Native Americans of the Atlantic Coastal areas
and the Mississippi River Basin were the first to
collect and use U.S. freshwater mussel pearls and
shells. Pearl pendants and ear pendants were worn by
both sexes and both pearl and shell were used for
decorative purposes on articles of clothing. Some of
the tribes used pearls as tributes; reportedly,
Powhattan (Pocahontas' father) had large stores of
pearls received as tribute. Additionally, armlets,
pendants, and gaming pieces were made from mussel
shell.
It is said that the first American pearl was
discovered by a cobbler named David Howell in 1857 in
New Jersey. Howell collected a number of mussels from
the banks of the Notch Brook River near Paterson. He
then prepared his favorite mussel dish which came with a
most welcome surprise. He bit down on a 26-gram pearl
which he later found out would have been worth some
$25,000 had it not been damaged by cooking and his teeth
marks.
Natural freshwater pearls are rarely
perfectly round or even nearly round, more often
than not they are baroque, slugs, or wings. (see
Freshwater Pearls: The
Shapes) Many pearls, both natural and
cultured, have beautiful color and luster.
Freshwater pearls are noted for their wide range
of color, they can be found in white, silvery
white, pink, salmon, red, copper, bronze, brown,
lavender, purple, green, blue, cream, and
yellow.
White is the most common color, the most
desirable are the pastel pinks, roses,
lavenders, and purples. The different colors are
a function of the mussel species, genetics,
water quality, and the position of the pearl in
the shell. Generally, pearls assume the color of
the shell in which they form. Problems can arise
in putting together matched strands because of
the wide range of pastel colors.
The shape of the nucleus and its position in the
mussel determines the shape of the cultured pearl.
The shapes recovered include rounds, pears, eggs,
drops, buttons, dome, and baroques. In turn, the
baroques include many recognized shapes such as,
nuggets, dogtooth, wings, hammers, twins, barrels
round-a-circle, and rosebuds. The baroques are
becoming popular for use in the manufacture of
rings, earrings, and pendants. Cultured pearls come
in all of the same colors as natural pearls.
Freshwater shell and pearl mussels are
from the family Unionidae, from which about 20
different species are commercially harvested.
The common names of the most prolific species
include the ebony, washboard, heelsplitter,
pimple back, elephant ear, mapleleaf,
three-ridge pigtoe, pistol grip, and butterfly.
Peak commercial fishing is from April through
September, when hundreds of independent divers
operate in the rivers, streams, and lakes of the
Eastern, Southern, and Central United States.
The two species most frequently used in the
culturing process are commonly referred to as the
Washboard and Pigtoe varieties.
The fishing and marketing of freshwater pearls
and mussel shells by other than Native Americans has
a long history in the United States, with the
earliest recorded production probably coming from
New Jersey. The formal freshwater mussel fishing
industry has been established since the mid-1850’s.
America's promising pearl industry was virtually
dead by 1900. Whole families, searching for pearls
from Connecticut to Florida, and west to the
Mississippi, overexploited the mussel resource. The
industrialization of America, with accompanying
pollution, decimated entire populations in many
waters. Pearl discoveries became rare, and did not
offer such lucrative rewards.
The American freshwater pearl was a "natural" pearl,
formed when an unwelcome intruder, such as a bit of
shell or a parasite, invaded the mantle of a
mollusk.
The world's supply of natural pearls (both
freshwater and saltwater) was reaching the point of
exhaustion, and if it were not for the invention of
the "cultured" pearl by three Japanese researchers,
there would be no pearl industry today, and the
value of a natural pearl necklace would be
astronomical.
A very profitable fishery supported a large shell
button industry until World War II when plastic
buttons displaced shell buttons. The fishery fell
into disorganization and was dormant until the early
1950's. The mother of pearl industry and bead
nucleus for the Japanese culture pearl industry have
supported the fishery since the 1950's.
During the 1990's, the value of U.S. mussel shell
exports to Japan started at more than $50 million
annually but has declined to about $35 million
annually. Prior to 1992, freshwater pearls were
primarily a byproduct of the shell industry. This
changed with the coming of freshwater cultured pearl
farms in Tennessee and California, and the
increasing popularity of freshwater pearl jewelry
with the U.S. consumers.
