When people think
of Pearls they think of perfectly rounded shapes. However, the
truth is that irregularly shaped Pearls (Baroque Pearls) are
much more common, while perfectly spherical Pearls are extremely
rare with prices increasing in relation. A Pearl's shape and
size depends firstly on the species of mollusk that produced
it, the mollusks health, where the Pearl formed inside the animal
and the shape and size of the nucleus at the center. Then there
are the environmental factors such as the location, water temperature,
algae and saline content and length of formation. All these
factors combine and make it practically impossible to predict
the form of a naturally occurring Pearl. However, within the
cultured Pearl industry farmers increase their chances of obtaining
regularity in round Pearls by implanting large, perfectly spherical
nuclei. |