Pearls are a beautiful piece of jewelry. They are also used for other decorative purposes as they are very strong. In the older days, they used to be collected from deep under the sea by the divers, but now, they are also artificially made by inserting an irritant inside shells. Some scientists from the University of Cambridge have found out how to make mother of pearl, which is also known as nacre. It is the hard iridescent coating on the outside of pearls. The scientists made the artificial mother of pearl by composing a liquid solution of calcium carbonate and some other ions and organic components.

According to Gizmag:

“A layer of “organic material” is added to that layer of precipitate – this second layer contains pores measuring ten nanometers across. Crystallization of the precipitate layer is then induced, while the covering layer of organic material remains as it was. This process is repeated a number of times, resulting in a coating made up of multiple alternating crystallized and organic layers.”

However, a thing of natural beauty can never be faked nor reproduced in such an artificial way. The value is also not the same. But for those who are looking for just an appearance of pearls for safety reasons sure can find these artificial “mother of pearls” according to their tastes. Also, scientists believe that they have gained an insight into how nature works. Further details on this new development can be found in the journal, Nature Materials.