On Thursday, 20th May, Y Bont Faen WI met via Zoom as they have been doing throughout lockdown, to listen to a fascinating and entertaining talk about pearls by Frances Carlaw.

One advantage of Zoom is that individuals can speak to WI members from all over the world and The Pearl Lady as Frances is known talked to us from her home in Burgundy, France.

Frances' passion for pearls began when, as a young child, she was allowed to hold and wear her grandmother's pearls as a treat and her love and knowledge of the gems shone throughout her talk.

She explained that there are three categories of pearl-Natural, Cultured and Faux or false as the latter are merely beads sprayed with pearlescence which fade with age.

Only natural pearls existed until relatively recent times, formed by bi-valve molluscs such as oysters and even mussels or clams. These are very difficult to find on the vast ocean bed and one pearl only occurs in around 1 in 10,000 oysters. Also, only 20 varieties of bi-valve molluscs produce pearls so their rarity resulted in natural pearls being very expensive and historically associated with the rich and powerful.

In 1897, however, a Japanese scientist and entrepreneur, Mr Mikimoto cut a natural pearl in half to try and discover how it was created. He found a tiny black speck which was not sand or grit as popularly believed but a mummified parasitic maggot! When the oyster opens its clam shell to breathe and feed, sometimes a parasitic maggot enters in the water. Irritated by its presence, the oyster slowly secretes layers of aragonite and conchiolin (which also make the oyster's shell) This makes a material called nacre which surrounds and kills the parasite. Hence, as Frances explained, "a beautiful pearl is really the self defence mechanism of the oyster."

Mr Mikimoto replicated this process by prising open the oyster shells with copper wire and inserting oyster flesh or sometimes a bead which would irritate the oyster in the same way as the parasite in the natural process. He became a very wealthy man for producing farmed or cultured pearls which reduced their price as they were produced on a larger scale and allowed more people to enjoy buying and wearing them.

Oysters live for around 150 years which is lucky as it takes between 2-20 years to produce a pearl, the average being 5 years.

Pearls come in many different colours and shapes and sizes but if you wish to know if your pearls are real or cultured there are ways of testing. There are surface ridges on natural pearls which are shiny, reflective and of different sizes unlike the smooth, identical cultured pearls which are duller and lack lustre. Real pearls are colder and heavier than the counterfeit cultured pearls but both are beautiful, Frances agreed.

Her final advice to keep pearls of whatever type in the best condition is to wear them as much as possible as the body's natural oil helps to shine the pearl's lustre. Perfumes, cosmetics and sprays, however are best avoided near the precious gems as they can damage them.

A wide range of Natural and Cultured Pearls can be viewed on Frances' website at www.ThePearlLady.co.uk where there are also details of her jewellery and craft courses "Pearls Before Wine" at her renovated farm complex in Burgundy.

Bont Faen WI members hope that Frances will give us another talk in the future on her charitable work in Africa, where all her fees from her talks to different WI groups are sent.

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