Beauty of Wholesale Freshwater Pearls

What most wholesale pearl dealers call "natural" are actually authentic but cultivated pearl pieces. These cost a lot more than imitation or synthetic pearl beads made from plastic or glass, but they should, in no way, be sold for as much as a rare natural pearl.

Test Driving Your Pearls

To put your pearls to the test, you have two options. You can either have them sent to a lab for X-rays or trust the foolhardy instincts of your front teeth. When rubbed against the edge of a tooth, natural and cultured pearls feel a bit gritty or sandy due to the crystalline structure of the nacre. In contrast, synthetic pearls are made of smooth coatings and will feel slick or "perfectly" smooth.

How Cultured Pearls are Honed

Pearls are formed when an "alien" matter enters an oyster. The folds of the oyster’s mantle will then try to calcify the intruder to protect itself from irritation, layering it in nacre. While a truly natural pearl formation is a rare accident of nature that takes years, cultured pearls—which make up the vast majority of wholesale freshwater pearls—are initiated by human effort.

Pearl farmers insert "beads" or mantle tissue into farm oysters to trigger the pearl-making process. Because of the controlled environment and the shape of the initial beads, the finish of cultured pearls is often more uniform. While they do not lack luster and shine compared to natural pearls, they are far more abundant and therefore significantly more affordable.

Deciphering Cultured from Synthetic

To ensure the strands you are purchasing are not synthetic beads made from glass or plastic, you can perform a "scratch test." If a dealer allows it, use a knife to gently shave the surface of a pearl.

Synthetic Pearls: The "pearlescent" paint will peel or wear off, revealing a clear glass or coloured plastic core underneath.
Cultured Pearls: The debris should look like a fine white or grey powder, as the pearl is composed of solid layers of calcium carbonate ( $CaCO_3$ ).