Pearls are natural gems and for centuries were admired and considered a precious ornament. Pearl are of several types and varieties that vary in color, shape, size and value.

The most ideal pearls are normally very smooth and perfectly round. The most precious ones are the rarest to find. Because of its value and worth, cultivation of freshwater pearls has already been popularized by entrepreneurs.

Although mass produced versions are a lot cheaper than hard-to-find ones, freshwater pearls have found its way to the accessory market by offering a less-expensive version and knock-off of true ones. However, since the valued ones are very hard to source and are often very distinguishing in lustre, color and shape than produced pearls, there is still a great clamour and the demand for the genuine types among the elite segment of the society.

Among the new precious pearls that recently saw its way to the jewelry and pearl industry are the chocolate pearls.

Chocolate pearls are often described as exquisite and exotic pieces which are cultured to perfection. Most manufacturers source chocolate pearls from Tahiti and Hawaii, where some of the world’s largest cultivators of pearls can be found. These pearls are either sourced from fresh waters or the South Sea or saltwater. Hence, they are classified as freshwater or south sea.

Did you know?

• The Greeks believed that pearls were the hardened tears of joy that the goddess of love shed from her eyes when born from the sea.

• The Arabs believe that pearls were formed when oysters were lured from the depths of the ocean by the beautiful moon and then swallowed moonlit dewdrops.
• The pearls are formed when an irritant, such as a small parasite or a fish lodges in the flesh of an oyster, mussel, or clam; the protective substance produced by the mollusk is called “nacre“.

• The most popular places to find natural pearls are the waters in The Persian Gulf, Japan, the South Pacific Islands off northern Australia, and the coasts of Panama, Venezuela, and California.
• Pearls are by some believed to be an aphrodisiac.
• Pearls are seen as a symbol of purity, and they are given to celebrate a marriage or the birth of a child.

• Fresh water pearls are given on the 1st wedding anniversary.
• Cultured pearls, almost 90% of the pearls on the market, are made when a human intentionally inserts foreign tissue into a living oyster.
• Besides round pearls (most popular and wanted) there are also baroque pearls with irregular shape.

• There are also the so called blister pearls that are grown attached to the inside of the shell.
• The process of making a pearl may take as long as eight years to create a pearl.
• Ultrasonic cleaners are great for cleaning some jewelry but is not recommended for pearls.
• The pearls properties are considered to be truth and beauty.

• The healing properties of the June birthstone – Pearl are effective for health problems relating to the heart, spleen, stomach, intestine & ulcer problems.
• Different cultures throughout history have associated pearls with modesty, chastity, power and courage.
• The June birthstone comes in many shades from white through cream, grey, lavender, champagne, golden yellow, blue mauve black and green.

• Mikimoto pearls are the most famous Japanese pearls.
• Although any shelled mollusk can make some kind of pearl, only certain clams, scallops, bailer shells, pen shells and abalones make pearls that are beautiful enough to be used in jewelry.

• Throughout history, in areas where natural pearls were common, the gems were used as a means of financial exchange, withholding a great value.
• Roman women wore pearls in their hair, sewn on clothes and shoes, and as jewelry because pearls were attributed to the Venus Goddess of Beauty.

• Elizabeth Taylor now owns the perfect “La Pelegrina” pearl, the world’s most famous pearl.
• Fashion icon Coco Channel was the first to introduce pearls as a fashion accessory for everyday wear, pearls were her signature design.

• The oldest pearl jewelry is more than 4,300 years old, found in the Persian capital of Susa and now held in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
• Some Cultured pearls are produced from the Akoya oyster, so the term “Akoya Pearl” refers to a saltwater cultured pearl.

• South Sea Pearls are the most expensive and rare cultured pearls.  They have a golden color and are almost perfectly round.
• The term South Sea Pearl refers to the waters off the coasts of Burma, Indonesia and French Polynesia in addition to Australia.

• Long strands of pearls were a symbol of the roaring twenties and a celebration of the decade of decadence.
• The Star of Asia (sometimes called the Pearl of Asia) is a very big teardrop shaped pearl weighing nearly 14 pounds. The biggest pearl is actually the Pearl of Allah.

This week’s jewelry is a beautiful is a beautiful baroque layered pearl strand that looks splendid on Sandra Bullock’s black asymmetrical dress. Have a look!

More jewelry of the week!

A “mushka” is a traditional cap worn by the russian Jewesse women through South and Little Russia even as far as Galicia. It not only an expensive piece of jewelry but is also a mark of beauty that is past trought generations from mother to daughter. Worn something like a big tiara, the “mushka” represensts also the wellfortune of the wearer.

This cap, with very unimportant modifications, has almost always the same form; the only difference is that, in the case of the wealthy, the pearls are larger, and sometimes a number of small pearls and precious stones are suspended here and there, set in the same way as earrings.

In order to furnish the requisite material for this wide spread fashion, the commerce in pearls of Odessa, Taganrog and some other places in southern Russia is very important. They are for the most part, oriental and come by way of Turkey and Odessa or else by way of Armenia and Tiflis.

