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Pearls
Pearls are unlike any other precious gemstones because they need no
enhancements such as cutting or polishing to help admire their captivating
beauty. In this guide, we’ll give you brief information about quality and help
you understand value when choosing the type of pearl that’s right for you.
Most pearls today in the market are cultured pearls, because of scarcity of
natural pearls. A natural pearl starts to form as a foreign object, such as a
sea parasite or piece of shell that accidentally lodges itself in an oyster's
soft inner body where it cannot be expelled. To rid itself from this irritant,
the oyster begins to secrete a smooth, hard crystalline substance around the
irritant. This substance is called "nacre." As long as the irritant remains
within its body, the oyster will continue to secrete nacre around it, layer
upon layer. The final lustrous pearl is the result of this continuous coating
process.
A
cultured pearl undergoes the same growth process as a natural pearl produced in
the wild. The only difference is that the irritant is surgically-implanted - a
very delicate operation that can only be performed by highly skilled
technicians. The irritant consists of mother-of-pearl in the form of a bead or
a piece of shell. The resulting core is therefore much larger than in a natural
wild pearl.
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Choosing the right pearl
Below are few important elements that you should look for when you are in the
market for pearls.
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Luster
Luster refers both to a pearl's brilliance and its inner glow. It is considered
the most important quality factor in pearls. The thicker the nacre, the better
the luster. Though there are exceptions to that rule, the amount of nacre
determines the reflective quality of the pearl's surface. High-luster pearls
are bright, and have a deep-seated glow.
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Surface
It
is the second most important quality factor in pearl evaluation. Though all
pearls are unique, each one usually has small imperfections on its surface
described in the industry as blisters, spots or indentations. A pearl with
fewer surface markings is rarer and hence more valuable. But, like many other
gems of nature, pearls are almost never flawless. Generally, the cleaner the
surface of a pearl, the more valuable it is.
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Shape
Pearls come in many shapes, depending on how they are formed within the
mollusk. Perfectly round pearls are very rare and the rounder the pearl, the
costlier it is.
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Color
Typical pearl colors are white, cream, yellow, pink, silver, or black, but they
display a fascinating array of colors from white to black and virtually every
color in between. There are, also, color overtones reflected across a pearl's
surface, which is seen when light reflects off the pearl surface. The color of
a pearl more often than not is a meld of its body color and its overtone. It is
important to note that no color is considered superior to another. However,
the consistency of the color, fashion trends and color demands affect the
value.
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Size
Pearl size refers to the pearl's diameter, which is measured in millimeters.
The size of a pearl can be smaller than 1 millimeter to as large as 20
millimeters and more. Though a pearl's size is not an indicator of its quality,
it will determine its price. Normally, the larger the pearl, the more rare it
is and the more valuable.
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Pearl Types
There are four kinds of pearls that together satisfy the entire range of
customer desires:
Akoya pearls, freshwater pearls, South Sea
pearls, and Tahitian pearls.
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Akoya Pearls
Color: Cream,
white, rose, gold and blue-gray.
Size: 2 to 10 millimeters.
Akoya pearls are more perfectly round than most other pearls, and have a higher
luster. They are generally clean and free of heavy blemishes. Akoya pearls,
like any other cultured pearl, are produced by deliberate human intervention in
several varieties of saltwater mollusks generally found in the waters around
Japan and China. They rarely exceed 10mm (millimeters) in diameter.
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Freshwater Pearls
Color: White,
pink, peach, lavender, plum, purple, and tangerine.
Size: 3.5–7.0mm
(millimeters)
Freshwater pearls originate from the mussel family of mollusks. They are
cultivated in lakes, rivers and ponds. The United States, Japan, and China are
the leading producers of these pearls. Freshwater pearls are sold in the market
for almost 1/5 the price of Akoya pearls, but they are generally smaller, less
symmetrical, and not as well matched when strung on a strand.
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South Sea Pearls
Color: White, silver/white, pink, and gold.
Size: 8 – 22 mm
South Sea pearls are certainly among the rarest and most costly cultured pearls
available today. They are cultivated in the waters off Australia, Indonesia,
the Philippines, Myanmar, Japan and Thailand. South Sea pearls come from the
white-lipped variety of the pinctada maxima oyster. Because of the
rarity and sensitivity of this type of oyster, cultivation of these pearls is
much more difficult, making them more expensive. South Sea pearls develop an
exceptionally thick coating of nacre -- from 2 to 6 millimeters therefore they
possess a beautiful soft iridescence found only in pearls with exceptionally
thick nacre.
Because of their rarity, tremendous size, and silky luster, South Sea pearls
command premium prices, and are coveted by jewelry aficionados.
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Tahitian Pearls
Color: black and gray with green or pink overtones.
Size: 9-12 mm (Very rarely 14-15 mm)
Tahitian pearls are not simply "black" as they're commonly called. They have
the unique ability to display a variety of colors at the same time, shimmering
about their surfaces in varying shades such as Peacock, Eggplant, Green, Olive
Green, Blue and Magenta. Tahitian cultured pearls are cultivated from the
black-lipped variety of the pinctada maxima oyster which reaches a foot
or more in diameter. Though the survival rate of nucleated Tahitian pearl
oysters is low, some may be nucleated up to 4 times, the last time being to
produce a "mabe" pearl -- a half-spherical cultured pearl grown on the inside
shell of an oyster rather than within its body. They are treasured for their
rarity and their intriguing, exotic color and luster.
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