The first experimental U.S. freshwater cultured
pearl farm was established in Tennessee by John
Latendresse in 1963. Latendresse is the father of
U.S. cultured freshwater pearls, having spent nearly
30 years and more time, money, and effort than
anyone else in the research and development of the
industry.
Since proving the technology for culturing
freshwater pearls in the late 1970's, Mr.
Latendresse has established five freshwater pearl
farms. James Peach, who once worked with Latendresse,
has established a single farm. Additionally, a
single farm has been established in California using
mussels from the Southeastern United States. These
farms are the foundation of the U.S. freshwater
cultured pearl industry, and the cultured pearl is
the heart and future of the U.S. pearl industry.
The ultimate size of the cultured pearl industry
depends on a number of factors. The acreage of
pollution free water available that is suitable for
farms could decide the size of the industry. Yet,
even before the limitation of available suitable
water comes into play, two main factors, demand for
cultured freshwater pearls and the supply, or the
ability of the producers to meet this demand with
acceptable goods routinely, will decide the future
of the industry. Some individuals have already
likened these two factors to the chicken and egg
question; does the demand for the pearls come first,
or does the adequate supply of acceptable goods come
first. Indications are that both factors are
currently complementing each other, and they are
contributing to the healthy growth of the young
industry.
Demand for U.S. freshwater pearls is a function of
quality. Quality is determined by the size, color,
shape, degree of translucency, texture, ability to
match and blend, and luster. Usually, the quality of
U.S. freshwater pearls is as good or better than any
other pearl. The possible exceptions are the
availability of round pearls and the ability to
match colors. Yet, it is thought by some that these
exceptions are not detrimental, but that the variety
of shapes and colors available are advantageous and
are positive selling points.
Freshwater Pearl farming is time consuming, risky
and expensive.
Before the location of Tennessee River Freshwater
Pearl Farm was selected over 300 bodies of were
tested for ideal conditions before the final
selection of the initial eight pilot locations to
begin attempts at culturing.
Mussels are gathered by divers from the murky river
bottom and sold to the pearl farm operation. They
are then placed in an environment to stabilize their
equilibrium. Those that survive are taken to a
controlled environment, for implantation.
Technicians implant an irritant or nuclei into the
mantle of tissue of the mussel. Nuclei can be any
shape or size to pre-determine the shape of the end
pearl product.
Mussels will only live about three to eight hours
out of the water, so the implantation process must
move rapidly. Technicians can implant as many as ten
nuclei in each mussel depending on the size and age
of the mussel.
The mussels are placed into baskets in groups. They
are then suspended 18 inches below the top of the
water dangling from American-made "bamboo" also know
as PVC pipe. The mussels are left for 18 months to
three years depending on the quality that is
desired.
Many farms have turned to harvesting the shells used
to create the pearl nuclei. The process of making
pearl nuclei is to cut small cubes of shell, tumble
and pressure-grind them into small balls, and insert
them into salt-water oysters. Within a year the
oysters had secreted a thin layer of nacre around
the mussel shell to create a cultured pearl.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is some U.S. production of saltwater pearls.
Abalone from along the Pacific Coast, primarily
California, produce both blister and free pearls and
their shells are used for inlay in jewelry and other
items. The pearls are green, blue-green, yellow, or
pink in color and may have high luster, but the
texture is always coarser than that of other pearls.
Some of the pearls are very large, as large as 60
carats each.
To date, all of the abalone pearls have been
natural, but a move is underway to culture pearls in
the farms where abalone are raised for their meat.
Many of the abalone farmers are afraid of losing
animals because of the culturing and have not
entered the program. Possibly, in the near future an
abalone cultured pearl industry may become a
reality.
It also appears that attempts are underway to start
a saltwater cultured pearl industry in Hawaii. The
Hawaiian industry would be based upon saltwater
oysters. Only time will tell of the success or
failure of the abalone and Hawaiian cultured pearl
programs
