Imitation pearl is sometimes used to imitate black pearls. Imitation pearl Imitation pearls are man-made objects (often beads) that are designed to resemble real pearls. A variety of methods are used to create imitation pearls from starting materials that include glass, plastic, and actual mollusc shell. Some beads are coated with a pearlescent substance in order to imitate the natural iridescence of nacre or mother of pearl. Varieties of imitation pearls include: The pearlescent substance used to coat various cores may contain essence d'orient, isinglass, fish scales, oyster scales, mother-of-pearl powder, along with binders or dyes. Coral is sometimes used to imitate
Pearl this process, the pearl sac seems to travel into the shell; however, the sac actually stays in its original relative position the mantle tissue while the shell itself grows. After a couple of years, a pearl forms and the shell may be found by a lucky pearl fisher. Cultured pearls are the response of the shell to a tissue implant. A tiny piece of mantle tissue (called a "graft") from a donor shell is transplanted into a recipient shell, causing a pearl sac to form into which the tissue precipitates calcium carbonate. There are a number of methods for producing