Harriet-whinney.co.uk
Title
Pearl Jewellery, Fresh Water Pearls & Cultured River Pearls
Description
Freshwater pearls originate from the freshwater mussel, cultured pearls from the seawater oyster. The pearls are cultured, in the case of the mussel, by inserting a small piece of mantle (the outer fleshy layer) from another mussel into the shell of the host; this acts rather like a skin graft and forms a small sack within the mussel. Each mussel can produce up to 40 pearls.
In the case of the oyster, a bead is placed on a graft of the membrane from another oyster and inserted into the host. Once implanted, the oyster produces the pearl naturally. Only one pearl is produced in an oyster.
