Pearl Information Panel 1

What Is a Peal?

This first panel of the Pearl Information invites us to pause and ask a simple question: what is a pearl?

Pearls have fascinated people for thousands of years, and it's easy to understand why. Unlike other gemstones that must be cut and polished, a pearl is created whole, quietly, slowly, and entirely by nature.

A pearl begins its life when a foreign object enters a living mollusc. Unable to expel it, the mollusc protects itself by coating the irritant with layers of nacre. Over time, those layers build upon one another, forming a pearl. Each layer tells a story of patience, resilience, and time, qualities that make pearls feel so deeply meaningful.

As shown in the next section of the panel, natural pearls are formed entirely by chance in the wild, without any human intervention. They are rare gifts of the sea, created as a true accident of nature.

Natural pearls

Natural pearls can be found in oysters, mussels, clams, conch shells, and abalone. Their shapes are often organic and irregular, each one a reminder that nature values individuality over perfection.

Cultured Pearls

The panel also introduces cultured pearls, pearls created through the careful intervention of humans, while still relying completely on nature to do the real work.

In cultured pearls, the mollusc forms nacre layer by later, just as it would in the wild. This process allows pearls to be grown responsibility and sustainably, ensuring their beauty can be enjoyed for generations to come.