What are the differences between saltwater and freshwater pearls?
Saltwater pearls are created by oysters that live in the ocean while freshwater pearls are created by mussels that live in freshwater lakes, rivers and streams. The pearls created by both types of mollusks are made of the same substance, nacre. While cultured saltwater pearls usually have a mother of pearl bead at their center that the animal has coated with nacre, freshwater pearls are almost always created without a bead nucleus.
