The gentle shine and softness that it exudes have made pearls possess an endearing quality. The purest form of pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty. The quality natural pearls are rare and that's why it is seen as something precious, admirable and valuable.
Pearls are formed inside the shell of shelled mollusks. It is produced within the soft tissue or the mantle of the mollusk. Natural freshwater pearls form in various species of freshwater mussels, which live in lakes, rivers and ponds while salt water pearls grow within pearl oysters, which live in the oceans and seas.
Pearls are either natural or cultured. A natural pearl, as the name indicates, is one that forms without any human intervention at all while cultured pearls are pearls that are formed by artificial means.
Natural pearls are rare and difficult to find and are therefore highly valued. Earlier natural pearls were found in many parts of the world and now it's availability has been shrinked to certain areas mostly in the seas of Bahrain and in the Australian and Indian Ocean. It is no wonder why it is called as the Queen of the Sea.
Some of the famous pearls are known to have possessed by great people.
La Peregrina, was once the most celebrated pearl of its time weighing 203.8 grains, it was celebrated not only for its great size, but also its perfect pear shape and its perfect white color. It was owned by Queen Mary of Spain.
The Imperial Hong Kong Pearl is one of the largest pearls ever found measuring 26mm by 39mm and weighs in at 25.5 grams. It is believed to have once belonged to Chinese royalty.
Perhaps the most famous is the Abernethy pearl. This one weights 44 grams and was collected by Bill Abernethy and named after him.
One of the largest natural pearls in the world is The Pearl of Asia. It was discovered in the 17th century in India, was 600 carats. It became the property of the King of Persia (currently Iran), who in turn gave it to the Chinese Emperor Qianlong and the Chinese considered it as a holy thing that will bring happiness and good fortune.
No comments:
Post a Comment