Pearls within a pearl oyster shell. Pearl oysters are important products in Japan, as they produce beautiful pearls that are sought after for necklaces, earrings, and rings. Disclaimer ...

Pearls are made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a natural defence against an irritant such as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body. The oyster or mussel slowly ...

Watch Andreia Salvador, Curator of Marine Mollusca, take a look at one of the Museum's most extraordinary and precious pearls. Among the millions of bivalve molluscs in the Museum's collections, one ...