What is the difference between mother of pearl and shell?

Monserrat: What is the difference between mother of pearl and shell?
Hi, I’m just curious, I just want to know the differnce between mother of pearl and shell? I have a cross pendant made of shell and a huge round pendant that is made of mother of pearl as the person that sold them to me told me (different sellers) but they look so similar? So what is the difference if any? Thank You.

Answers and Views:

Answer by nosoop4u246
Shell is just that, a shell lined with nacre, which is produced to relieve irritation caused by something like sand. Mother of pearl is essentially the same thing, but often already has something seeded (an irritant), so the pearl is in the process of being formed joined to the shell, but not fully independent of the shell.

Answer by Roberto G
There is no difference…they are the same. The bivalve is called “mother of pearl”, while inside it is the round pearl.

The shell is rough and brownish on the outside. The inside, however, is white or yellowish gold. Your pendant is made from the shell. The pearl white colored inside shell is cut, shaped and polished resulting in a pendant that is pearly white.

Answer by The Pearl Professor
Mother of pearl is part of the shell, not the shell.

Mother of pearl is the inner lining of the shell. It is also called the “pearly layer”. It is secreted by epithelial cells that line the mantle of the mollusk. These are the same cells that coat parasitic intruders forming a pearl (not a grain of sand – that is an urban legend).