Types of Pearls

Yigal Sharabi

<div class="jnlc-container" id="jnlc-container"> <img src="http://static1.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/TypesofPearls1.jpg" width="360" height="200" class="floatLeft" /> types of pearls Natural, Cultured, and Imitation Pearls Natural pearls are extremely rare and extremely expensive. They are also called Oriental pearls and are hardly ever seen in stores. The natural pearl starts with Mother Nature sending a natural irritant into the oyster shell, to start the ball rolling, so to speak, to form a pearl. This process can take a long time and the quantity of natural pearls is therefore, limited. Pearls fit into two categories: freshwater and saltwater. As their name implies, freshwater pearls are formed in freshwater mussels that live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. Most freshwater cultured pearls. By contrast, saltwater pearls grow in oysters that live in the ocean, usually in protected lagoons. Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian are the three main types of saltwater pearls. Natural pearls are nearly 100% nacre. They form under a set of accidental conditions when a microscopic intruder or parasite irritates the mollusk. The mollusk then secretes the calcium carbonate substance called nacre to cover the irritant. This secretion process is repeated many times, thus producing a pearl. Natural pearls come in many shapes, with round ones being comparatively rare. Quality natural pearls are very rare jewels. Actual value of a natural pearl is determined by it's size, shape and quality of surface, orient, and luster. Single natural pearls are often sold as a collector item, or set as a centerpieces in unique jewelry. Very few matched strands of natural pearls exist, and those that do often sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Previously natural pearls were found in many parts of the world. Present day natural pearling is confined mostly to seas off Bahrain. Australia also has one of the world's last remaining fleets of pearl diving ships. Australian pearl divers dive for south sea pearl oysters to be used in the cultured south sea pearl industry. The catch of pearl oysters is similar to the numbers of oysters taken during the natural pearl days. Hence significant numbers of natural pearls are still found in the Australian Indian Ocean waters from wild oysters. Cultured pearls are the most common real pearls sold today. Man purposely introduces the irritant into the oyster, to jump-start the production process of a pearl. Think of cultured pearls as farm raised pearls. They are produced in abundance. The obvious visual difference between Natural and Cultured pearls is the natural pearl's superior color and glow, caused by its thicker layer of nacre. Nacre takes time to build up, and Mother Nature doesn't rush her natural pearls. Cultured pearls take several years to raise. They are farmed, fed, and temperature-controlled, all in the pursuit of expediently harvesting and delivering them to the marketplace. The quantity of cultured pearls produced is so large that finding perfect pearls and well-matched pearls is much easier than choosing from the limited natural pearl pool. Modern-day cultured pearls are primarily the result of discoveries made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the Japanese researchers Mise and Nishikawa. They discovered was a specific technique for inducing the creation of a round pearl within the gonad of an oyster. This technique was patented by Kokichi Mikimoto shortly thereafter, and the first harvest of rounds was produced in 1916. This discovery revolutionized the pearl industry, because it allowed pearl farmers to reliably cultivate large numbers of high-quality pearls. The oysters could be monitored for up to two years until each pearl is fully formed, thus better insuring their health and survival. And the pearls could be grown by the tens of thousands, thereby bringing their cost down to a point where pearls became accessible to large numbers of people around the world. The development of cultured pearls took much of the chance and guesswork out of the pearl industry, allowing it to become stable and predictable, fostering rapid growth over the past 100 years. Cultured pearls can often be distinguished from natural pearls through the use of x-rays, which reveals the inner nucleus of the pearl. Today more than 99% of all pearls sold worldwide are cultured pearls. Imitation Pearls are totally manmade and have nothing to do with oysters. They are round, glass or plastic beads. The beads are dipped into different solutions to simulate the glow of nacre seen on natural and cultured pearls. The fakes are also called simulated pearls. Impostors do not have the same glow as a real pearl. They may have a shine to them, but they will not have the dimensional light and shadow effect that a real pearl has. A "Majorca"pearl from the Spanish Island of Majorca is an imitation; it is not a real pearl, but is so convincing that sometimes only an experienced gemologist can differentiate. Majorcas are one of the best fakes. They are so good, that something called "the tooth test"(a test used to determine real pearls from fakes by biting them) does not work with Majorca simulated pearls. Types of Pearls Akoya These are the best known of the saltwater oyster, round pearls. Their largest size is around ten millimeters. These pearls are special. In their finest form, akoyas are more perfectly spherical than most pearls and have the highest luster, as well. 350 Baroque A distinctively irregularly shaped pearl. They can be freshwater or saltwater and can be natural or cultured. They are less valuable than round pearls but are used in exquisite fashion jewelry because they can be extremely beautiful. They may have flashes of iridescence, similar to abalone shell or mother of pearls. They can be more exotic and unusually tinted than their more expensive relative, the round pearl. Freshwater Freshwater pearls are grown in lakes and rivers in the U.S., Ireland, China and Japan. Many freshwater pearls are cheaper than saltwater pearls because they can be bred at a faster rate inside of mussel-type mollusks, instead of oysters. These mollusks do not require the insertion of a mother of pearl bead, to act as a catalyst for the nacre process to begin, as the costlier saltwater oysters do. Scotland is known for rare and beautiful pink freshwater pearls. Freshwater mollusks can produce more than the one or two pearls that saltwater oysters do, which also lowers their cost. Most of the public is familiar with freshwater pearls that look wrinkled, long, and look like grains of rice. However, they can also be smooth, and the rare ones can be round. <a href="/pages/pearl"><img src='http://static1.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Back1.png' alt='' /></a> </div>

