Nucleating an oyster. The Chinese have also begun to nucleate some of their freshwater mussels ... Will they buy Chinese pearls if the roundest examples are nacre-coated shell beads instead?

The dearth of akoyas has helped open the door for other kinds of pearls, such as Chinese freshwater and South ... which holds the two parts of the oyster shell together, turns a reddish-brown.

freshwater mussels, pen shells, and whelks. More interesting, perhaps, is the biological process that occurs for the pearls to form. When debris gets trapped in between the shells of an oyster or ...

Before the development of plastic, buttons were made from mussel shells. Freshwater pearls are still cultured by inserting small pieces of native mussel shell into oysters. Mussels are fascinating ...

Pearls within a pearl oyster shell. Pearl oysters are important products in Japan, as they produce beautiful pearls that are sought after for necklaces, earrings, and rings. Disclaimer ...

Pearls are made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a natural defence against an irritant such as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body. The oyster or mussel slowly ...

Simply sign up to the Sustainability myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. Produced by oysters in oceans or mussels in rivers, pearls have been coveted by humans since the Bronze Age.

Freshwater mussel shells were a cheaper and higher quality ... A freshwater mussel is virtually made up of the same material as an oyster pearl: a dense mix of calcium carbonate and proteins ...

The Pinctada maxima oyster can take up to five years to produce a single South Sea pearl, whereas more common freshwater oysters can take as little as three months and create dozens of pearls.

The collapse of Florida’s oyster reefs serves as a stark reminder of the interconnected challenges we face: freshwater ...