Natural mother of pearl beads are made from mother of pearl that is naturally golden brown and has not been bleached to look white. To care for these unbleached semiprecious beads, be aware that alcohol will eat through the nacre, causing irreparable damage to the color and luster. Let the delicate swirls in these unenhanced MOP components shine and glow in your next jewelry applications! Mother of pearl has been treasured in jewelry for many centuries. The nacre that makes up mother of pearl is found in tropical Asian pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels from US & European rivers, and in the abalone of California (USA), Japan, and other Pacific regions.