The other name for mother of pearl is nacre. The substance coats the inside of some molluscs shells. The attractive iridescent lustre is the reason why we like it in jewelry design.

Laurie Ann used greyish oval mother of pearl shell beads and teamed them with pretty purple beads in her necklace.

Most of the mother of pearl beads we use now come from Asian freshwater pearl mussels. Some time ago, an eBay merchant who buys direct from Chinese pearl farms graciously allowed me to use his photos and reference his amazing eBay guides based on his buying trips.

If you missed it, you might like to read my past posts about his experiences in the trade and see pictures of actual pearl farms. His photos show people who work on these pearl farms as well as the conditions in which they work. The first part is In the footsteps of a pearl dealer . There was a follow-up entitled Update on cold damage to Chinese freshwater pearls with additional photos.

Beader Design #: 543

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The Beading Gem's Journal