JewelleryBoutique.net :: Pearls Articles

Unlike gemstones or precious metals that must be mined from the earth, pearls are grown by live oysters far below the surface of the sea. Gemstones must be cut and polished to bring out their beauty. But pearls need no such treatments to reveal their loveliness. They are born from their mother oysters with a shimmering iridescence, luster and soft inner glow that is unlike any other gem on earth.

A natural pearl's creation starts when a foreign object, such as a parasite or piece of sand, that by accident lodges itself in the oyster's soft inner body and stays trapped as it cannot be expelled.		In an effort to ease this irritant, the oyster's body takes defensive action. The oyster begins to secrete a smooth and hard crystalline substance around the irritant in order to protect its soft body against the intrusion. This substance is called nacre.		As long as the irritant remains within its body, the oyster will continue to secrete nacre around the irritant, layer upon layer. After a few years of nacre build up, the irritant will be totally encased by the silky crystalline coatings. Provided that the oyster survives and that the conditions are just right, a lovely and lustrous gem called a pearl is formed.

But how precious pearls are formed from what an oyster regards as merely protection against irritation is one of nature's most prized secrets. For the nacre is not just a soothing substance. It is composed of microscopic crystals, each crystal aligned perfectly with each other so that light passing along the axis of one is reflected and refracted by the other to produce a rainbow of light and color. Cultured pearls are formed by oysters in almost an identical fashion. The only difference is that someone surgically implants the irritant - a small piece of polished shell - in the oyster rather than leaving it to chance, then steps aside to let nature and the oyster create their miracle.

Natural freshwater pearls are rarely perfectly round or even nearly round. More often than not they are baroque, slugs, or wings. Many pearls, both natural and cultured, have beautiful color and luster. Freshwater pearls are noted for their wide range of color, they can be found in white, silvery white, pink, salmon, red, copper, bronze, brown, lavender, purple, green, blue, cream, and yellow. Although white is the most common color, the most desirable for pearl jewelry are the pastel pinks, roses, lavenders, and purples. The different colors are a function of the mussel species, genetics, water quality, and the position of the pearl in the shell. Generally, pearls assume the color of the shell in which they form. Problems can arise in putting together matched pearl jewelry strands because of the wide range of pastel colors. Cultured pearls come in all of the same colors as natural pearls.

There are different types of cultured pearls such as Black Tahitian Pearls, South Sea Pearls and Akoya Pearls.

In jewelry, the quality of a pearl is measured by its size, color, shape, symmetry, luster, degree of translucency, texture, as well as its ability to match and blend. Among those attributes, luster is the most important factor in pearl quality for jewelry purposes. However, when all the factors are equal, then the larger pearl is the more valuable.

The shape of the nucleus and its position in the oyster or mussel establishes the shape of the cultured pearl. The final shapes can be rounds, semi-rounds, pears, oval, drops, buttons, dome, circled and baroques. In turn, the baroques include many recognized shapes such as, nuggets, dog tooths, wings, hammers, twins, barrels round-a-circle, and rosebuds. The baroques are becoming popular for use in the manufacture of pearl bracelets, pearl rings, pearl earrings, pearl choker necklaces and pearl pendant necklaces.

Large, perfectly round pearls - also described as spherical or classic pearl shape - are rare and highly valued. Teardrop shaped pearls are often used in pendants.

Semi-rounds are also used in necklaces or in pieces where the shape of the pearl can be concealed to look like it is a perfectly round pearl. Button pearls are like a slightly flattened round pearl and can also make a necklace, but are more often used in earrings or as a single pendants where the back half of the pearl is covered, making it look like a larger, round pearl.

Drop and pear shaped pearls are sometimes called teardrop pearls and are most often seen in earrings, pendants, or as a center pearl in a necklace. Baroque pearls are often highly irregular and make unique and interesting shapes. They are also commonly used in necklaces. Circled pearls can be discerned by their concentric ridges, or rings, around the body of the pearl.

Pearls Articles

Site Search

JEWELRY & GIFT FINDER

Departments

Articles

Other Links