When most people view pearls, romantic notions come to mind of divers from Asia or Polynesia, whose black hair ripples like waves with each effort to swim to watery depths, in search of the round organic gemstone.

Others look at a pearl and marvel at its luster and color, knowing the layers of nacre which give the organic gemstone its remarkable and distinctive qualities, only come to pure form because of an annoying irritant inside an oyster.

Then there’s John Latendresse, CEO of the American Pearl Company (APC), a subsidiary of Tennessee Shell Company (TSC), who sees a pearl or piece of pearl jewelry and thinks of the muddy waters of the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. These waterways are home to the mussels which help form the vital elements of the nucleus, or irritant, for the American cultured pearl-namely calcium carbonate.

As methods for creating cultured pearls advanced, mostly due to trial and error attempts to perfect certain techniques, the advent of utilizing a chemical compound nucleus made from mussel shells came to the fore. By the mid-1950s, Latendresse was a major supplier of mussel shells to the Japanese pearl market.

Today, given ideal weather and water conditions, a large company with a sizable farm can harvest literally pounds of pearls in a year. This may not be the case for the APC, with pearl production being a by-product of the mussel shell industry. Still, for an industry that plays second fiddle to its parent company, the APC not only produces a wealth of types, varieties and colors of pearls, it has developed the dome´® pearl. Often referred to as a blister pearl, the dome´® pearl is the result of an implant next to the mother-of-pearl. This variety of APC pearl comes in a wide range of qualities, colors and tones, and shapes.

After a period of 18 months, the blister pearl is harvested, then cut from the mother-of-pearl into various shapes. From rounds and ovals to tears and hearts, the blister pearl can be used in a variety of jewelry creations ranging from traditional designs using cushion, antique and pear shapes, to more abstract designs using freeform and uniquely carved blister pearls. The company also cuts blister pearl shapes to order.

Latendresse admits he is obsessed with pearls, having found his first one at the age of 5 while on a fishing trip with his father in South Dakota. After years of supplying mussel shells to the Japanese pearl market, he wanted to don more with the business.

In 1963 Latendresse made his first attempt at freshwater pearl farming by implanting nuclei from the abundant supply of Unio mussels found in the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers. Despite the differences between American freshwater mussels and the Japanese Akoya oysters, Latendresse tried to duplicate the Japanese methods of cultured pearl farming for six years. Although mortality rates were at 75 to 80 percent during the first two years, success was measured with 1,400 nucleated mussels by 1965.

That same year a drought lowered water levels, wiping out the entire crop. Over the next two years, however, mortality rates dropped by 25 to 30 percent, giving the APC confidence to explore new options. Five years later the pearl company attempted multiple implants using more mantle tissue on both sides of the mussel, which later proved to be too stressful for the mollusk. After 14 years of experimentation, the APC was still learning about strived for more consistent results. In 1977 the company began recruiting workers from the Japanese pearl farms located on Biwa Lake ro provide technical assistance and training for their American counterparts.

Over the years methods of pearl culturing were fine tuned and in 1983 the APC had its first successful harvest. The years of research had brought the company to a point where consistent results were yielding good harvests in a way that also served to enhance the environment where the shells and pearls are farmed.

Crushed limestone and mussel shells put into the water to reduce acidity for the molluscs also boots the calcium content in the water. Two lakes designated for pearl farming, one manmade and one natural, are fertilized with plankton. These efforts not only maintain a healthy crop of pearl producing mussels, but also helps to enhance the ecosystem in each lake.

The APC uses approximately ten species of mussels from the Unionidae family, but only relies on four varieties to harvest a range of pastel pink, lavender, tangerine, and other colors. Each type of pearl has its own color qualities. The cultured fancy shapes, Keshi natural and cultured pearl are commonly lighter colors, ranging from white, pink, and light blue to multi-colored and even light gold and golden colored pearls. The natural and cultured abalone pearls tend to be founded in mixtures of cooler colors, such as dark blue and green. Conch pearls, are found in a range of warmer colors from light pink and magenta to yellow and orange.

Color is a distinguishing characteristic for these freshwater pearls, but the real trademark for APC pearls is their shapes. When expanding the business, Latendresse wants to use methods of culturing pearls from Asia but didn’t want to compete with the region’s mainstay for the pearl market-namely round pearls. Through techniques developed over time, the APC has come to produce a variety of baroque pearls.

By implanting a certain shape, the mollusks will respond to the irritant by surrounding it with nacre. The result is a nacre covered baroque pearl shape defined by man and enhanced by nature. The APC has experimented with a variety of shapes, but has found the best sellers to be bars, nodelles, navettes, coin and button shapes, thus making Latendresse the “father of designer pearls”. Natural baroque pearls in a variety of shapes and sizes from small triangles and ovals, to larger more unique shapes with names like “Parakeet Tail” and “Woolly Mammoth” comprise a portion of APC’s stock. Part of their inventory also includes Japanese saltwater and freshwater pearls as well as Chinese saltwater pearls.

Discerning jewelry shoppers are yearning for something new and distinctive, thus giving rise to the popularity of APC’s many pearls. The unique pearl shapes are doing well in domestic and international markets, with over 4,000 accounts worldwide. The word on American pearls has spread, in part, thanks to the company’s presence at international jewelry trade fairs. It is at these events, however, where naysayers think pearls are only from the Orient.

North and South America, in fact, have their place in pearl production and history. White pearls from Panama and Venezuela and black pearls from Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, are comparable in quality to their Japanese and South Sea cousins.

In an ancient Hopewell Indian burial mound in Ohio, a freshwater pearl necklace over 3,000 years old was found. At one time American rivers were rich with a variety of freshwater pearls in many colors, primarily found in the lakes and rivers of Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee.

Today Tennessee remains the United States’ primary source for molluscs that produce the American pearl. American freshwater pearls are harvested after three to five years, allowing for thicker layers of nacre to develop for better luster, whereas some cultured saltwater pearls are farmed after only 12 months.

Another case for American freshwater pearls is they are never dyed, bleached or color enhanced, thus allowing the natural beauty of organic gemstone to come through. Such treatments are known to reduce a pearl’s longevity.

The Tennessee Shell Company and the APC have managed to not only aid Japan’s pearl industry, but also create a distinctly American pearl industry. In doing so, the two companies have helped to debunk the myth that all one has to do to produce a cultured pearl is place a grain of sand into an oyster and wait for a wonder of Nature to appear a few years later. Latendresse has also proven that pearls can come from the United States and a dream can become a reality.