Guest Author - Susan Dorling

The pearl is the queen of gems and the gem of queens.

A pearl is formed when an irritant, such as a grain of sand, lodges inside a mollusk, most often an oyster. To protect itself, the oyster secretes layers of a substance called nacre. Magically luminescent and a classic favorite for bridal jewelry, and other sophisticated designs for day and evening wear, pearls are natural beauties, and enhance the wearer’s beauty. Totally unique in the world of gems, pearls require no cutting or refining as do other gemstones to reveal their true beauty. Natural pearls are perfect ‘as is’. That is, when you can find them, and if you do, be prepared to pay for their rarity. Pearls are historically the great elusive treasure because oysters seldom produce pearls on their own.

So it was a boon to the jewelry industry and all of us pearl-lovers, when in 1893, Japanese jeweler, Kokichi Mikimoto, perfected a system of forcing oysters to create pearls by injecting them with shell fragments to stimulate nacre production. The “cultured” pearl was born. Exquisite and affordable!

A Few of the Many Types of Pearls

Tahitian

pearls are quite distinct in the world of pearls and possess exotic allure. With their wondrous hues of gray, green, purple, and black, they come from the large Black-lipped French Polynesian oysters. The darker the oyster’s lips, the darker the pearl will be. This stunning pearl’s value lies in its pigment and size. The are consequently very costly. Most Tahitian pearl farm harvests produce more than 40% baroque and semi-baroque pearls.

Freshwater

pearls are found in the sands and mud of freshwater lakes and rivers in Japan, China, and the United States. They grow in mussels rather than oysters and are available in a myriad of shapes and luscious colors including lavender, peach and also permanently dyed colors. Freshwater pearls are easily produced and less costly than their natural saltwater counterparts.

Keshi pearls are formed in both saltwater and freshwater. They occur when oysters reject implanted nuclei before fully culturing them. Since keshi pearls have no nucleus, they are made entirely of nacre and therefore feature superior luster.

Maybe pearls are not as costly as equally sized round pearls and are formed when a non-round nucleus rests against the side of an oyster’s shell making a pearl with one rounded side and one flat side. Maybes are ideal for rings, brooches, and earrings.

Akoya pearls are harvested primarily in the waters of China and Japan. Valued for their perfect roundness and luster, akoya pearls offer rich warm cream, gold, and rose colors.

South Sea pearls are the hardest to grow, thus the rarest and costliest of all pearls. They are also among the largest pearls ranging from ten millimeters and larger. The most valuable of baroque pearls, South Sea pearls produced by the White-lipped Oyster, take a long time to produce which dramatically increases the depth of the nacre and chance of being baroque.

Shopping for Pearl Jewelry

Characteristics of Pearls
When shopping for pearls, you should be aware of the five main characteristics of pearls and their meaning.

The most important of the five is Luster by which the quality and depth of the nacre is gauged. In fact, luster is visible from a distance and can best be described as a luminescent glow. The deeper the layers of nacre, the higher the luster will be. View your prospective future investment with your back to the light and you will see your reflection in the finest specimens.

The Shape of the pearl can be round, baroque, oval, button, mabe, teardrop, or rice. Perfectly round pearls are the rarest and most expensive. Due to their rarity, and before cultured pearls became available, it could take years to produce a pearl necklace with matching round pearls. Although most round pearls come from the sea, freshwater pearls can be round as well.

Baroque pearls are pearls that are not round and have an undefined shape—terms like irregular and potato-shaped are used to describe them. Although not round, they may possess splendid luster. Although freshwater pearls are sometimes round, they are most commonly baroque because they are mantle-tissue nucleated instead of bead nucleated. Cultured saltwater pearls, also called Akoya, can also be baroque, however, the pearl shape differs from that of a freshwater pearl. Akoya pearls are bead-nucleated and contain a perfectly round bead inside them. Baroque pearls are a great starting point for any pearl jewelry collection because they won’t break the bank!

Oval pearls are oval-shaped, sort of like an egg. Button pearls are fairly round but slightly flat. Mabe pearls are round on the top and one side is flat. Teardrop pearls are shaped like tears, and rice pearls look almost exactly like luminescent rice crispies and found en masse in twisted necklace strands or alongside other stones.

The Size of pearls is determined by their diameter as measured in millimeters. The value of pearls rises with the size. Large pearls are harder to produce because they need to have a larger nuclei implanted and mollusks may reject the large size. For example, seed pearls are as tiny as one millimeter while South Seas pearls may reach up to twenty millimeters. The most common size for pearls is 7 to 7-1/2 millimeters.

As in many gemstones, Color is very important. When purchasing pearl jewelry, it is important to buy colored earrings, bracelets, or necklace sets at the same time if you are looking for a well matched set. Freshwater pearls come in a wide variety of colors including lavender, white, or pink and some are dyed. There are a multitude of pink shades, and for the various types of pearls a wide color range within the group.

The fifth characteristic to look for when purchasing pearl jewelry and loose pearls is Surface. The pearl’s surface may contain small pits or have rings around them. Even premium quality pearls may have minor imperfections in their surface. Unless severe, small surface imperfections will not detract much from a pearl’s beauty. A perfect surface has a smooth texture free of bumps and pits.
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