giant clam. Because it did
not grow in a pearl oyster it is not pearly, instead it
has a porcellaneous surface, in other words it is glossy
like a china plate. Gemologically speaking, it is not a
pearl.
The object weighs 14 lb (6.4 kg) and was supposedly
first discovered by an anonymous Filipino Muslim diver
off the island of Palawan in 1934. According to the
story as it is currently told, a Palawan chieftain gave
the pearl to Wilbur Dowell Cobb in 1936 as a gift for
having saved the life of his son. The pearl had been
named the "Pearl of Allah" by the Muslim tribal chief,
because it resembled a turbaned head. Another legend
says that this object is actually the Pearl of Lao-Tzu,
a cultured mabe pearl created with a carved amulet
and then supposedly progressively grafted into several
giant clams, before supposedly being lost due to a
shipwreck in 1745. [5] This legend has been discredited,
however. This "pearl" is the product of a giant clam,
ridacna gigas, which cannot be grafted. The "pearl" is
also a whole pearl, not a mabe, and whole pearl culturing
technology is only 100 years old. [6] The History of Pearl Hunting and Pearl Farming Pearl HuntingFor thousands of years, most seawater pearls were
retrieved by divers working in the Indian Ocean, in
areas like the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and in the
Gulf of Mannar (by the ancient Tamils).
When Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Western
Hemisphere, they discovered that around the islands
of Cubagua and Margarita, some 200 km north of the
Venezuelan coast, was an extensive bed of pearls.
One of them, the Peregrina, was offered to the
Spanish queens. This pearl later became very famous
when Richard Burton purchased it for his wife
Elizabeth Taylor. Margarita pearls are extremely
difficult to find today and are known for their unique
yellowish color. The most famous Margarita necklace
that any one can see today is the one that then
Venezuelan President Romulo Betancourt gave to
Jacqueline Kennedy when she and her husband,
President John F. Kennedy paid an official visit to
Venezuela.
Before the beginning of the 20th Century, pearl
hunting was the most common way of harvesting pearls.
Divers manually pulled oysters from ocean floors and
river bottoms and checked them individually for pearls.
Not all natural oysters produce pearls. In a haul of
three tons, only three or four oysters will produce
perfect pearls.
The Development of Pearl Farming However, almost all pearls used for jewelry are
cultured by planting a core or nucleus into pearl
oysters. The pearls are usually harvested after one
year for Akoya, and 2-4 years for Tahitian and South
Sea, and 2-7 years for freshwater. This mariculture
process was first developed by Tatsuhei Mise and
Tokichi Nishikawa in Japan.
The nucleus is generally a polished bead made from
freshwater mussel shell. Along with a small piece of
mantle tissue from another mollusk to serve as a
catalyst for the pearl sac, it is surgically implanted
into the gonad (reproductive organ) of a saltwater
mollusk. In freshwater perliculture, only the piece
of tissue is used in most cases, and is inserted into
the fleshy mantle of the host mussel. South Sea and
Tahitian pearl oysters, also known as Pinctada maxima
and Pinctada margaritifera, which survive the sub-
sequent surgery to remove the finished pearl are often
implanted with a new, larger nucleus as part of the
same procedure and then returned to the water for
another 2-3 years of growth.
Despite the common misperception, Mikimoto did not
patent the process of pearl culture. The accepted
process of pearl culture was developed by a team of
scientists at Tokyo University between 1907 and 1916.
The team was headed by Tokichi Nishikawa and
Tatsuhei Mise. Nishikawa was granted the patent in
1916, and married the daughter of Mikimoto. Mikimoto
was able to use Nishikawa's technology. After the
patent was granted in 1916, the technology was
immediately commercially applied to akoya pearl
oysters in Japan in 1916. Mise's brother was the
first to produce a commercial crop of pearls in the
akoya oyster. Mitsubishi's Baron Iwasaki immediately
applied the technology to the south sea pearl oyster in
1917 in the Philippines, and later in Buton, and Palau.
Mitsubishi was the first to produce a cultured south
sea pearl - although it was not until 1928 that the first
small commercial crop of pearls was successfully produced.
The original Japanese cultured pearls, known as akoya
pearls, are produced by a species of small pearl oyster,
Pinctada fucata martensii, which is no bigger than
6 to 7 mm in size, hence akoya pearls larger than
10 mm in diameter are extremely rare and highly
prized. Today a hybrid mollusk is used in both Japan
and China in the production of akoya pearls. It is a
cross between the original Japanese species, and the
Chinese species Pinctada chemnitzii.[7]
Recent Pearl Production China has recently overtaken Japan in akoya pearl
production. Japan has all but ceased its production of
akoya pearls smaller than 8mm. Japan maintains its
status as a pearl processing center, however, and
imports the majority of Chinese akoya pearls. These
pearls are then processed (often simply matched and
sorted), relabeled as product of Japan, and exported.[8]
In the past couple of decades, cultured pearls have
been produced using larger oysters in the south
Pacific and Indian Ocean. The largest pearl oyster is
the Pinctada maxima, which is roughly the size of a
dinner plate. South Sea pearls are characterized by
their large size and silvery color. Sizes up to 14 mm
in diameter are not uncommon. Australia is one of the
most important sources of South Sea pearls.
