Prime Diamonds & Gems, Inc.

June: Pearl

Pearls can be black, brown, gray, rose, red, blue, green, purple, yellow, and white. No one knows exactly how pearls develop their color, since one oyster may produce pearls of several different hues simultaneously. The most valuable pearls are white and silvery-white saltwater pearls that form in the genus Pinctada. Black-lipped oysters from the South Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico sometimes produce naturally black pearls. Although natural pearls are found all over the world, most of the natural pearls now harvested come from the Persian Gulf, Sri Lanka, the Red Sea, and the Philippines. Smaller quantities come from the coast of Venezuela and from the Gulf of California. The cultured-pearl industry thrives in the seas of Japan and off the northwest coast of Australia, where few natural pearls are harvested. Japan produces more cultured pearls than any other country. Most cultured pearls are produced in underwater farms, with the mollusks suspended at the right depth in baskets. Historically, Japanese women divers, called ama, gathered the wild oysters.

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