How Does A Pearl Form?

Pearls are formed when a shell fragment, tiny bone fragment or grain of sand enters the pearl oyster’s shell. The oyster, in order to protect itself from this irritant, begins to coat the fragment with a substance called nacre. After many, many layers of this nacre coating and up a couple of year time, a beautiful lustrous pearl emerges. Different types of oysters around the world create different types and colors of pearls. Pearls can be found in many different shapes from the wild and wonderful freeform pearl to the perfectly round pearl like that found in the cherished pearl line Mikimoto we sell here at Wick and Greene.