Imagine the incredible odds: it takes 1,000 oysters to yield just 10 pearls—one large and nine petite. Each pearl’s worth is sentimental and commercial, meticulously graded on size, colour, surface quality, lustre, and shape. But what makes these gems so rare? The answer lies in a delicate dance of nature. When an oyster’s mantle is injured by a parasite or attacked by a crab, it begins healing,...
