Nature's Gifts

Cultured Pearls….A gift from nature...a miracle…one of the most beautiful gems on earth.

In history and today, pearls have been the foundation of a woman’s jewelry wardrobe. Fashionable and feminine, they enhance and adapt to your palette of styles. Throughout occasions in your lifetime, day or evening, casual or formal…the possibilities are endless!

Unlike gemstones or precious metals that are mined from the earth, pearls are grown by live mollusks far below the surface of the seas, lakes and rivers. They are born with shimmering iridescence, luster and a soft inner glow that make them unique in the world of gems.

A simple way to understand the different types of pearls is as follows…There are two major categories of pearls, naturally occurring and cultivated (created with human assistance). The great majority of pearls available today are cultured. The two subcategories of cultured pearls are saltwater and freshwater. The two categories of saltwater are Akoya and South Sea (White and black Tahitian). Whether they are cultured or form naturally, the same basic concept allows their growth to occur.

Pearls form inside bivalve (double shelled) mollusks. In the case of cultured pearls, a shell bead nuclei and/or a piece of mantle tissue from a donor mollusk is surgically placed into the mollusk, then carefully placed back into the waters where it spends years releasing a substance called nacre that builds up layer upon layer around the inserted foreign object. When it is harvest time, the result is a miraculous pearl.

The vast majority of freshwater pearls today come from bodies of fresh water in China. Freshwater pearls come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and color from white to cream and pinks to purples and many others.

Akoya saltwater pearls are cultivated in the seas of Japan and grow in smaller oysters, not mussels as with freshwater pearls. The size results range from two to nine millimeters and are very round -- similar to some freshwater pearls, though the freshwater mussels can create pearls much larger than the small oysters.

Many of the South Sea pearls today come from Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Burma, Thailand and New Guinea. They are best known for their grand size ranging nine to seventeen millimeters and colors from white to silver and many shades of glorious gold. The large silver lipped oyster, known as Pinctada Maxima, delivers shapes of round, button, oval, teardrop and baroque.

Then there are the black Tahitian pearls that emerge from a distinctive, small black lipped oyster from Tahiti and the Cook Islands. These black pearls gained their popularity in the 1970’s and remain a leading luxury item. Their colors vary from silvery gray to shades of black, blue, green, brown and mauves. Tahitian black pearls' beauty stands alone, requiring no color enhancing or bleaching processes. Their shapes also vary widely with the very round being the most prized. Average size is eight to twelve millimeters.

When selecting a fine strand of pearls there are five factors to consider: Luster, Surface, Shape, Color, and Size. It’s all a matter of personal preference with many of these categories, but a little knowledge will help when you are making a selection.

Luster: Is a combination of surface brilliance and glow. The luster of a good quality pearl should be bright and reflective. The thicker the nacre, the higher the luster.

Surface: How clean the surface is. Refers to blemishes, bumps or cracks on the surface of a pearl. The cleaner the surface, the more valuable the pearl.

Shape: Since nature is preparing this gem, it is the very round pearl that is rare and most valuable; however, baroque and other shapes are desired by many.

Color: Cultured pearls come in colors from white to black with so many choices in between. Skin and hair color may be something to consider when making your choice, but it’s what you like for yourself that matters most. Also, today you can find freshwater pearls dyed in a rainbow of beautiful colors.

Size: Cultured pearls are measured by their diameter in millimeters. They can be as small as one mm or as large as twenty, in the case of a rare South Sea. The larger the pearl and the other ‘factors’ being equally as appealing, the more valuable it will be.

There is a wealth of knowledge about pearls available to us today, and it is a fascinating world from the conception of a new mollusk to the finished jewelry that you buy. I hope you find this abbreviated bit of information interesting and helpful.

Indulge yourself…and enjoy the luxury of nature’s gift!