What is a Shell Pearl?

CocoVee was recently accused of selling fake pearls - oh my! But we would never dare to do such a thing, and we take pride in the fact that all of our pearls are from the freshwater pearl markets of China.

See! Here's Miss Roberta shopping the pearl markets of China - looks like FUN!

The pearl necklace in question was one made of large, perfectly rounded and brightly colored pearls - and anyone who knows their pearls, knows that this necklace was made from shell pearls - which are of course, real pearls! 

Shell pearls are made from the oyster shell that houses the pearl - instead of being produced within the shell itself. The shell pearl material is cut, shaped, dyed, and strung - in order to make perfectly rounded or very large pearl necklaces at an affordable price. We have shell pearls worked into some of our pieces, seen below, as well as a wide variety of other freshwater pearls!

Left to right: green and dark gray shell pearls, "silver" shell pearls, and brown (somewhat teardrop-shaped) shell pearls on a lariat necklace.

So - what is a shell pearl? 

I bet Diane Keaton knows..

It's a pearl made from the shells that produce pearls - 

and yes, it is still a real pearl! 

There's our pearl lesson of the hour, ladies - thanks for living and learning with us!