Mitsubishi commenced pearl culture with the south
sea pearl oyster in 1916, as soon as the technology
patent was commercialized. By 1931 this project was
showing signs of success, but was upset by the death
of Tatsuhei. Although the project was recommenced
after Tatsuhei's death, the project was discontinued
at the beginning of WWII before significant
productions of pearls were achieved.
After WWII, new south sea pearl projects were
commenced in the early 1950s in Burma and Kuri Bay
and Port Essington in Australia. Japanese companies
were involved in all projects using technicians from
the original Mitsubishi south sea pre-war projects.
Despite often being described as black south sea pearls,
Tahitian pearls are not in fact south sea pearls. The
correct definition of a south sea pearl is a "pearl
produced by the Pinctada maxima pearl oyster."
Japanese Freshwater Pearl FarmingIn 1914, pearl farmers began culturing freshwater
pearls using the pearl mussels native to Lake Biwa.
This lake, the largest and most ancient in Japan, lies
near the city of Kyoto. The extensive and successful
use of the Biwa Pearl Mussel is reflected in the name
Biwa pearls, a phrase which was at one time nearly
synonymous with freshwater pearls in general. Since
the time of peak production in 1971, when Biwa pearl
farmers produced six tons of cultured pearls, pollution
and overharvesting have caused the virtual extinction
of this animal. Japanese pearl farmers recently
cultured a hybrid pearl mussel — a cross between the
last remaining Biwa Pearl Mussels and a closely related
species from China, Cristaria plicata, in lake
Kasumigaura. This industry closed in 2006 due to lake
pollution.
Led by pearl pioneer John Latendresse and his wife
Chessy, the United States began farming freshwater
cultured pearls in the mid 1960's. National Geographic
Magazine introduced the American cultured pearl as a
commercial product in their August 1985 issue. The
Tennessee pearl farm has emerged as a tourist
destination in recent years.
In the 1990s, Japanese pearl producers also invested in producing cultured pearls with freshwater mussels
in the region of Shanghai, China, and in Fiji.
Freshwater pearls are characterized by the reflection
of rainbow colors in the luster. Cultured pearls are
also produced using abalone.
Pearls in Jewelry
The value of the pearls in jewelry is determined by a
combination of the luster, color, size, lack of surface
flaw and symmetry that are appropriate for the type
of pearl under consideration. Among those attributes,
luster is the most important differentiator of pearl
quality according to jewelers. All factors being equal,
however, the larger the pearl the more valuable it is.
Large, perfectly round pearls are rare and highly
valued. Teardrop-shaped pearls are often used in
pendants.
Pearls come in eight basic shapes: round, semi-round,
button, drop, pear, oval, baroque, and circled. Perfectly
round pearls are the rarest and most valuable shape.
Semi-rounds are also used in necklaces or in pieces
where the shape of the pearl can be disguised to look
like it is a perfectly round pearl. Button pearls are like
a slightly flattened round pearl and can also make a
necklace, but are more often used in single pendants
or earrings where the back half of the pearl is covered,
making it look like a larger, round pearl.
Drop and pear shaped pearls are sometimes referred
to as teardrop pearls and are most often seen in
earrings, pendants, or as a center pearl in a necklace.
Baroque pearls have a different appeal to them than
more standard shapes because they are often highly
irregular and make unique and interesting shapes.
They are also commonly seen in necklaces. Circled
pearls are characterized by concentric ridges, or
rings, around the body of the pearl.
In general, cultured pearls are less valuable than
natural pearls, and imitation pearls are less valuable
than cultured pearls. One way that jewelers can
determine whether a pearl is cultivated or natural is
to have a gem lab perform an x-ray of the pearl. If
the x-ray reveals a nucleus, the pearl is likely a bead-
nucleated saltwater pearl. If no nucleus is present, but
irregular and small dark inner spots indicating a cavity
are visible, combined with concentric rings of organic
substance, the pearl is likely a cultured freshwater.
Cultured freshwater pearls can often be confused for
natural pearls which present as homogeneous pictures
which continuously darken toward the surface of the
pearl. Natural pearls will often show larger cavities
where organic matter has dried out and decomposed.
Some imitation pearls are simply made of mother-of-
pearl, coral or conch, while others are made from
glass and are coated with a solution containing fish
scales called essence d'Orient. Although imitation
pearls look the part, they do not have the same weight
or smoothness as real pearls, and their luster will also
dim greatly.
There is also a unique way of naming pearl necklaces.
While most other necklaces are simply referred to by
their physical measurement, strings of pearls have
their own set of names that characterize the pearls
based on where they hang when worn around the neck.
