This is a pretty interesting video of women pearl diving in Japan. It is a recreation of how pearl diving used to be… “a demonstration of traditional pearl divers at the Mikimoto Pearl Museum in Toba, Japan”
Traditionally, it is women who dive for pearls in Japan, and they would free dive – rather than using scuba, they’d simply hold their breath for minutes on end while they searched for the appropriate molluscs to bring up to the surface.
Two precious stones have been called the queen of gems… the opal and the pearl.
In this entry, I’ll talk a bit about pearls.
When a tiny piece of grit works its way into the soft tissue (mantle) of a living shelled mollusk, the mollusk – in this case an oyster, begins secreting calcium carbonate around the grit in order to ease the irritation. This is deposited in concentric layers. Not all pearls are perfectly round..it all depends on the shape of the grit. Those pearls that are not round are called baroque pearls.
The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for centuries.
Because it is expensive and a matter of luck to find pearls in the wild, for many decades, cultured pears are made – usually in Japan. Grit of a specific shape is deliberately introduced into the oysters, and the pearls are allowed to grow for a few years. Then the oysters are harvested and the pearls removed.
Here’s a website that shares a lot of information on the famous sapphires of the world:
http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/famousgems.html
Here’s a list of the gems that are described on the site:
American Golden Topaz
The Bismark Sapphire Necklace
The Black Prince’s Ruby (spinel)
The Chalk Emerald Ring
The Delong Star Ruby
The Gordon Sapphire Necklace
The Gordon Star Sapphire Pendant-Ring
The Guinness Emerald Crystal
The Hixon Ruby Crystal
The Logan Sapphire Brooch
The Mackay Emerald Necklace
The Mandalay Ruby
The Maria Alexandrovna Sapphire Brooch
The Midnight Star Ruby
The Mogok Ruby (also known as the Alan Caplan Ruby)
The Patricia Emerald Crystal
Queen Marie of Romania’s Sapphire
The Reward of Faith Sapphire
The Rosser Reeves Star Ruby
The Ruspoli Sapphire
The Samarian Spinel
The Star of Bombay
The Star of India
The Stuart Sapphire
The Timur Ruby
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