Here is an old drawing of an woman wearing a “mushka”, a pearl choker (tight-necklace) and fancy pearl earrings in the 17th Century:

Jewelry has become a popular seller online in recent years, so you’re bound to see thousands of designs while shopping for jewelry on the Web. How do you choose what type of jewelry and where to buy it?

The jewelry market is one of the most complex markets in the world with literally thousands of types of jewelry from necklaces, earrings, bracelets, finger rings and all fashion accessories that cater for women’s tastes. Online shopping offers the buyer the possibility to choose from hundreds of shops without going from store to store and wasting a lot of time searching for the perfect jewelry item.

Sterling sliver jewelry is becoming more and more popular among jewelry buyers because they come at an affordable price and also stand out from all other jewelry due to the purity of the silver which is quite exquisite. These jewelry is the perfect compromise between cheap jewelry and very the very expensive ones which aren’t affordable to the regular buyer due to the fact that they come at a big price.

Lots of online shops offer this kind of jewelry for potential buyers who always have a great alternative to other types of jewelry due to the fact that quality can be found at an affordable price. Whether you are looking for an engagement ring or a necklace, sterling silver jewelry come in all shapes and sizes, satisfying everyone’s tastes, making them an ideal solution for a present.

An advantage of online jewelry shopping is that you don’t have to stand in line when you want to purchase something also online shops are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Besides this, many online shops have special offers from time to time, price cuts and other similar advantages which put them in front of regular shops.

On many online jewelry shops you can find comments from customers which bought products from that shop, this is a great way to find out what other people think about the jewelry they had already received which will help you decide whether to buy or not from that jewelry store.

If you are confident that the site is secure and reputable, browse the categories (“sterling silver”, “freshwater pearl”, “necklaces”, “bracelets” and so on) or do a site search using the special keyword of the item you are looking for, such as “sterling silver bracelet,” “gold earrings,” “jade pendant” and so on.

Also, online jewelry stores have a contact section where you can ask questions about whether the product is available or not, this is a great way to find out more information about a specific product like its availability, shipping, payments and other similar questions.

Well developed jewelry websites present their products in a very professional matter, giving the visitor a clear idea about that specific product. Complete information can be found on the site regarding all of their products making the buyer’s life easier because they can have all the information they need about a certain product so they can easily decide which product to buy.

When you are searching for jewelry on the Web, be sure to narrow your search scope to the types of jewelry you like. Use specific styles, materials and themes to narrow your search. It’s even better if you can find an online mall and search for jewelry all in one place. These online shopping malls often offer categorized jewelry items with photos for easy shopping.

Empress palladium and diamond engagement ring

All in all, combining online jewelry shopping with sterling silver jewelries you get the perfect way to make an ideal gift to your love one, at a reasonable price. Just by clicking a few mouse buttons you will make someone’s life way happier with a piece of sterling silver jewelry.

Once you’ve found what you want, take the online price to your local jeweler and see if he or she will give you a similar item at the same price. This can save you shipping and handling costs and the hassle of returning something that you don’t like through the mail.

November Birthstone: Citrine

]]> http://www.jewelrybloguncovered.com/jewelry/about-online-jewelry-shopping/feed/ 4 http://www.jewelrybloguncovered.com/world_jewelry/million-dollar-necklace/ http://www.jewelrybloguncovered.com/world_jewelry/million-dollar-necklace/#comments Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:08:18 +0000 Cristina http://www.jewelrybloguncovered.com/?p=2244

Made by Mikimoto, this 18-inch pearl strand, took 10 years to gather the 27 perfectly round cultured pearls. The pearls are White South Sea AAA quality and are extremely rare. No wonder it took so long!

The expensive strand also has a noval clasp with 11,92 carats of diamonds, but its beauty realy lies in the cultured pearls. The high quality is showed in their 15.06 x 17.24 mm diameter, in the way pearls reflect light and a very special luster. Even so, $1,000,000 for a pearl strand?

Just like diamonds, pearls also have some essential characteristics in order to differentiate high quality pearls from the rest. GIA introduces these seven factors that help evaluate the quality and beauty of a pearl.

Size

In this case size does matter. The size of pearls is measured in millimeters. The bigger the pearl, the better. The pearls that have a bigger size are more precious due to their rarity. There are small pearls, generally around 3-5 centimeters, and big pearls, having more than 9 millimeters. Akoya cultured pearls sold today are between 7 and 7.5 millimeters, Tahitian Pearls are around in 10-12mm and South Sea pearls around 12-15mm.

Shape

The shape if pearls is also different. they can be spherical, symmetrical or baroque. Very few pearls are actually round, they might be near-round, button-round, semi-baroque, baroque, coin, circle and drop pearl. Baroque jewelry is very popular in modern jewelry designs due to its uniqueness.

Color

Cultured pearls present a base color but also an overtone. The overtone is not obvious and it refers to the translucent and radiant color. The third component of a pearl’s color is called orient. It is present if the pearls shows a moving iridescence on the surface. Possible colors are white, pink, silver, cream, black and gold.

Luster

The luster is one of the most appreciated characteristics of a pearl. It represents the intensity of the reflected light, that “inner glow” everyone talks about. An excellent luster truly confers value to the pearl and brings true beauty, appeal. The degrees of luster are: excellent, good and fair.

