Facts about pearls

pearl earrings
  • Pearls are the only gems created by a living creature.
  • The first recorded Chinese pearl was in 2000 BC.
  • Natural pearls are composed of 100 percent calcium carbonate and conchiolin.
  • It is said Cleopatra dissolved a pearl in wine and drank it to prove her love to Marc Antony.
  • The Persian Gulf was one of the main sources of natural pearls for centuries.
  • Pearl is the birthstone for the month of June.
  • The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but they are extremely rare.
  • Today, most pearls, both salt and freshwater, are cultured.
  • The name Margarita (or Margaret) means pearls.
  • Almost any shelled mollusk can, by natural processes, produce some kind of "pearl".
  • Black pearls are considered to be one of the rarest gems on Earth.