Well, this explains a lot!

I've always loved the look of pearls, and an article in the recent Southern Living just clued me in to what MUST be the reason.

I can't find a link to the direct article in SL, but this article explains it pretty well too.

The basic gist of the article, for me:
Although only one-tenth of one percent of the world's cultured pearls come from their waters, approximately 90% of all cultured pearls begin with a mother-of-pearl nucleus taken from the shell of a Tennessee mussel.


There's a little Southern charm in most all of those pearls, girls! A little bit of Dixie inside each lovely jewel. That's why we ALL need a few strands. ::vbg::