2008-07-17T09:20:22-04:00

types-of-pearls 350982

2008-07-17T09:20:22-04:00

145692

Types of Pearls 2008-11-04T12:46:55-05:00 <notextile> <div class="jnlc-container" id="jnlc-container"> <img src="http://static1.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/TypesofPearls1.jpg" width="360" height="200" class="floatLeft" /> types of pearls Natural, Cultured, and Imitation Pearls Natural pearls are extremely rare and extremely expensive. They are also called Oriental pearls and are hardly ever seen in stores. The natural pearl starts with Mother Nature sending a natural irritant into the oyster shell, to start the ball rolling, so to speak, to form a pearl. This process can take a long time and the quantity of natural pearls is therefore, limited. Pearls fit into two categories: freshwater and saltwater. As their name implies, freshwater pearls are formed in freshwater mussels that live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. Most freshwater cultured pearls. By contrast, saltwater pearls grow in oysters that live in the ocean, usually in protected lagoons. Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian are the three main types of saltwater pearls. Natural pearls are nearly 100% nacre. They form under a set of accidental conditions when a microscopic intruder or parasite irritates the mollusk. The mollusk then secretes the calcium carbonate substance called nacre to cover the irritant. This secretion process is repeated many times, thus producing a pearl. Natural pearls come in many shapes, with round ones being comparatively rare. Quality natural pearls are very rare jewels. Actual value of a natural pearl is determined by it's size, shape and quality of surface, orient, and luster. Single natural pearls are often sold as a collector item, or set as a centerpieces in unique jewelry. Very few matched strands of natural pearls exist, and those that do often sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Previously natural pearls were found in many parts of the world. Present day natural pearling is confined mostly to seas off Bahrain. Australia also has one of the world's last remaining fleets of pearl diving ships. Australian pearl divers dive for south sea pearl oysters to be used in the cultured south sea pearl industry. The catch of pearl oysters is similar to the numbers of oysters taken during the natural pearl days. Hence significant numbers of natural pearls are still found in the Australian Indian Ocean waters from wild oysters. Cultured pearls are the most common real pearls sold today. Man purposely introduces the irritant into the oyster, to jump-start the production process of a pearl. Think of cultured pearls as farm raised pearls. They are produced in abundance. The obvious visual difference between Natural and Cultured pearls is the natural pearl's superior color and glow, caused by its thicker layer of nacre. Nacre takes time to build up, and Mother Nature doesn't rush her natural pearls. Cultured pearls take several years to raise. They are farmed, fed, and temperature-controlled, all in the pursuit of expediently harvesting and delivering them to the marketplace. The quantity of cultured pearls produced is so large that finding perfect pearls and well-matched pearls is much easier than choosing from the limited natural pearl pool. Modern-day cultured pearls are primarily the result of discoveries made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the Japanese researchers Mise and Nishikawa. They discovered was a specific technique for inducing the creation of a round pearl within the gonad of an oyster. This technique was patented by Kokichi Mikimoto shortly thereafter, and the first harvest of rounds was produced in 1916. This discovery revolutionized the pearl industry, because it allowed pearl farmers to reliably cultivate large numbers of high-quality pearls. The oysters could be monitored for up to two years until each pearl is fully formed, thus better insuring their health and survival. And the pearls could be grown by the tens of thousands, thereby bringing their cost down to a point where pearls became accessible to large numbers of people around the world. The development of cultured pearls took much of the chance and guesswork out of the pearl industry, allowing it to become stable and predictable, fostering rapid growth over the past 100 years. Cultured pearls can often be distinguished from natural pearls through the use of x-rays, which reveals the inner nucleus of the pearl. Today more than 99% of all pearls sold worldwide are cultured pearls. Imitation Pearls are totally manmade and have nothing to do with oysters. They are round, glass or plastic beads. The beads are dipped into different solutions to simulate the glow of nacre seen on natural and cultured pearls. The fakes are also called simulated pearls. Impostors do not have the same glow as a real pearl. They may have a shine to them, but they will not have the dimensional light and shadow effect that a real pearl has. A "Majorca"pearl from the Spanish Island of Majorca is an imitation; it is not a real pearl, but is so convincing that sometimes only an experienced gemologist can differentiate. Majorcas are one of the best fakes. They are so good, that something called "the tooth test"(a test used to determine real pearls from fakes by biting them) does not work with Majorca simulated pearls. Types of Pearls Akoya These are the best known of the saltwater oyster, round pearls. Their largest size is around ten millimeters. These pearls are special. In their finest form, akoyas are more perfectly spherical than most pearls and have the highest luster, as well. 350 Baroque A distinctively irregularly shaped pearl. They can be freshwater or saltwater and can be natural or cultured. They are less valuable than round pearls but are used in exquisite fashion jewelry because they can be extremely beautiful. They may have flashes of iridescence, similar to abalone shell or mother of pearls. They can be more exotic and unusually tinted than their more expensive relative, the round pearl. Freshwater Freshwater pearls are grown in lakes and rivers in the U.S., Ireland, China and Japan. Many freshwater pearls are cheaper than saltwater pearls because they can be bred at a faster rate inside of mussel-type mollusks, instead of oysters. These mollusks do not require the insertion of a mother of pearl bead, to act as a catalyst for the nacre process to begin, as the costlier saltwater oysters do. Scotland is known for rare and beautiful pink freshwater pearls. Freshwater mollusks can produce more than the one or two pearls that saltwater oysters do, which also lowers their cost. Most of the public is familiar with freshwater pearls that look wrinkled, long, and look like grains of rice. However, they can also be smooth, and the rare ones can be round. <a href="/pages/pearl"><img src='http://static1.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Back1.png' alt='' /></a> </div> </notextile>