Natural pearls are those pearls which are formed in nature, more or less by chance, by a parasite or a piece of food lodging itself in the mantle tissue of a host oyster. Cultured pearls, by contrast, are those in which humans take a helping hand. By actually inserting a foreign object into the tissue of an oyster or mollusk, pearl farmers can induce the creation of a pearl. The same natural process of pearl creation takes place.

Strictly speaking, natural pearls are those created without any human intervention whereas cultured pearls require human intervention.

Natural pearls form without human assistance -- when a foreign object, such as a parasite or piece of shell, accidentally lodges itself in an oyster's soft inner body where it cannot be expelled. This happens so rarely that, today, nearly all natural pearls one sees are in estate jewelry collections.

Cultured Pearl is the birthstone for June. Cultured pearls are the beautiful and affordable alternative to scarce natural pearls. Both are organic in nature and derive their beauty from their iridescent aura. In fact, the only sure way to distinguish cultured pearls from natural pearls is to x-ray them. Nearly all cultured pearls are treated to enhance their colors through bleaching, dyeing or safely irradiating them.

Not without an X-ray machine and even this might not tell you. Due to overfishing and pollution truly wild pearls are rare. The Pearl Market Limited, Drefach Felindre, Llandysul, Carmarthenshire, SA44 5YW, United Kingdom. Tel:01559 371177

A Tahitian Cultured Black Pearl is a pearl that is obtained by means of a grafting operation performed by a skilled technician on the "Pinctada Margaritifera" or "Black Lipped Oyster" of French Polynesia.

The black-lipped oyster found in French Polynesian waters naturally secretes a dark pigment which, depending on the quantity, gives the resulting pearl a basic color ranging from steel gray to black.

Yes and no. It is naturally cultured with man intervening in the place of nature. Strictly speaking, natural pearls are those created without any human intervention, as officially defined by the International Confederation of Jewelery, Silverware, Diamonds, Pearls and Stones (CIBJO).

Cultured butter is made with pasteurized cream in a churn just like regular butter with one added step. After pasteurization, the cream is fermented by adding a carefully selected bacterial culture. The cream must rest for one day in a vat to allow the culture to produce a complex blend of flavor compounds. This is the source of the flavor difference between cultured butter and regular butter. After the fermenation, the cream is churned into butter.

Alexandrite: Because of the price and often limited availability of genuine Alexandrite, this mfr. uses Green Tourmaline to represent the green color of Alexandrite. (Alexandrite is a color-change stone.) Green Tourmaline however is more of a medium to medium-dark olive green color. Opals or Cultured Pearls: Opals are cabochon-shape stones... they are domed with no facets so when set they look different when compared to a faceted stone when viewed from the top and the side.

Natural' often is misrepresented in product labeling to imply 'healthful,' but 'natural' only means that the product has undergone minimal processing. Unlike products that are certified organic, natural products have no certification or inspection system. Also, 'natural' does not necessarily relate to growing methods or the use of preservatives.

Cultured pearls are the product of oysters that inhabit oceans whereas freshwater cultured pearls are formed in mussels that inhabit freshwater lakes and rivers. Freshwater cultured pearls come in a greater variety of shapes, sizes and colors. They are also a more affordable alternative to cultured pearls. All of the pearls on this website are genuine freshwater cultured pearls.

The completed installed price of Cultured Stone should come about 2/3 of the price of natural stone. You will save significantly in the installation cost because C.S. is already cut and ready to be installed. Thus, it can be installed much quicker and therefore cheaper than natural stone. To install C.S. you don't need any footing or wall tides as you do with natural stones.

Natural hormones are, in fact, bioidentical hormones. The fact that the bioidentical hormones come from natural plants (soy or yam plants) does not make them bioidentical. From there they are taken to a chemical plant where they are further processed into the bioidentical forms. They are further tested for bioidentical purity, so that when a compounding pharmacy receives these products they are ready to be compounded into different dosage forms.

A "pearl" is typically a dry powder that can be added to a multitude of paint products. Pearls come in dozens of colors, and they are the consistency of baby powder. Spraying a white base, followed by a blue pearl, and then clearcoat, will give you a white finish that has a pearl-blue haze/hue when seen at certain angles.

Cancer is viewed as a local disease, namely the tumor. By cutting out the tumor, irradiating it, or flooding the body with toxic (and often carcinogenic) drugs, the conventional physician hopes to destroy the tumor and restore the patient to health. The tumor is merely a symptom and the cancer treatment aims to correct the root causes of disease in the whole body.

Natural Cocoa Butter usually retains a strong chocolate or cocoa odor and is more yellow in color. Deodorized Cocoa Butter will still have a slight odor and be lighter in color. Both butters are very hard in texture.

Wholly natural. Brewer's yeast may be the best source of the vitamin-B complex, so Marmite is rich with natural vitamin-B, as well as riboflavin and niacin.

Definition: A natural bridge is a type of natural arch. In general, a natural bridge is distinguished from other types of natural arches by having one or more of the following attributes: a current of water, such as a stream, clearly was a major agent in the formation of the opening (hole) [genetic] it has the general appearance of a man-made bridge, e.g., a flat, level top over an arched opening [anthropomorphic].