A collar will sit directly against the throat and not hang
down the neck at all; they are often made up of multiple
strands of pearls. Pearl chokers nestle just at the base
of the neck. The size called a princess comes down to
or just below the collarbone. A matinee of pearls falls
just above the breasts. An opera will be long enough to
reach the breastbone or sternum of the wearer, and
longer still, a pearl rope is any length that falls down
farther than an opera.
Necklaces can also be classified as uniform, or
graduated. In a uniform strand of pearls, all pearls
are classified as the same size, but actually fall in a
range. A uniform strand of akoya pearls, for example,
will measure within 0.5 mm. So a strand will never be
7 mm, but will be 6.5-7 mm. Freshwater pearls, Tahitian
pearls, and South Sea pearls all measure to a full
millimeter when considered uniform. A graduated
strand of pearls most often has at least 3 mm of
differentiation from the ends to the center of the
necklace. Popularized in the 1950s by the GIs bringing
strands of cultured akoya pearls home from Japan,
the graduated style was much more affordable as
most pearls in any given strand were small.
Earrings and necklaces can also be classified on the
grade of the color of the pearl. While white and more
recently black pearls are by far the most popular
colors other tinges of color can be found on pearls.
Pink, blue, champagne, green and even purple can be
found, but to form a complete string of same size and
shade pearls can take years. Some colors like purple
can only be found in certain types of clams, while other
clams can produce a variety of colors if given the right
environment. Religious ReferencesAccording to Rebbenu Bachya, the word Yahalom in
the verse Exodus 28:18 means "pearl" and was the
stone on the Hoshen representing the tribe of Zebulun.
This is extremely disputed among scholars, particularly
since the word in question in most manuscripts is
actually Yasepheh - the word from which jasper
derives; scholars think that refers to green jasper
(the rarest and most prized form in early times)
rather than red jasper (the most common form).
Yahalom is usually translated by the Septuagint as an
"onyx", but sometimes as "beryl" or as "jasper"; onyx
only started being mined after the Septuagint was
written, so the Septuagint's term "onyx" probably
does not mean onyx - onyx is originally an Assyrian
word meaning ring, and so could refer to anything
used for making rings. Yahalom is similar to a Hebrew
word meaning hit hard, so some people think that it
means diamond. The variation in possibilities of meaning
for this sixth stone in the Hoshen is reflected in
different translations of the Bible — the King James
Version translates the sixth stone as diamond, the
New International Version translates it as emerald,
and the Vulgate translates it as jaspis — meaning
jasper. There is a wide range of views among
traditional sources about which tribe the stone
refers to.
In a Christian New Testament parable, Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a "pearl of great
price" in Matthew 13: 45-46. "Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly
pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great
price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
The language of symbolism was in common use around
the time of Jesus Christ and most people knew this
language. The Circle is a symbol of God, it has no
beginning and no end. The circle or pearl was
considered to represent Love, Knowledge (the combin-
ation of equal amounts of Love and Knowledge is a
symbol of Wisdom, the 2 circles intertwined (owl eyes)
is symbolic of Wisdom. Some other pearls are Truth,
and Faith.
The Pearl of Great Price is a book of scripture in The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The twelve gates of the New Jerusalem are reportedly
each made of a single pearl in Revelation 21:21, that is,
the Pearly Gates. "And the twelve gates were twelve
pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the
street of the city was pure gold, as it were
transparent glass."
Pearls are compared to holy things, in Matthew 7: 6.
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither
cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
Pearls are also found in numerous references showing
the wickedness and pride of a people, as in Revelations
18: 16. "And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was
clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and
decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!"
The metaphor of a pearl appears in the longer Hymn
of the Pearl, a poem respected for its high literary
quality, and use of layered theological metaphor,
found within one of the texts of Gnosticism.
Islamic References In Islam, the Koran often mentions that dwellers of
paradise will be adorned with pearls:
22:23 God will admit those who believe and work
righteous deeds, to Gardens beneath which rivers
flow: they shall be adorned therein with bracelets
of gold and pearls; and their garments there will be
of silk.
35:33 Gardens of Eternity will they enter: therein will
they be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls;
and their garments there will be of silk.
The Quran describes the wives of the people of
Paradise as having eyes that are similar to pearls:
56:22-23 And [there will be] Houris with wide lovely
eyes [as wives for the pious], Like unto preserved
pearls.
The handsome young boys in paradise are similarly
depicted:
52:24 Round about them will serve, [devoted] to
them, youths [handsome] as Pearls well-guarded.
Hindu Astrological Belief in Natural Pearls The Vedic tradition describes the sacred Nine Pearls
which were first documented in the Garuda Purana,
one of the books of the Hindu holy text Atharvaveda.
Ayurveda contains references to pearl powder as a
stimulant of digestion and to treat mental ailments.
According to Marco Polo the kings of Malabar (now
known as the Coromandel Coast) wore a necklace of
104 rubies and 104 precious pearls which was given
from one generation of kings to the next. The reason
was that every king had to say 104 prayers to his
"idols" every morning and every evening.[9] At least
until the beginning of the 20th century it was a Hindu
custom to present a completely new, undrilled pearl
and pierce it during the ceremony.[9]
References
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