One common source of confusion among pearl consumers is the misinformation about what a Cultured Pearl is and how it differs from Natural Pearls. Pearls are both rare and a gift of nature. Instead of requiring man fashioning this gem by cutting and polishing, pearls need only to be helped at the start. Either natural or man made irritants begin the process.

A Natural Pearl forms in nature when an accidental irritant such as sand, a parasite or any foreign object enters the oyster. In a defensive response, the mollusk begins secreting nacre, thin layers of calcium carbonate in an attempt to cover the offending object. Due to the odd shapes entering the mollusk, the pearls created by the continual layering of nacre will almost always be misshapen (baroque). Only in rare cases will a natural pearl occur in a spherical shape, making it impossible to supply commercial quantities of round necklaces to the marketplace.

A Cultured Pearl is formed in much the same way, but with man supplying the initial irritant instead of nature to get the process started. Pearl farmers use a round mother of pearl shell or a piece of mantle tissue, which they insert into the soft tissue of the animal, in an attempt to create a pearl which will posses gem qualities. Pearls are grown over several years (2 to 6 years on average), under the constant care of farmers keeping a watchful eye on their crop.