Cultured Pearls
Cultured pearls are also a natural growth inside the pearl oyster, but they are created by
human surgical skill.
A good pearl produced by this process has the same qualities as a genuine pearl - and it is
difficult to distinguish between the two. They have a similar effect on the human organism as
genuine pearls.
It is firmly believed that wearing of pearl ensure happy conjugal life and protection from widowhood.
Anybody wearing an unblemished Pearl earns riches and is blessed by goddess of
wealth Lakshmi. He or she lives long and all his sins are said be washed away. He gets vitality,
becomes intelligent and achieves a high position in life. Pearl with a yellow luster brings
wealth. A reddish pearl makes one intelligent. White Pearl bestows fame and the Pearl with
blue hue is the giver of good fortune.
The wearing of a defective pearl brings troubles. The Pearl, in which there is spot without
luster like the hole, that pearl, is likely to cause leprosy to the wearer. If in any pearl there is a
spot or sign looking like the eye of a fish, the wearer suffers loss of children. The Pearl, devoid
of luster is said to shorten life. The Pearl that is flat brings a bad name to the wearer. The Pearl
that is long instead of being round makes the wearer foolish and an idiot. If a side of the Pearl
is broken, the wearer of such stones suffers the loss of his livelihood.
The following are the flaws found in Pearls:
1. Cracks on surface
2. Lines on the body of the Pearl.
3. Joint like appearance.
4. Mole of black colour, the wearing of such Pearl gives very inauspicious results
5. Without any luster
6. With spots
7. One with dirt inside it
Identity
• Difference in structure : In genuine pearls the structure is concentric, whereas in the
cultured pearl it is parallel, as it is in the mother-of-pearl bead introduced into the
mollusk to produce a cultured pearl.
• Difference in the Bore : There is uniformity in the bore of genuine pearls, whereas in
cultured pearls it is thin at the starting point and wide in the middle.
• Difference in luster : When culture, imitation, or artificial pearls are treated with a
mixture of cow's urine and saltpeter for twenty-four hours, their lustre decreases.
Genuine pearls retain their lustre after such treatment.
• Difference in epithelium : It is hard in cultured pearls and soft in genuine pearls.
• Difference can also be detected with the help of a pearl illuminator, but this detection is
only possible in the case of drilled pearls. Another method used for undrilled pearls is to
x-ray them.
Ritual
It would be ideal to buy a pearl on a Monday of an ascending cycle when the Moon is in
Pushya, Rohini, Hast, or Sharavan nakshatra. Sunday and Thursday are also prescribed as
good days for buying a pearl, but Saturday is not a good day in any way for it.
The pearl should be given to the jeweler on the same day, and the ring should be constructed
and polished on the same days as mentioned above under the influence of the same
nakshatras. The pearl should be mounted in silver. The setting should be open-backed so that
the pearl touches the skin of the of the finger.
The best time to wear a pearl ring is evening, or when the Moon is rising.
Before wearing, the ring for the first time, it should be immersed in raw cow's milk for some
time and then should be washed with Ganga water, rain water or water kept in a copper pot.
After it has been washed, the ring should be placed on a white cloth on which a Moon yantra
has been drawn with white sandalwood paste. The person who would wear the ring can do the
worship himself. The ring should be placed in front of the silver engraved yantra on the white
cloth on which the yantra is written with white sandalwood paste. Flowers and incense should
be offered to the engraved silver Yantra and the pearl mounted in the ring should be worshiped
by reciting the mantra of Moon god.
Mantra
Aum Som Somaye Namah Aum
The mantra should be recited 108 or 11,000 times and one should meditate on the gemstone
as a symbol of the Moon god. After meditating, one should place the ring on the left hand,
either on the ring finger or the little finger.