Are pearls vegan? Keep reading to find out how pearls are made, and please think twice before wearing them.
Where Do Pearls Come From?
A pearl is an ulcer that forms after an irritating foreign object enters the shell of an oyster (or that of a similar animal), who responds by coating it with nacre, a crystalline substance that gives pearls their luster. All bivalves—including mussels, clams, and scallops—can make pearls, but oysters are the animals most commonly exploited by the pearl industry.
Because pearls naturally form in only one in 10,000 oysters and because the creation of a pearl can take up to three years, pearl farmers have devised a process called “culturing,” or cultivating, that allows them to exploit oysters faster and cheaper.
During culturing, farmers pry open oysters’ shells and insert an irritant, often a bead or another oyster’s mollusk tissue. When oysters sense danger, they try to hide inside their shells, snapping them tightly shut. Having their protective shells pried open by humans is a presumably frightening and painful experience. While we don’t yet know whether bivalves can feel pain in the same way we do, we can observe that oysters snap their shells tightly shut when they’re disturbed by touch or even when they sense loud noises. Their response indicates an understanding of the potential danger if their shell is pried open, especially since the process commonly results in the death of half the oysters.
The cruelty doesn’t end there: Farmers then suspend the oysters in water in a cage, moving them around and subjecting them to different water temperatures in order to create the desired shape, size, and color of the pearls. The oysters are then pried open a second time so that the pearl sac can be cut out.
Does Removing the Pearl Kill the Oyster?
Around a third of the oysters are thrown back into the water to undergo another cycle. Whether or not they go through another round of this stressful experience, all animals used for pearls are ultimately killed. Their flesh is sold to be eaten, and their shells are used for decorative “mother of pearl.”
Can You Buy Ethical Pearls?
The only ethical pearls on the market are those made from glass, alabaster, plastic, or other human-made materials. However, some of these options are also coated in animal-derived materials, including isinglass, fish scales, oyster scales, and mother-of-pearl powder. It’s best to avoid pearl and imitation pearl jewelry altogether. Luckily, there are many other beautiful options you can adorn yourself with that don’t harm animals!
No, pearls aren’t vegan. Oysters and other mollusks only produce pearls as a response to a stressful environment, and it’s speciesist to torment and kill an animal just because we think the end result is beautiful.
Is Pearl Powder Vegan?
Certain cosmetics are made with pearls that have been ground into a fine powder. Since these skincare and makeup products use real pearls, they aren’t vegan, either. Be sure to use animal test–free products that don’t contain animal-derived ingredients—plenty of them (such as Pacifica’s Vegan Collagen collection) have skin-smoothing, youth-extending benefits.
There’s no excuse for killing oysters or any other animal for jewelry, fashion, cosmetics, or anything else. Help save oysters by refusing to buy anything made with pearls, and help other animals by wearing vegan:
Pearls come exclusively from oysters, and are therefore not vegan. They are used exclusively for jewelry—typically either necklaces or earrings. Our current understanding of biology suggests it's possible that oysters lack sentience and are therefore incapable of suffering.
Oysters and other bivalves deserve compassion and don't exist for humans to eat, exploit, or crack open for decorative jewelry. It's speciesist to kill them for their pearls or to eat them.
Some pearl “farmers” will remove pearls from an oyster without killing them, keeping them alive to endure repeated insertions of foreign materials to continue making pearls. It is estimated that around a third to half of them are kept while the rest are killed.
We as vegans, absolutely do not think so. Pearls are extracted from oysters. This means irritants or what is known as 'nacre' are added to the oysters after surgically removing their bodies. It takes approximately 12-24 months for the pearl to get formed.
No, pearls aren't vegan. Oysters and other mollusks only produce pearls as a response to a stressful environment, and it's speciesist to torment and kill an animal just because we think the end result is beautiful.
'Natural jewellery' often features the bones, teeth, or horns of animals. You'll also see feathers and fur used frequently, as well as things like shells and coral. All of these involve cruelty in the sourcing of these materials.
Not necessarily; some clams can also be reused for the pearl formation process again. However, if the result is that they are consumed, then yes, they technically do die eventually when the pearl is taken out of them.
Today, natural pearls are extremely rare. Only 1 in about 10,000 wild oysters will yield a pearl and of those, only a small percentage achieve the size, shape and colour desirable to the jewellery industry.
Some pearls can develop in a period of six months.Larger pearls can take up to four years to develop. This is one of several reasons why larger pearls can yield higher values. Pearl farmers must have immense patience to wait for a pearl inside an oyster shell to develop.
In order to harvest silk, many silkworms are killed. While some methods of silk production do not require the creatures to die,1 many vegans feel it's still a form of animal exploitation. Since vegans do not use products they believe exploit animals, they do not use silk.
The boba in bubble tea is often vegan, as tapioca pearls are completely plant-based, and popping pearls are usually made of nothing more than water, sugar, fruit juice and Alginic acid (found in algae), again, making it plant-based. Once again though, you should always ask to make sure.
Instead, pearls are formed when an irritant, such as a food particle or a parasite, slips between the shells of an oyster or other mollusk and lodges into its mantle, the muscular wall where its internal organs are located.
By definition, no, oysters are not vegan; they are still living organisms which means they can't be considered a vegan food. Given the facts, it's not surprising that oysters draw mixed responses from vegans, but it is ultimately down to an individual whether they feel comfortable eating them.
Introduction: My name is Tish Haag, I am a excited, delightful, curious, beautiful, agreeable, enchanting, fancy person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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