Here we go again with purl, perl and pearl.
Purl – a backward knit stitch
Perl – a computer  programming language
Pearl – the Queen of jewels, and what this article is about.

No wonder English is a hard language to learn.

Did you ever wonder how a Pearl is formed?  Most of us know that natural pearls are found in oysters.

Here’s this happy oyster swimming along the sea bottom when he brushes up against some organic matter that slips into his shell.  Much like getting a pebble in your shoe.  He tries his best to shake it off but it latches onto his inner shell and there it stays.

Now the oyster is very uncomfortable. ( bet you didn’t think mollusks had any feelings) To ease his discomfort, the oyster produces something called nacre and envelops the object in it.  Then as the oyster grows so does the pearl.  The nacre is what gives pearls their luster.

As wild oysters become rarer, so do natural pearls.   The solution to this are oyster farms, where farmers insert the organic matter into the oysters shell and so start the same progress as in the wild.   After several weeks the oysters are harvested and the pearls are gathered.

pearl in oyster

These pearls are called cultured pearls.  They are less expensive than natural pearls, but still expensive.

For mass markets, synthetic pearls are manufactured out of glass beads than covered with glossy ceramic.

Be very wary when purchasing pearls because they are very easy to imitate.
At the moment there is a shortage of natural pearls  which has made them very expensive.