|
A cultured pearl is a pearl created by a pearl farmer under controlled conditions. Freshadama grade cultured freshwater pearls. ...
Development of a Pearl A pearl is formed when some sort of small object, typically a parasite or piece of organic matter, becomes embedded in the tissue of an oyster or mollusk. In response, the mantle tissue of the mollusk secretes nacre, a combination of crystalline and organic substances. As the nacre builds up in layers, it surrounds the irritant and eventually forms a pearl. Crassostrea gigas, Marennes-Oléron Crassostrea gigas, Marennes-Oléron Crassostrea gigas, Marennes-Oléron, opened The name oyster is used for a number of different groups of mollusks which grow for the most part in marine or brackish water. ...
Classes Caudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora Monoplacophora Bivalvia Scaphopoda Gastropoda Cephalopoda †Rostroconchia The mollusks or molluscs are the large and diverse phylum Mollusca, which includes a variety of familiar creatures well-known for their decorative shells or as seafood. ...
Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is a naturally-occurring organic-inorganic composite. ...
Natural pearls are those pearls which are formed in nature, more or less by chance. Cultured pearls, by contrast, are those in which humans take a helping hand. By actually inserting a foreign object into the tissue of an oyster or mollusk, pearl farmers can induce the creation of a pearl. The same natural process of pearl creation takes place.
The Pearl Industry Modern-day cultured pearls are primarily the result of discoveries made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the Japanese researchers Mise and Nishikawa. Although some cultures had long been able to artificially stimulate mollusks into producing a type of pearl, the pearls produced in this way were only blister and mabe, rather than actual round pearls. What Mise and Nishikawa discovered was a specific technique for inducing the creation of a round pearl within the gonad of an oyster. This technique was patented by Kokichi Mikimoto shortly thereafter, and the first harvest of rounds was produced in 1916. Kokichi Mikimoto (御木本 å¹¸å‰ Mikimoto KÅkichi, March 10, 1858 – September 21, 1954) is the Japanese inventor of the cultured pearl. ...
This discovery revolutionized the pearl industry, because it allowed pearl farmers to reliably cultivate large numbers of high-quality pearls. In contrast to natural pearls -- which have widely varying shapes, sizes, and qualities, and which are difficult to find -- cultured pearls could be "designed" from the start to be round and primarily flawless. The oysters could be monitored for up to two years until each pearl is fully formed, thus better insuring their health and survival. And the pearls could be grown by the tens of thousands, thereby bringing their cost down to a point where pearls became accessible to large numbers of people around the world.
In short, the development of cultured pearls took much of the chance, risk, and guesswork out of the pearl industry, allowing it to become stable and predictable, and fostering its rapid growth over the past 100 years. Led by pearl pioneer John Latendresse, the United States began culturing freshwater pearls in the mid 1960's. John Latendresse (July 26, 1925 – July 23, 2000) is known for being the father of American cultured freshwater pearls. He was the first successful North American freshwater cultured pearl farmer and was voted one of the pearl industrys most important people of the century. ...
In Palm Island, Queensland, Australia in 2004, in a now closed pearl farm, pearl oysters commenced life as spats from hatchery farms, and were then grown for two years on a pearl farm. They were then seeded as pearls and cultivated for another two years, suspended on long lines, some on the surface, others below the surface. Each line had vertical lines dropping from it at one metre intervals with about six to eight shells on each vertical line. When the pearl had grown, two to three years after seeding, it was removed and the shell was reseeded to produce a second, bigger, pearl. Shells had a commercial production life of 10 to 12 years, producing roughly every two years.[1] Palm Island (also known as Great Palm Island, or by Aboriginal name Bukaman[2]) is an island and community 65 km north-west of Townsville, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. ...
Prior to the 1930s, exporting pearls was the main economic activity of Kuwait. When the Japanese invented cultured pearls, the Kuwaitis decided to drill for oil. This was the start of the Kuwaiti oil industry. Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ...
Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Åukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ...
Cultured pearls can often be distinguished from natural pearls through the use of x-rays, which reveals the inner nucleus of the pearl. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz...
Today more than 99% of all pearls sold worldwide are cultured pearls.
In Pop Culture On one infamous episode of Match Game, a question read "Dumb Dora is so dumb, she sent her cultured pearls to _________." The contestants answer of "school" was not considered a match by the judge to "finishing school" even though it match "scuba diving school" after some nogotiaons. This episode was known as the "School Riot." The Match Game was an American television game show, most often hosted by Gene Rayburn. ...
Notes - ^ Administrative Appeals Tribunal (15 March 2004). The Manbarra People and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Anor [2004 AATA 268]. Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII). Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
is the 74th day of the year (75th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...
is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
External links |
Feeds |
Contact