Pearls (Moti)

The pearl was one of the first gems to be valued by men. Fresh out of the shell, a pearl could be worn and admired without any polishing and fashioning. Because of its mysterious source- in the body of an animal early civilizations attributed magical powers to the pearl.

Natural Pearls (Basara Moti)

A natural pearl is formed in a mollusk with no human intervention. A mollusk is a soft bodied marine animal with no back bone.

Cultured Pearls

The pearl formed as a result of human intervention in the pearl formation process.

Pearl culturing is an adaptation of natural pearl formation process, where a mantle tissue piece and a bead nucleus is surgically inserted in the oyster. The oyster is then re-harvested in the sea transfers into a cultured pearl in a few months.

An important point to remember is that natural pearls should not be judged by cultured pearl standards.

For example, many of today’s cultured pearls especially the south sea or Tahitian can be quite large. Natural pearls on the other hand, can be smaller and extremely valuable. Their smaller size should be accepted as a part of their natural heritage.