A natural pearl begins its life inside an oyster’s shell, however, when an intruder such as a grain of sand or bit of floating food, slips in between one of the two shells of the oyster, in order to protect itself from irritation, the oyster will quickly begin covering the uninvited visitor with layers of nacre; layers upon layers of nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, it will coat the grain of sand until the iridescent gem, Pearl, is formed. Cultured pearls are made in the same way, the only difference is that instead of accidental circumstances, a “pearl farmer” embeds a grain of sand into the mollusk.