The majority of pearls used for jewellery are cultured pearls.

Cultured pearls are grown in Freshwater or Saltwater with the assistance of human intervention.

Normally the pearl grower or farmer will insert an irritant into the mollusc to induce the pearl growing process.

The shape of the pearl can therefore be determined by the shape of the irritant inserted into the mollusc.

Inserting a larger irritant will then increase the size of the final pearl product.

Please check the links and suppliers to discover the various uses and full potential of pearls.