Pearls are ancient organic gemstones that are mainly produced in pearl shellfish and mother-of-pearl mollusks, while the calcium carbonate mineral (aragonite) beads produced due to endocrine action are formed by the collection of a large number of tiny aragonite crystals. According to studies in geology and archaeology, pearls were already on the earth two hundred million years ago. Pearls are also listed in the international gem community as lucky stones for June birthdays and commemorative stones for wedding thirteenth and thirtieth anniversaries. Pearls with magnificent colors and elegant temperament, symbolizing health, purity, wealth and happiness, have been loved by people since ancient times.
Hu Shi said that "since you have eaten the egg, there is no need to know the chicken that lays eggs", but xiaobian wants to grill this "chicken" today. Talking about this, I have to mention that the mother of pearls is mainly divided into two types: "conch" and "shell". Some students may instantly think of "seawater" and "fresh water" Which is to distinguish the growth environment of pearls By the way, seawater pearls are better than freshwater pearls!
First, let's talk about the conch mother-of-pearl is roughly divided into the following categories:
1. Large phoenix snail
This variety is the most precious and beautiful conch pearl, the current market mentioned conch pearl refers to this kind of production from the Caribbean Sea has a unique feature from pink, pink purple to orange and white, while having a charming flame pattern, the production of conch pearls in the past few years has further declined, the price is rising.
Large phoenix snail
Kong Ke Zhu
2. Coconut swirl snail
Produced in the South China Sea, vietnam until the waters of Singapore and Malaysia, this conch has yellow or yellow and black spots, the resulting conch pearl is called "Melo Pearl", the individual of the Merlot pearl is larger, with a color from orange to white, close to the orange yellow of the papaya is the most precious, the Merlot beads also have a swirling structure.
Coconut vortex snail and its conch beads
Coconut swirl spiral beads
3. Horse snail
Is another kind of conch pearl produced conch, distributed in the southeast of the United States to the northeast of Mexico in the sea, the production of conch pearls is not as beautiful as the big phoenix snail, often darker color and no flame pattern, commercial value is not large.
Maro shell
Tenno Red Spiral
4. E-snail
Distributed on the east coast of the United States, it is occasionally found in this conch a very irregular pearl, with a brownish red color and little commercial value.
whelk
Abalone scallops
Green Abalone: Appears in california waters and produces abalone pearls of similar color to abalone shells.
New Zealand Large Abalone: Is a unique new Zealand individual giant abalone, in rare cases found this large abalone produces a very beautiful green abalone pearl, its color and halo is very attractive.
New Zealand big abalone
Queen butterfly shell: a kind of large conch that is abundant in the Caribbean Sea of Central America, referred to as Kong ke snail, and the pearl produced is called Kong Ke Zhu.
Next is the following types of shellfish:
1. Spinnaker mussels
Commonly known as river mussels, pearl mussels, freshwater pearl mussels, triangle mussels, is the main mother shell of freshwater pearls. It is widely distributed in Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other provinces, especially in China's Dongting Lake and medium-sized lakes.
Spinnaker mussels
Spinnaker mussels produce pearls
2. Martens shellfish
Also known as Hepu shellfish, the cultivated pearls are of good quality and are the main shellfish species of akoya seawater pearls currently produced. It is mainly distributed in Guangxi, Guangdong, and The coast of Taiwan from the south of Japan's Qianpai County to the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Australia.
Martens shell pearls
Marsh shell
3. Black butterfly shellfish
Produces black pearls. Black butterfly shells, mainly grown in the waters of the French Polynesian Horde Reef, cook islands, Panama Island and the Gulf of Mexico, etc., in addition to the South China Sea Weizhou Island area is also found in the sea area of Weizhou Island.
Tahitian black pearl
4. White butterfly shellfish
Also known as large pearl oysters, there are also called white butterfly pearl oysters, the individual is very large, generally about 25 cm to 28 cm long, and the weight is 3 kg to 4 kg. According to records, the largest body length reached more than 32 cm, weighing 5 kg, 25 to 30 times larger than the common family of Ma's mother pearl oyster, so it is the largest of the pearl oysters, but also the world's largest and highest quality pearl oysters. The pearls produced are larger in particles and are called South Sea pearls. It is mainly distributed in the Leizhou Peninsula of China and the coastal areas of a few countries such as Australia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand.
White butterfly shells
5. Kingdee shells
It is a mother-of-pearl that gives birth to Southeast Asian gold pearls, mainly produced in the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and other places
Kingdee shells
Gold pearls
6. Penguin pearl oysters
As an emerging variety of pearl shellfish in recent years, it is mainly used to cultivate shell pearls, which are large shellfish, with large shells and can cultivate semicircular pearls. The shell of the penguin pearl oyster is obliquely square, the anterior and posterior ears extend in a stalk-shaped shape, the front is short, the back is long, the two shells are prominently raised, the shell surface is black, it is covered with fine hairs, and the shape is just like the penguin in Antarctica. It is distributed in Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi and south of Kyushu in Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Penghu, the Philippines and other places.
Penguin pearl oysters
Penguin pearl oysters marine cultured pearls
7. Xie's pearl oysters
Mostly used in the production of medicinal pearls, the cultured pearls are mostly yellow series.
8. For you to grace pearl oysters
It is a new kind of shell that is bred by the hybridization of Hepu shellfish and black butterfly shellfish, and the purpose is to combine the advantages of rapid growth of pubei and the excellent color of black butterfly shellfish.
9. Pond butterfly shellfish
It belongs to the pearl of land lakes and rivers, and is a seedless pearl. The pond butterfly shell is a large-shaped ubest with a black shell and a thick nacre, off-white or gray-purple color. Using this shell to breed pearls, pearls with strong pearls, delicate epiplasm and large particles can be bred.
Then there are some lesser-known pearl shells
Pool butterfly shells
10. "Pippi Mother of Pearl"
The name sounds somewhat related to the Pippi shrimp, this mother of pearl is not large, the average size is between 3-5 cm, distributed in a large area from the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific Ocean, producing pale yellow pearls, generally smaller in size between 4-5 mm.
11. Tern Mother of Pearl"
Distributed from California in the north to the eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean in the south to Peru, the pearls produced are blue and rose in color, and the size is between 11-15 mm, but most of them are conformal pearls, rarely perfectly round.
12. "Wind Shell"
Distributed in the Mediterranean, the shells are newly fitted in the shape of pinna or fan blades.
13. "Hard Shell"
Distributed over a large area from eastern Canada up to Florida, this shell is very hard, with a beautiful fuchsia on the edges and pearls with a fuchsia hue.
14. "Oyster oyster shell"
This kind of mother oyster is the oyster that we eat every day, and sometimes we will see reports that a Fisherman in Taiwan has found a large pearl in the oyster, to add millions of clouds, in fact, most of the pearls produced by oysters are white, and there is no particularly good luster, not a particularly precious pearl.
15. "Mussel"
It is also a common seafood ingredient, and the green mouth produced in the cold waters near the polar regions of the world sometimes occasionally produces pearls, which may be dark gray or a little purple in color, and the pearlescent feeling is average.
17. "Big Clam Beads"
Distributed in the waters from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, the large clam beads are white, and there are beautiful flame-like patterns, and even some merchants use them to sell as conch pearls, but the texture of the large clam beads is somewhat translucent, and the porcelain feeling of the conch pearls is still different.
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