How rare are real pearls?

There are two types of pearls, natural and cultured. Natural pearls are the rarest because they are formed in nature without any human interference. They are formed because a microscopic irritant lands inside the tissue of a mollusk. This is a chance occurrence, and by no means happens to each and every mollusk.
Cultured pearls, on the other hand, are grown with the help of humans. Like I said above, not all, in fact very few, mollusks have an irritant that enters their tissue naturally, so humans have found a way to introduce an irritant into this tissue. The pearl is still grown in the same way, and is still an ‘organic’ substance; it is just not a naturally occurring organic substance.
So, yes, real, naturally occurring organic pearls are extremely rare. Pearls that are not natural however, are not rare at all. For better or for worse, like many things today we have found a way of mass producing them.

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Upon discussion of pearl jewelry prices, it is important to distinguish between natural pearls and cultured pearls, both of which fall under the category of real pearls. While natural pearls are grown within oysters in the wild without any assistance from man, cultured pearls come into the world as a result of man's initiative and guidance. Hence, natural pearl jewelry is more expensive than cultured pearl jewelry. In addition, the unguided creation of natural pearls means that the shapes and sizes are each very different and thus quite difficult to match. For this reason, it is pretty rare to find a large piece of pearl jewelry, like a pearl necklace, made of natural pearls and they cost a pretty penny.

Regarding cultured pearls, on an annual basis, vast numbers of oysters are implanted with irritants in the hope that pearls will emerge from these oysters. However, just a few of these oysters actually succeed in producing cultured pearls. Real pearls are not eligible for mass production because much of their creation is dependent on nature. A large number of oysters do not manage to stay alive after the nucleation process. Other oysters and mussels are weakened and struck with infections. Also hard rain sometimes causes fresh water floods in the areas of the ocean where the oysters are held, which takes away from the concentration of salt in the area and results in the destruction of the oysters. At times, some forms of plankton grow and create a tide that drains the bay's oxygen, leaving the oysters to die. Not to mention the predators that can harm the oysters or the water simply not having enough minerals for the oysters.


Usually, only about half of the oysters that have been implanted with irritants actually produce pearls. Just under 20% of those pearls can then be marketed. The remainder of the pearls are not of pearl jewelry quality. A perfect pearl (a pearl of flawless shape, color and luster) is hard to come by and once it does come around, the price for it is very high. No more than 5% of oysters that have been implanted with a nucleus bear perfect pearls so this rareness causes the price of pearl jewelry made of such pearls to be quite expensive.

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