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Pearls : The Most Common Pearl Makers Are Oysters

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Pearls come from mollusks they are a group of animals that includes oysters, clams, and mussels, among others. Any mollusk that has a shell can make pearls, the most common pearl-makers are oysters. Pearls have a history in Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Mayan, Aztec and Incan civilisations. Pearls have been used and collected for more than 4000 years, this makes them have the title of the world 's oldest gem in the world.
There are three types of pearls and they are natural, cultured and imitation. Natural Pearls are made when a foreign object like some dirt or sand gets inside the shell of an oyster by mistake. To protect itself, the creature covers the intruding object with the same stuff its shell is made of, a mineral known as nacre. The oyster or other mollusk continues covering the object with multiple layers of nacre, eventually forming a beautiful pearl.
A cultured pearl goes through the same process as the natural pearl. The only difference is that the irritant is implanted a bead or piece of shell called Mother of Pearl. These seeds are most often formed from mussel shells. Good quality cultured pearls require a long amount of time like around 3 years to be formed. But Low quality pearls have often been rushed out of the oyster too early in about a year or less and they have a too-thin coat of nacre.
Pearls are formed either in salt or freshwater. Historically, saltwater pearls were rounder and had better quality than freshwater pearls,

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