Ad
related to: value of pearl found in oyster
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Pearls are also obtained in commercial quantities from some species of the closely related winged oyster genus Pteria. Pearls are also produced from freshwater mussel species unrelated to pearl oysters. These freshwater species include Hyriopsis cumingii, Hyriopsis schlegelii, and a hybrid of the two species. At danger from the large demand for ...
The Spaniards quickly appreciated the value of the harvest and in 1586 declared the gathering of oysters to be a right of the Spanish crown. [10] By the 1840s, the export of the shells was as valuable as the pearls extracted from them; the nacreous shells were used to make mother-of-pearl buttons for clothing.
The second largest pearl known was found in the Philippines in 1934 and is known as the Pearl of Lao Tzu. It is a naturally occurring, non-nacreous, calcareous concretion (pearl) from a giant clam. Because it did not grow in a pearl oyster it is not pearly; instead the surface is glossy like porcelain.
Both cultured pearls and natural pearls can be extracted from pearl oysters, though other molluscs, such as the freshwater mussels, also yield pearls of commercial value. The largest pearl-bearing oyster is the marine Pinctada maxima, which is roughly the size of a dinner plate. Not all individual oysters produce pearls.
Harris provides context on the elusiveness of pearls, revealing, "In some areas of the sea, one might have to open 10,000 oysters just to find one pearl. Only a small fraction of those will be ...
The Tahitian pearl (or black pearl) is an organic gem formed from the black lip oyster (Pinctada margaritifera). [1] These pearls derive their name from the fact that they are primarily cultivated around the islands of French Polynesia , around Tahiti .
Pteria sterna, or commonly known as the rainbow-lipped pearl oyster or the Pacific wing-oyster, is a species of marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae, the pearl oysters. This oyster can be found in shallow water along the tropical and subtropical Pacific coast of America, its range including Baja California , Mexico and northern Peru .
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!