In their natural form, conch pearls are among the rarest pearls in the world. For more than 25 years, all attempts at culturing pearls from the queen conch have been unsuccessful -- until now. For the first time, novel and proprietary seeding techniques to produce beaded and nonbeaded high-quality cultured pearls from the queen conch have been developed by scientists from FAU's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. ...> Full Article
While the shiny material of pearls and abalone shells has long been prized for its iridescence and aesthetic value in jewelry and decorations, scientists admire mother-of-pearl for other physical properties as well. ...> Full Article
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