Freshwater pearls are
produced in Japan, China, and the United States, and were formerly
produced in Scotland. These wonderful gifts from the lakes
around the world are a kind of pearl that comes from freshwater
mussels.
A single mussel can produce up to 50 pearls. While saltwater
pearl-bearing oysters are nucleated in a small organ known as
the gonad, freshwater mussels are nucleated in the actual mantle
tissue. Each side of this bivalve can handle up to 25 nucleations
at one time. Freshwater pearls are seldom perfectly round or
even nearly round, more often than not they are baroque, slugs,
or wings. In rare circumstances perfectly round freshwater pearls
are produced, and even more rare are the true gems that have
recently been designated as freshadama by the trade. Freshadama
pearls are visibly round to perfect round, and exhibit orient,
and exceedingly rare value factor in cultured pearls. Many pearls,
both natural and cultured, have beautiful color and luster. Freshwater
pearls are noted for their wide range of color, they can be found
in white, silvery white, pink, salmon, red, copper, bronze, brown,
lavender, purple, green, blue, cream, and yellow. Although white
is the most common color, the most desirable are the pastel pinks,
roses, lavenders, and purples. The different colors are a function
of the mussel species, genetics, water quality, and the position
of the pearl in the shell. |
