Freshwater Cultured Pearls

Some people confuse cultured pearls with faux, but don't be mistaken - these beauties are the real deal. Pearls occur in the wild by chance, making them extraordinarily rare and difficult to find (thus, very expensive). Majority of pearls you'll find in jewellery are cultured. They are still grown by real living molluscs, but rather than leaving it to chance in the wild, these molluscs are tended to in pearl farms and implanted with small pieces of tissue, which stimulate the mollusc to secrete nacre. As the nacre builds up in layers, a pearl is formed. The term 'freshwater' indicates the type of water body where the pearl was farmed and cultivated.