the.com/pearl
the only gem made by something alive, and only when it's annoyed.
means A smooth, lustrous, usually round gem formed inside the shell of an oyster or other mollusk, prized for its iridescent beauty.
from From Old French 'perle', from a Latin source — possibly 'perna', a word for a leg-of-mutton shape used for certain shellfish, or 'pernula', a little version of the same. The path is murky enough that scholars hedge, but the shellfish connection is old and fitting: the name traveled with the creatures that make the thing.
- origin
- Oyster's response to an irritating intruder inside
- natural rarity
- Roughly one in ten thousand wild oysters yields one
- acid weakness
- Vinegar dissolves them; Cleopatra allegedly drank one
- birthstone
- June's gem, the only one needing no cutting
- layers
- Made of nacre, the same stuff lining shells
pearl of lao tzu — massive baroque pearl found in philippines, weighs 34 kg, discovered 1934
hope pearl — english baroque pearl from persian gulf, 1.8 cm diameter, housed in british museum
pearl of tahiti — black pearl from polynesian waters, cultivated since 1960s, largest producers today