Wild crane of pearly appearance (5)

I believe the answer is:

nacre

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'pearly appearance' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.

'wild crane' is the wordplay.
'wild' indicates an anagram.
'crane' with letters rearranged gives 'NACRE'.

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nacre that I've seen before include "Constituent of inlay furniture" , "Mother-of-pearl - crane (anag)" , "inside of shell" , "valuable material" , "Pearl's mum" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.