History of Pearl Hunting and Cultured Pearl Stone, Pearls are the most valuable gemstones in the world. Pearl jewelry is highly admired among the women of all ages. Thus, pearls are finding under the pollution-free water of the sea, rivers, ponds, or lakes. The process of finding, pearls deep inside the sea is known as the pearl hunting.
History of Pearl Hunting
Pearl is the oldest gemstone in the world. From ancient times, it has become one of the most expensive gems. Therefore, pearl hunting is 2000 years old activity that was used for finding pearls. Natural pearls are produced from the oyster or mollusks. When an irritant stuck between two shells, then this irritant starts covering itself by the layer of nacre (a mixture of calcium and protein). Hence, after five to six years, these layers take the shape of a pearl.
In addition, of some historical stories, the hunt for pearls has been inspected by South India. The divers used to dive under the sea to collect natural pearls from the oysters’ beds. Their main motive was to hunt pearls for trade purposes. They wanted to sell them to foreigners at heavy costs. Gradually, pearl hunting trends started all across the world, but it became more famous among Japan and the Gulf of Manner. They both countries collected fine quality pearls from the sea.
In earlier times, divers have to dive under the sea. They have to plunge around 40 feet. However, the pearls were also found 5 ft. deep but their quality is inferior to others. For finding high-quality natural pearls, divers have to go deep up to 40 feet. They gathered pearls with the help of basic tools only. Nowadays, due to the arrival of new pearl finding techniques, the job of pearl hunting is finding more complicated. With the help, these new techniques, collecting pearls from the ocean has become easier than pearl hunting.
Cultured Pearls
At present, pearl hunting is banned because it can trouble the lives of the divers. Natural pearls are very rare to find, and they are very expensive. Cultured pearls have taken the positions of the natural pearls. After all, these are man-made pearls. The not fully cultured pearl is made by man but only its core is man-made. Another process is done by the oysters itself. A seed is inserted between the oysters, and they work as the irritant for the pearl. This irritant starts covering by the layers of the mixture of aragonite and conchiolin. Moreover, they take less than a year in assembling.
They are of two types, first is the Freshwater Cultured Pearls and the other is the Saltwater Cultured Pearls. Freshwater Cultured Pearls are cultivated in the freshwater of rivers, lakes, or ponds, and take five to six years in producing a pearl. Saltwater Cultured Pearls are cultivated in the reserved area of the ocean (saltwater). However, it takes fifteen to twenty years in producing a pearl.
Earlier, China was the number one country that produced cultured pearls. But now Japan overtakes the position of China and become number one. After these two countries, Sri Lanka, Mexico, India, South America, Australia, etc. have started cultivating pearls in their pearl farms. Pearl.org.in is one of the best websites that offer high quality and certified pearls at reasonable price rates.