I came to hyderabad especially to buy the pearls . Within few days of my visit in the exotic city, I came to know many things about the hyderabad pearls.

Formation of pearls
There are two types of pearls-cultured and natural. The difference between the natural pearl and the cultured pearl lies essentially in the formation of the bead nucleus. Natural pearl is formed in an oyster when an irritant causes it to secrete a liquid which hardens over a period where as cultured pearl is formed when an irritant is artificially injected into the oysters to induce the secretion over a bead. The pearl formation depends on the shape of the bead. Natural oyster pearls are rare these days. Most of the natural pearls brought to Hyderabad are fresh water pearls. Cultured fresh water pearls are produced from mussels. While one single oyster pearl is cultivated in one oyster, one mussel can have as many as 50 pearls and they can be harvested quickly. Hence they are cheaper than oyster pearls.

History of Pearls
The Indian association with pearls dates back to ancient times. Some people believe wearing pearls as ornaments was born out of the practice of wearing flowers and seeds to ward off evil spirits. Yet others choose a pearl to highlight the lunar effect. The story goes like this. The Nizam of Hyderabad was captivated by the beauty of pearls. So much was he fond of pearls that he started ordering. The penchant for this fancy, exotic, lustrous marine gem got transferred to the successive generations. The Asaf Jahi Nizams not only wore ropes of pearls studded with diamonds as part of State regalia but used the paste of crushed pearls as beauty aids. The princesses were covered with pearls and weighed against them on their birthdays. Under their patronage pearl merchants from all over the country flocked to Hyderabad and gradually the city flourished as an important trading centre for pearls went on to become the pearl capital of India.

Authenticity of Pearls
Every shop we entered made the claims of the originality of the pearls they were selling but it was the most humble of all Manik Lal who revealed the secret of testing the pearls to us and dared to allow us to test his pearls with the knowledge he shared with us. He told us that Natural and cultured pearls do not burn, while the plastic ones do. One can find out whether the gems are real by rubbing them gently against the edge of one’s teeth. A grainy, rough sensation indicates the pearls are genuine while fakes would feel smooth.

In fact, I was quite impressed by knowing about them and that somewaht forced me to buy the pearl set for my wife and pearl earing for my sister.