Mother of Pearl 是什麼東西?

圖片參考：http://hk.image.auctions.yahoo.com/users/5/4/4/5/devilwing1215-img600x450-1178651651_______016-3.jpg

(上圖的4塊條狀物便是由mother 0f pearl-貝母打磨而成，旁邊細粒的是平價淡水養珠)

Mother of Pearl不是珍珠，中文譯貝母或珍珠貝母，即是產珠的貝穀的閃亮內壁。該閃亮部份即是珍珠質nacre，和珍珠的成份一樣。
貝母和珍珠的成份一樣，都是由珍珠質nacre組成。但珍珠是珠蚌在植入珠核後不斷分泌珍珠質包裹而成的珠狀物，而貝母則是分泌出的珍珠質在貝穀內壁積聚而成的層狀、片狀物。貝母通常都是打磨做薄片，用以裝飾用途(eg. 手錶面)或入藥。
貝母只是珍珠生產過程中的副產品，亦可謂廢物利用，故原料的價值不大，主要是手工費用。常見的飾物只值十幾至幾十元(例如以上手鏈在yahoo拍賣只叫價HK$35)，和貴價珍珠相差很遠。

Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is a naturally occurring organic-inorganic composite.

Decorative uses
Both black and white mother of pearl are used for architectural purposes. The natural mother of pearl may be artificially tinted to almost any color.

Tiles
Small, hand-cut shapes with straight edges, called 'tesserae', are laminated to either a marble or a ceramic base. The tesserae are hand-placed and closely sandwiched together, creating an irregular mosaic or pattern (such as a weave). The laminated material is typically 1/16 of an inch thick.

Clothes
It is used to create the buttons for high quality shirts.


Guitars
It is used as inlays on many guitar fretboards.

Mother of Pearl 是珠母,