Can you be allergic to pearls?

Answer 1

• Yes, you can have an "allergy" or in this case (to be more precise) a 'sensitivity' to real pearls (or anything else under the sun).

• In my experience I have not yet met anyone who is actually allergic to pearls and I have been in the pearl retail/wholesale and pearl farming business for many years. If someone experiences and allergic reaction to a piece of pearl jewelry, the most likely reason will be the finding. People are allergic to different alloys, especially nickel. There are elements of nickel in 14k and 18k gold and people do have a reaction to this. In general, pearls are hypoallergenic. But in case of imitation pearls some people may have an allergic reaction when they come into contact with them.

• As a jewelry artist who works with variety of media including freshwater and salt water pearls there has never been a client who was allergic to pearls yet. People can be allergic to calcium carbonate, which the pearls are made of. Calcium carbonate, essentially calcium salt, is found in the Calcium supplements that anyone can buy over the counter at any drug or health store. Allergy to Calcium Carbonate is very rare, but it does exist. For the most part people are allergic to Calcium Carbonate when digested. Unlike pearl jewelry, calcium supplements are taken orally. However, humans have a habit of testing authenticity of pearls by running them in between lips or teeth. Existence of pearl allergy seems highly probable.