Natural Pearl—Jyotish
Gemstone of the Serene Moon
continues...

Different Names of the Pearl Gemstone
Some of the commonly used names of the Natural Pearl in sacred texts and in common use are given below for ready reference: Nacre/Natural Pearl (English), Somratna, Shuktija, Tarak, Chandraratna,
Mukta, Muktaphala, Shashiratna, Bhauktika, Moti (Hindi), Mukhareed (Urdu),
Lulu (Arabic), Margarita (Latin)

How does a Pearl form in nature and chemical composition

Formation of a pearl inside an oyster is thought to occur because of entering of a foreign material inside the body of the oyster.

To save itself from the undesired material the mollusc coats the object with layers of nacre. It takes many years for a mollusc to produce a pearl of substantial size.

The process through which the pearls are formed inside the body of the mollusc is very delicate, and a little disturbance at any stage of development of a pearl can influence its shape and lustre.

The finest pearl is that which has no foreign matter in its core. There is a common belief that during Swati nakshatra when it rains on earth it produces pearl in pearl oysters. The mollusc is then said to open its mouth to receive the first raindrops. The pearls thus produced by the raindrops of Swati Nakshatra are the finest and have no foreign matter in them.

Only 2% of pearls in the world are Natural Pearls. A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusc. Its chemical composition is 82-86% calcium carbonate, 10-14% conchiolin and 2% of water. The unique lustre of pearls depends upon the refraction of light from the translucent layers of the nacre.

Sources of Natural Pearl
Australia
China
Persian Gulf
French Polynesia
India
Indonesia
Japan
Malaysia
Myanmar
Philippines
Thailand
US

To be continued....