A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality of natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable. The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls. Cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold. Imitation pearls are also widely sold in inexpensive jewelry.
| Category | Carbonate mineral, protein |
| Formula, (repeating unit) | Calcium carbonate, CaCO 3, Conchiolin |
| Strunz classification | 05.8 |
| Crystal system | Orthorhombic |
| Color | white, pink, silver, cream, brown, green, blue, black, yellow, orange, red, gold, purple, iridescent |
| Cleavage | None |
| Fracture | Uneven, various |
| Mohs scale hardness | 2.5–4.5 |
| Streak | white |
| Specific gravity | 2.60–2.85 |
| Refractive index | Common pearl: 1.52-1.66, Black pearl: 1.53-1.69 |
| Birefringence | 0.156 |
| Pleochroism | Absent |
| Dispersion | None |
| Ultraviolet fluorescence | White pearls: light blue to light yellow, Yellow and golden pearls: yellow-green, greenish brown to dark brown, Black pearls: commonly pink to orange-red |
About Pearl
Psychological slasher film about a young woman who is trapped on an isolated farm while tending to her ailing father. She longs for the glamorous life that she sees in Hollywood movies and eventually her temptations and repressions collide. The film was written and directed by Ti West.
Achievement of Pearl
The movie is a prequel to the film X. It premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival.
Top Facts You Did Not Know About Pearl
Ammolite – another organic gemstone formed primarily of fossil aragonite mollusk shells.. Bahrain Pearling Trail, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Muharraq, Bahrain.. Broome, Western Australia, a pearling town.. Cave pearl - A cave pearl is a small, usually spherical, speleothem found in limestone caves. Cave pearls are formed by a concretion of calcium salts that form concentric layers around a nucleus.. La Pelegrina pearl - La Pelegrina pearl is one of the most famous pearls in the world. Its history spans more than 350 years, and it has survived both the French Revolution of 1789–99 and the Russian Bolshevik revolution of 1917. It was owned by European kings and queens.. Les pêcheurs de perles, The Pearl Fishers, an opera by Georges Bizet.. Gastropods and humans.. Mollusc products.. Pearls.. Jewellery components.. Mollusc shells.. Gemstones.
