Natural versus cultured. Natural pearls are hard to find. They're rare, and this makes them worth more money. But let's rewind for a second. What is a natural pearl, and how are they formed?

So, how are these pearls grown? And what makes them so expensive? More from Retail South Sea pearls are the largest cultured-pearl variety, sometimes reaching over 20 millimeters in diameter.

larger pearls are rarer and more valuable than smaller pearls of the same type. Shape: Round is the most difficult shape to culture, making it the rarest cultured pearl shape and—if all other factors ...

A great irony of pearl history is that the least expensive cultured pearl product in the market today rivals the quality of the most expensive natural pearls ever found. The price-value anomaly is ...

larger pearls are rarer and more valuable than smaller pearls of the same type. Shape: Round is the most difficult shape to culture, making it the rarest cultured pearl shape and—if all other factors ...

Before the creation of cultured pearls in the early 1900s, natural pearls were so rare and expensive that they were reserved almost exclusively for the noble and very rich. A jewelry item that ...

Produced by oysters in oceans or mussels in rivers, pearls have been coveted by humans since the Bronze Age. So much so that it is believed the exploitation of freshwater pearls was a factor in the ...

A ‘unique’ collection of ‘pearl caves’ containing archaeological artefacts has been found in an ancient tunnel. The pearls are a type of ‘speleothem’ – mineral deposits that are ...

The film guides us through history, beginning at 1,000 BC, and taking into account Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Victorian era, the jazz age, the importance of pearls in Chinese and ...