Surface quality

The surface quality of a pearl refers to degree of irregularities on the surface of the pearl. They are also called imperfections or blemishes like spots, abrasions and bumps. The value of a pearl is higher as blemishes are less visible. Even so it’s very rarely that a pearl has no imperfections.

Nacre quality

A pearl is considered to have a high nacre when the layer of nacre is thicker and thus the luster more full. This characteristic can be observed quite easily. If the pearl is matte that means the nacre is thin and the pearl looks chalky. An intermediate level of nacre quality is when the nucleus is still visible.

Matching

This is an important factor when a jewelers wants to make a uniform strands of pearls. If the easthetic pattern focuses on asymmetry matching is not a problem. Matching means the consistency of all the other factors for more than one pearl.

The Napoleon pearl, also know as “La Regente Pearl” is the fifth largest natural pearl. Its splendor come from that fact that despite of the big size, it has a uniform shape. It is called the Napoleon pearl because it was the centerpiece of a pearl tiara he had made a present for his queen Marie Luise.

La Perle Regente or Napoleon

The Regente Pearl with its outstanding characteristics regarding shape, quality, brilliance and others, has become the most expensive single pearl, arriving at an amazing price of $2.5 million in 2005, at the Christie’s sale in Geneva.

The pearl sautoir with La Regente pearl

The shaped of the pearl is described to be that of a pigeon-egg, and has been fitted during history to several diverse mountings: centerpiece of a tiara, of a corsage, pendant to a pearl sautoir, hair ornament and pendant to more necklaces.

La Pelegrina and La Regente pearls

When it was first discovered the pearl weight 346.27 grains, but with time it became 302.68 grains. It still continues to be the biggest regular form pearl in the world, and the fifth from all.

The lastest piece of jewelry montage with La Regente

The items I have chosen are quite random and are not ordered according to price, material or type. Other than that they are lovely pieces of jewelry that women could not say no to. The list contains necessary items as well as trifles.

• A pair of pearl earrings is a definitely must have. They are elegant and quite easy to accessorize.

• For having the person you care about always with you in a vintage cameo locket pendant.

• A hammered bracelet is a casual item that can be work in various everyday contexts. It a great present because it’s not expensive but at the same time it can be a great accessory.

• This Swarovski ring is so colorful and full of life. The bulky shape makes it a casual piece of jewelry that goes with everything.

• A diamond bracelet is not always an affordable gift but it sure is highly appreciated as diamonds are so beautiful and a diamond bracelet make for a splendid elegant accessory.

• This pair of quartz earrings are quite out of the ordinary. The setting is very nice as the rugged wire touches the transparent and bubbly, icy quartz. A truly fine piece and a great gift.

• Colored bangle bracelets look wonderful when put all together on the hand. It can match almost everything, just let free the imagination. It a great gift because women love jewelry, but at the same time be careful to buy them her size, if smaller she might feel offended.

• A diamond ring is every girl’s dream. No comment!

• Labradorite earrings not only they sound exotic but at the same time they do look special. I was very attracted to the simple design, but also by the intense color.

• The following items are let’s say somewhat out of the ordinary, they are rare and vintage watches from precious metal. It’s a less ordinary gift, especially for a woman, but for sure it take you out of mundane. Be unique!

Strand of pearls are known for their elegant beauty & have fascinated women all through the ages. This article throws light on important features that you need to consider while selecting a pearl necklace.

Basically there are 4 types of pearls; Tahitian, South Sea, Freshwater & Akoya pearls. Except for freshwater pearls all other type of pearls originate in oceans and are considered more valuable compared to freshwater pearls because of their high luster & rarity.

As is common for any other gemstone, a pearl’s value is determined by its quality. Pearls are rated according to their quality as A, AA, AA+, AAA & AAA+ with AAA and AAA+ being the best in terms of quality & value.

The other factors which are taken into consideration while judging the value & quality of pearls are; it’s:

1. Nacre
2. Surface
3. Luster
4. Shape
5. Size & Matching
6. Color

Nacre:

Maximum attention while buying a pearl jewelry is put on pearl’s nacre thickness. Nacre is a coating which pearl oysters produce for covering pearl’s nucleus. Nacre is the key which decides how long the pearl will last. While purchasing you should look for a pearl that is having nacre thickness of minimum 0.4mm.

Luster & Surface:

Luster is the amount of light that gets reflected from the surface of the pearl. Pearls with mirror finish, high luster & clean surface are more valuable.

Size & Shape:

Price of pearls bigger than 7mm varies a lot on the actual size of the pearl. Most commonly used pearls are round in shape and are considered most desirable.

Matching:

In pearls bracelets & necklaces, matching means the ways in which all of the pearls in the necklace or bracelet are similar. As it is very hard to find enough similar or identical pearls for making a completely matched pearl necklace or bracelet, those which have such matching features command top price.

After deciding about the size, type, quality & color of the pear you are looking for, take your time to shop around and find that perfect pearl bracelet or necklace.

See also:

Queen Alexandra’s Pearls