The liquid drops of tears that you have shed, Shall come again, transform'd to orient pearl,
Advantaging their loan with interest
Of ten times double gain of happiness.

The pearl’s mystique can be traced back as far as the 15th century when Shakespeare, included the above verse in his historical drama, Richard III. How pearls formed was a mystery at the time, and the perfection of the pearl may have been seen as something magical that was too profound for human intellect.
The mystery surrounding pearls remains today in the 21st century. The pearl was once said to be one life in a thousand, because finding one pearl in one thousand opened oyster shells was considered lucky. However, this referred to a simple pearl. A large, beautiful pearl cannot be found in one thousand oyster shells, and finding one in ten thousand or even one hundred thousand shells is a blessing. The perfect pearl is the elite of the elite—more difficult to find than money in a sand dune.
The words coating and luster are used when referring to a pearl’s virtues, but much is still unknown of these terms and pearls, in general. When an oyster shell detects a foreign object, it wraps a nacreous layer around the object to protect itself; thus a pearl is born. This much is common knowledge. However, a beautiful pearl requires a splendid nacreous layer. This layer’s beauty depends on various factors, such as water quality and temperature, and the motion of the waves. Further influences can only be referred to as heaven’s blessings and the universe’s mysteries. One can only conclude that the sea off Toba in Ise Bay is heaven’s exquisite cradle.