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The iridescent pearl is of organic origin, formed in a pearl oyster. A foreign object entering the shell irritates the cavity of its mantle, and the animal secretes calcium carbonate, as well as its own secretion. The combination of these two components forms a layer of nacre. It takes several years for a pearl to form inside the shell.

There are both freshwater pearls, mainly cultivated in China, and saltwater pearls, cultivated in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean off the coast of Australia, as well as in Japan, Fiji, Tahiti and Indonesia.

“Cultivated” is the key word, because most pearls today are cultured. This means that a bead is inserted into the mollusk to stimulate the secretion that forms the nacre. Cultured pearls are spherical, while natural pearls are more irregularly shaped and very rare.

The only way to know if a pearl is natural is to examine it with X-rays – in an artificial pearl, a bead will be visible under the layer of nacre.

In healing, pearls have a gentle energy that symbolizes the Moon and its influence on the body’s internal cycles.