As I think pearls are pretty and a nice piece of jewelry, I have never tried it. Once again I turned to the internet. WikiAnswers, backed by other various sites as well, claim this is true. But why?
It turns out that pearls are mostly made of calcium carbonate. Most of us have heard that term before. after all it's what your antacids are made of. Vinegar will dissolve such materials. Some people claim that pearls "melt" in the vinegar. Not so. Vinegar is acidic, not a solution which produces heat. If you have a random pearl lying around at home that you don't want anymore, go ahead and try it!
Some more fast facts about pearls (loosely taken from Wikipedia and my own brain):
Pearls are formed when a microscopic irritant, such as a grain of sand or something even smaller, gets inside the mantle of a shelled mollusk, such as an oyster. The animal's response to the irritant is to build up calcium carbonate in an attempt to protect itself. What results is a typically round item that we use as jewelry. Depending on the species of mollusk, where it lives, the temperature of the water, etc, pearls come in a variety of shapes and colors instead of just the typical round, white ones.
Today companies make synthetic pearls. Lovers of the the TV show "M*A*S*H*" may remember an episode where Frank buys two pearl necklaces: one real and one fake. He intends to send the real one home to his wife and give the fake pearls to Margaret. When Margaret receives the pearls she rubs them against her teeth to see if they are fake. They are, but she claims they feel "real." Guilt-ridden, Frank secretly swaps the necklaces and takes the fake one back to his tent to determine this for himself.
It's been a while since I saw that episode, so I cannot remember if the pearls felt rough that they were fake or real. One type felt smooth, one type felt rough. I can't remember.
Anyway, pearls are also the gemstone for the month of June. So if you know anyone with a June birthday, this could be a good gift idea. Here's a chart showing all the gemstones of the months:
As a casual, "country-at-heart" kind of person, I have never really been into gemstones, especially pearls. Plus I have always preferred sapphire, as that's my birthstone (see chart above), and I have loose sapphires waiting to be made into something special someday. But I do have two loose pearls sitting in my precious items box. I got them way back in 2008 when my family took a summer trip to the island of Maui. One of the best vacations ever!
Anyway, we stopped in a large souvenir shop. One thing you could do was spend a few bucks for a small pearl oyster. The staff member would open it and you could search for a pearl. If you got one, you rang a bell and shouted "ALOHA!" in celebration. Yes, a cheap tourist trap. But I was suckered in. If I got a pearl, I could make jewelry out of it, and claim I got the pearls in Hawaii! So I bought an oyster. Lo and behold, there were TWO pearls in this oyster! They were about the same size and color. Cool! Pearl earrings, maybe? The gal I was working with told me her shop could set them for some astronomical amount of money. I said thanks but no thanks and took the pearls home. I still have them, still waiting to be made into earrings. Sadly, when you have a nickel contact allergy, you can only wear gold jewelry, which makes the jewelry making process difficult and expensive. Some day, perhaps...
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