Since ancient times, pearls are a beautiful symbol in people's hearts, but few people understand its "mother", as the breeder of pearls, mother-of-pearl is low-key and quiet, but from its fine lines, we can understand the passage of time; in its charming color, we will feel the unique temperament of the deep valley orchid.
01
"The Choice of the Nobility"
Because the pearly material covering the mother-of-pearl has different colors of reflected light from different angles, the brilliant luster is eye-catching. In the long history of Eastern and Western cultures, mother-of-pearl has long been used as a decorative and inlaid material for appearances, thus showing its unique charm.
In China, the earliest record of mother-of-pearl is in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Craftsmen carved mother-of-pearl shells into thin sheets such as figures, flowers and birds, geometric figures or texts, and inlaid them on the surface of the furniture according to the needs of the picture. This decorative craft is called screw, also known as "screw dian", "snail", "trap mussel", etc., is one of the traditional art treasures. Over time, mother-of-pearl has become a common material in traditional utensils and furniture. In the Palace Museum, you can see large doors, windows, cabinets, small printing boxes and other screw collections, all of which are exquisite.
In the West, its use is more extensive, and mother-of-pearl has been used to make various crafts around the Middle Ages. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, mother-of-pearl was loved by Western aristocrats, and they were used to decorate furniture, make jewelry boxes, and even be used to make knife handles, becoming an indispensable and important part of people's lives in that period.
With the advent of the watch era, the use of mother-of-pearl in clocks has also become popular, and designers have used it to create countless classic and beautiful works of art.
02
The mother of the "Jewel Queen"
Mother of pearl is a natural and pure unique material, it will be stimulated by the invasion of foreign bodies in the ocean to secrete pearls, and eventually will form a rich pearl, in the process of pearl gradually forming into a pearl, the interior of the mother of pearl will also be moisturized by the pearl.
Natural mother-of-pearl will vary greatly in color, texture, and detail on the inside because of the natural environment in which they live and the influence of foreign substances. Different varieties of mother-of-pearl produce different pearls, and there are many differences in their own color patterns.
Black Butterfly Shell
When it comes to Tahitian black pearl, everyone is familiar with it, in fact, its mother is the black butterfly shell. There are two main natural sources of black butterfly shellfish, of which the famous Island of Tahiti accounts for 95% of the global total.
Black butterfly shells are usually light gray to silver gray, weight can reach 5 kg and 30 cm size, usually 2 times the size of Japanese seawater shellfish, their average lifespan can reach 30 years, but also can produce larger pearls, the nacre inside the black butterfly shell usually has a silver glow, and has red and green iridescence, quite mysterious.
White butterfly shells
White butterfly oyster, also known as large pearl oyster, is the main mother of The Pearl of the South Sea. The nacre of the white butterfly shell is very thick, often silvery-white, and the luster is good, so it often becomes the raw material for handicrafts, and the finished color is mostly soft and pure, which is deeply loved by people.
03
Marsh shell
As the main female of Akoya pearls, Marsh's shellfish also has its own unique charm. It is produced in the Seto Inland Sea along the Two Broad Belts of Japan, along the coast of Taiwan, and in the areas of Mie, Kumamoto, and Ehime Prefectures in Japan. Its delicate luster and unique texture have become the material of choice for many designers.
keyword
The utensils decorated with mother-of-pearl are gorgeous and magical, and the colorful colors from natural products are stunning with a low-key sense of luxury. However, although there are many female oysters, it is difficult to find them with beautiful halos, and the mother-of-pearl oysters that can be set as jewels are almost as rare and precious as the Nanyang gold beads.
Therefore, in order to have "world-class beauty" shellfish, the following four keywords are needed, "pollution-free water source", "suitable water temperature", "warm sunshine" and "fresh and clean air", just think of such an environment is very rare, so don't underestimate the mother-of-pearl oyster.
By the way, I need to remind you that mother-of-pearl is fragile. In actual production, it is often necessary to polish it lightly and transparently enough to appear crystal clear. Therefore, in the process of extraction, cutting, engraving, polishing and inlaying, it is easy to damage the raw materials. Therefore, most designers are more about simplifying the complex and simply processing the mother shell.
04
Endless possibilities
If the design space of pearls is limited, then the mother-of-pearl is one of the representatives that can create infinite possibilities, they can be unrestricted by shape and use, and with the imagination of designers, various patterns are conjured up: brooches, dials, necklaces, rings, and even jewelry boxes, etc., unique textures and exquisite craftsmanship, each piece of art is moving, its clean, pure, and charming luster are loved by the majority of women.
Although the mother-of-pearl is not as valuable as a pearl, the exquisite craftsmanship it carries is incomparable, and it is one of the purest gifts that nature has given us!