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 Pearl Colors Can you tell which mollusk produced a pearl just by looking at it? Not always. Each species of mollusk generally produces pearls that fall within a particular range of color, size, and shape. Some colors only occur in pearls from certain species—for instance, purplish pink in pearls from Chinese Triangleshell Mussels or green-hued dark gray in pearls from Black-lipped Pearl Oysters. Only experts can tell for sure exactly what kind of mollusk a specific pearl came from, and sometimes even they are stumped. They usually examine a pearl under a microscope and expose it to longwave ultraviolet light in attempting to determine its true origin. back to Fun Facts |
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