Cultured Pearls Vs. Natural Pearls
Almost all pearls which are available in the market today are cultured pearls. On the other hand, the natural pearls - which are quite rare in nature, are treated like antiques. As a lay person, it would be impossible for you to differentiate between the two - unless you are well versed the comparison aspect. If all the pearls in the necklace that you choose are perfectly spherical in shape and of same size, the chances of this necklace being made from cultured pearls are more, as it is very difficult to find natural pearls which are perfect in shape and size. (And if at all you do happen to come across a necklace made from natural pearls, it is bound to cost you a fortune!)
Natural Pearls
Natural pearls, also referred to as wild pearls, are those pearls which are formed accidentally within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk in the wild. The process of pearl formation starts with an irritant - such as some tiny parasite or a grain of sand, entering the animals body. In what can be best defined as the defense mechanism of this animal, the mollusk starts secreting nacre - a calcium carbonate substance, within its body and covers the intruder. This deposition of nacre on the irritant continues over the period and the resulting build-up of calcium carbonate ends up with formation of a pearl. The entire process by which oysters make pearls takes place over a period of several years and occurs very rarely, and that explains the rare nature of natural pearls. At the same time, there is no guarantee that the resulting pearl will be perfectly spherical in shape as we most often imagine a pearl to be.
Cultured Pearls
That must have left you wondering as to how cultured pearls are produced in pearl farms. As in case of natural pearls, even cultured pearls are formed as a result of continuous deposition of nacre (calcium carbonate substance) on some irritant. However, in this case the irritant does not enter mollusk on its own but is intentionally introduced in it by the pearl farmer. This is the most prominent difference between cultured & natural pearls. Owing to their rare nature, natural pearls became quite costly by the beginning of the 20th century and therefore humans began pearl farming on their own by intentionally stimulating the formation of pearl within the body of a mollusk. As a result of this, the formation of pearls was not restricted to nature anymore and it became quite easy to produce pearls in pearl farms. Over the period, these cultured pearls supplanted natural pearls owing to their easy availability and identical nature.
Cultured Pearls Vs. Natural Pearls
The foremost point of distinction between the two pertains to where these pearls come from. While a natural pearl formation is traced to wilderness, cultured pearls are formed at pearl farms. Similarly, the process by which natural pearl are formed is devoid of any human interference, but the process by which cultured pearls are formed is triggered by the pearl farmer intentionally. That, however, will not be of much help for you as you won't realize whether the pearl was formed in the wild or at the pearl farm just by looking at it.
In such circumstances, your observation skills may come to your rescue. You need to make a note of the fact that cultured pearls tend to be perfectly spherical in shape, while natural pearls may or may not be spherical. Similarly, you will see a slightly greenish tinge in cultured pearls which won't be seen in natural pearls. Yet another method is to rely on the cost of the pearl necklace. If it is inexpensive, it is likely to be a cultured pearl. If it is costly, on the other hand, it has to be a natural pearl. You need to be careful though, as there are some fraudsters out there who will sell a cultured pearl jewelry to you under the garb of natural pearl jewelry for a hefty price.
You need to understand the fact that most of these methods of differentiating between the two rely on ifs and buts, and therefore the best way out is lab analysis of these pearls. In laboratory, cultured pearl is distinguished from a natural pearl using x-ray. When subjected to x-ray, you will see the inner nucleus of the pearl and that will help you determine whether it was formed naturally or it was cultured. Similarly, you can also put it under microscopic lenses and check. If it is a natural pearl, you will see several thin and easily distinguishable layers of nacre, but if it is cultured you will see a single thick layer of this substance.
Those were the most prominent points of distinction in which will help you differentiate between these two types of pearls. Even though the cultured pearls are farmed by humans, they are as real as their natural counterparts - it is their availability in abundance that makes them less desired as compared to the rare natural pearls.
