What is the difference between a natural pearl and a cultured pearl?
A natural pearl is just as pearlamor described it, while a cultured pearl is usually manmade and can be farmed from either a mussel or a oyster. Farmers purposely put a premade shell piece inside the oyster to stimulate the pearl-growth and this usually makes for "perfect" round pearls and cheaper prices. because of this, you can also create custom designed pearl shapes like diamond or coin shaped pearls. The nacre in a freshwater pearl tends to be thinner but the overall look is still the same for less cost. For more, check out wikipedia (cultured pearl) or www.stonesandfindings.com/jewellery-making-articles/pearls
A natural pearl spontaneously forms in nature without any human intervention. The process of a natural pearl begins when an irritant such as a shell fragment or scale becomes lodged inside the oyster or mussel. As a protective response, the mollusk will begin to secrete a crystalline substance called nacre to coat the foreign object. This newly forming pearl will continue to be coated with nacre and grow in size as long as it remains in the mollusk. A cultured pearl is formed in an almost identical fashion, but rather than leaving it to nature, man stimulates the process by inserting the foreign object into the mollusk. This process is called nucleation and involves the insertion of a mother of pearl bead as the irritant nucleus. Both natural and cultured pearls are recognized as gemstones.
