Pearls have been part of the romance and lore of the world since the earliest civilizations. They’ve long been equated with purity and used in depictions of religious icons like the Virgin Mary and the Buddha. The ancient Romans regarded pearls as the tears of gods or angels. Because of their origins in the waters of the world, they’ve also been seen as tears of water nymphs and mermaids.
Like many others of his era, Christopher Columbus believed that mollusks formed pearls from dewdrops. One of the first and most important results of Columbus’s voyages to the New World was the great wealth of pearls that he and others carried back to Europe. Among European monarchs of that time, pearls symbolized riches and power, and the Americas were known as the source of these extraordinary gems.
Human fascination with pearls began thousands of years ago when, searching for food, people opened the shells of mollusks and found lustrous pearls inside. The newfound treasures probably passed from hand to hand, with each admirer holding the pearl in the sunlight, turning it, and letting the sun’s rays illuminate its surface and reflect its beauty.
Once they discovered those pearls, the shell-fishers wanted more. Word spread along land and sea trade routes along with the pearls themselves. They thought that if mollusks in some locations yielded pearls, there might also be some in other places that did the same.
Shell-fishing industries sprang up wherever pearl-bearing mollusks were found. The mollusks’ bodies or parts of them were used for animal and human food, the shells were often used for decorative or practical purposes, and the few pearls collected became objects of desire and international trade.
Eventually, after countless mollusks were harvested and untold numbers of people lost their hearing and senses by diving too deep for too long, the mollusks that seemed to be an infinite resource—at least in some places—began to diminish. The mollusks became victims of their own natural ability to produce the beautiful shells and pearls coveted by humans.
Desire for pearls increased, even as the resource declined. This led some to consider ways to help mollusks produce pearls to sell for profit. Pearl culturing as a successful commercial venture began in the 1890s and continues today. It’s the dominant means of providing the only gems produced with human assistance in the bodies of living animals.
The information in this assignment includes overviews of mollusk anatomy and of natural and cultured pearl production. You’ll also be introduced to the characteristics that make a pearl beautiful and determine its value. This essential information will give you a firm foundation of knowledge as you progress through the course and into the fascinating world of the pearl industry.
