[jshepherd]

They made it a point to say that their pearls were porous (yes, the used the word porous) like the real thing. This is how they are "just like" the real thing.

Nacre would likely be ground mussel shell. This is what shell pearls are made of.

Shell is very similar to pearl. It is the epithelial cells in the mantle tissue that creates the shell, and when placed against the nucleus, it coats and creates a pearl.

But, not all of the shell creating mantle tissue is the same as that used in pearl culturing. Each part of the mantle is responsible for different parts of the shell.

In the Pinctada marg., for example, the outer lobe produces the periostracum. This is the horny conchioline outer layer of the shell. The outer wall of the mantle near the periphery creates the rainbow-color nacre, while the inner creates white. Only the periphery edge is used in pearl production. The rest of the mantle just creates shell.

It is not the same thing as a pearl.

There is nothing wrong with shell pearls. They are a very affordable alternative to the real thing. But they are indeed fake pearls, and they look and feel very different from the real thing. Insinuating anything else is just dishonest.