There are the basic
steps of saltwater pearl culturing. The right-hand column shows enlarged
details of the illustrations on the left. First, a nucleator surgically
implants a bead nucleus and a mantle-tissue piece in a host oyster’s gonad. The
side of the mantle-tissue piece that faced the donor mollusk’s shell touches
the bead nucleus (1). The mantle-tissue piece grows within the gonad to form a
pearl sac that almost completely encloses the bead nucleus. The pearl sac grows
around the bead nucleus (2). The pearl sac completely encloses the bead nucleus
and secretes nacre layers around it to form a complete pearl (3).
Photo: Peter Johnston.
Courtesy: GIA. Resource: Amanda. #eClarity
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