Not that it really matters at the end of the day, but there's probably some charm in knowing that your "cultured" pearl was still formed inside a bivalve living in the ocean, versus being made in a machine like a porcelain gobstopper.

That said, check out this cool picture: https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_800_800/AAEAAQAAAAA... I didn't realize it was so industrial...