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Today is National Wear Your Pearls Day by Elaine A. Powers, Author

An oyster shell, open, showing a pearl inside — **Image courtesy of moritz320 from Pixabay**

Women were once told that they were not fully dressed unless they were wearing their pearls, and they had to be a matched set from the ocean’s oysters. Originally, wild oysters were checked for their calcified irritants–until the cultured pearl industry was developed. Cultured pearls are created when a seed is placed inside the oyster to be the irritant which the oyster then coats with layers of nacre, until a pearl of sufficient size is produced. Nacre is composed of layers of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate.

White bowl with black shelled mussels and parsley — ***Image of Mussels courtesy of RitaE from Pixabay***

My interest in cultured pearls is those seeds. They were created from mussels found in the Illinois River. The mussels had been used in the button business, but then it was realized they would be useful in Japan’s cultured pearl business.

These mussels were a significant business in my hometown of Peoria, IL, for many years. Some of the species of mussels harvested were the Washboard, Megalonaias nervosa; the Three Ridge, Amblema plicata; and the Purple Wartyback, Cyclonaias tuberculata.

Even though every day should be Wear Your Pearls Day, be certain to get out those oyster irritants today and enjoy your pearls on National Wear Your Pearls Day.

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