On a Pearl, a Passage -- by Alex Ranieri

Why does the pearl so much delight us? Of course there is its sheen—but I find more important, is the reflection from its surface of many subtle colors—for what is more unappetizing than the plain white sheen from a faux pearl of plastic or of glass? Indeed, these colors emerging from something so apparently white must recall to us our own power of binding to white silk, a rainbow of shades; so that the pearl, beautiful in itself, becomes besides a reminder that from apparent nothingness, a myriad of realities may be coaxed.