Nacre (Mother-of-Pearl)

shells · mollusks · pearls · materials

Shiny shell layer. Nacre lines the inside of certain mollusk shells like oysters and mussels, creating that beautiful, rainbow-colored coating you see when you peek inside a seashell.

Pearl maker. When something irritates an oyster, like a grain of sand, the oyster coats it with nacre layer after layer until a pearl forms.

Surprisingly strong. Even though nacre is made from stuff like aragonite (a form of calcium) mixed with organic material, it is incredibly strong and hard to break, stronger than many human-made materials.

Rainbow shimmer. Nacre is iridescent, meaning it glows with shifting colors when light hits it from different angles, which is why people call it mother-of-pearl.

Layered design. Nacre is built like a fancy brick wall, with thousands of microscopic layers stacked on top of each other, which is why it is both tough and flexible.