ABOUT PEARL

 HISTORY OF PEARLS 

PEARLS are amongst the oldest and most universal of all gems. They are the oldest jewels know to man, and the only gem made by a living animal. The oldest surviving pearl necklace is nearly 2000 years old and was found in the sarcophagus of a Persian Princess. In many countries pearls were worn as a declaration of wealth and power, and also used as a talisman to bring good fortune, to ward off evil spirits and to cure illnesses. Pearls were symbolic of purity, chastity and feminine charm.

Pearls were worn in civilised Middle East and Asian societies as early as 3500 BC., and continued to grow in popularity during Roman times when pearl fever reached its peak. A pearl earring reportedly paid for one Roman general's political campaign, and Roman women were richly covered in pearls. Pearls found a place in Julius Caesar's heart, and Cleopatra dissolved a pearl in wine and drank it to prove her love to Marc Antonius.

Following the sacking of Rome, Constantinople became the most important centre of wealth and, indeed, pearls because of its strategic position between the source and the consumers. Pearls continued to be featured in jewellery and clothes as well as art. The late 1700s saw a reversal in fortunes. Good harvests from several established pearl sources and the discovery of new ones gave the pearl industry a much needed boost. The early 1900s saw trade affected by a supply shortage and the appearance of cultured pearls on the market. Cultured pearls were not accepted immediately, it took several years for consumers and the industry to accept this new kind of pearl. Since then, cultured pearls have replaced natural pearls and now many different countries participate in the cultured pearl industry.

TYPES OF PEARLS

1. Australian Pearls

The Australian South Sea Pearl is unquestionably the rarest and finest cultured pearl in the world. No other pearl can equal its natural beauty and size. These high grade Australian Pearls are of such quality they do not require bleaching, tinting, dying or skinning. Their beauty will never fade because they are pure and untreated, ensuring a treasure that can be passed down from generation to generation.

Australian pearls range in size from 8mm up to 18mm, and come in many varied shapes and colours. The highly prized 'round' and 'drop' pearls are only two of the many natural shapes available. Baroque, circled, button and keshi pearls may be unique shapes, but all possess a beauty and style of their own. Like their 'round' and 'drop' counterparts, these pearls are naturally coloured silver, white, pink, golden or blue. Australian Pearls are highly prized and generally the most expensive.

2. South Sea Pearls

There are two basic groups of South Sea cultured pearls: white and black. Pearls from the white group are primarily cultured in the northern waters of Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia. Their rarity and exceptional sizes, from 8 to 20mm, make them highly prized. Their colours range from white and silvery blue to pale gold - the golden or light-yellowish varieties abound in Philippine and Indonesian waters while white or silvery hues occur mainly in Australian waters.

Pearls from the black group, among which is the legendary black pearl of the South Pacific, are most frequently found over a wide area stretching from the Cook Islands, eastward through Tahiti to the Tuamotu Archipelago and the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia

3. Tahitian Pearls

The cultured pearl of Tahiti is synonymous with magic and perfection. Most come from the atolls and lagoons of the South Pacific. They tend more toward drop shapes than round and vary in size from 7 to 15mm. They can be black, silver, dark or light grey. The rarest colour is "peacock green" - the greenish black colour of a peacock feather.

4. Akoya Pearls

Considered the classic amongst cultured pearls, Akoya Pearls are primarily round or oval in shape and measure 2 to 10mm. They are cultured in southwestern Japan and China. Their colours range from pinkish white to creamy shades and silvery blue

5. Keshi Pearls

Possessing a whimsical charm entirely different to the perfectly round, large pearls, seedless keshi pearls arise spontaneously in the culture of Akoya, and South Sea pearls. These small freeform pearls make fascinating necklaces in colours ranging from silvery white to silvery grey.

6. Mabé Pearls

Mabé Pearls are attractive half pearls with beautiful, rainbow-coloured iridescence. The pearl was named after the mabé pearl oyster which is found mainly in the tropical seas of Southeast Asia and in the Japanese islands around Okinawa. Since the beginning of the century, many attempts had been made to cultivate round pearls from the mabé oyster but all had failed. However, in the 1950s hemispherical pearls (or 'half pearls' as they are more commonly known) were successfully cultivated. Today, most of these cultured half pearls do not come from the mabé oyster, but rather from the South Sea's silver-lipped oyster. Mabé pearls are also available in oval, cushion, drop and heart shapes.

7. Chinese Freshwater Pearls

Chinese Freshwater Pearls are grown in an amazing variety of delicate shapes ranging from round and oval to button, drop and baroque. Their colours vary from pure white to orange and rosy violet.

8. Kasumiga Pearls

The Kasumiga is a new type of pearl that comes from a lake northeast of Tokyo. The mussels are a crossbreed between Japanese and Chinese freshwater mussels, and are implanted with round or flat seeds. Kasumiga Pearls glow in rosy hues of light to dark pink.

VALUING PEARLS

The most important factors taken into consideration when valuing cultured pearls are lustre, colour, shape,

surface and size.The most important indication of a pearl's quality is lustre. The lustre of a pearl refers to the glowing appearance of its surface, and is judged by it brilliance and ability to reflect light. A pearl with a high lustre will be very shiny and show reflections like a mirror while a pearl with poor lustre will appear very milky or chalky.

Lustre is determined by the quality of a pearl's nacre-its transparency, smoothness and overall thickness. Factors affecting the quality of the nacre include the cultivation place, the health of the mother oyster, the length of time spent in the oyster, pollution and the type of oyster used. Only strong layers of nacre can produce deep lustre. It is better not to compromise on lustre as this feature cannot be hidden or enhanced by its jewellery mount.

Colour

Pearls present a whole palette of colours to choose from. Light coloured pearls are produced in shades of white, pink, silver, gold and blue, while dark coloured pearls range from peacock green and aubergine purple to all the shades of grey.

Above all, a pearl's colour is a question of personal taste. Although some shades are especially rare or popular and therefore highly valued, such as rosy white, silvery white and pale gold, the colour of a pearl is certainly not an indication of its quality.

Shape

The shape of a pearl plays a major role in determining its value. Pearls can be divided into four basic groups of shape. These are in order of value:

Round : Off-round Slightly round or ovalish

Semi-baroque : Not round. Some examples are pear, drop, egg and button shapes.

Baroque : Very irregular in shape with a surface that is often very uneven, occasionally resembling

teeth, cacti, tadpoles and mushrooms

Throughout history, the round pearls has been considered the most valuable and popular shape. However, most of the world's most famous and valuable pearls are often not symmetrical in shape, and that is because the other grading factors are also important. Shape is a good category to compromise on if you need to cut down on price. Actually, baroque and circled pearls can make for very interesting jewellery pieces.

Surface

The fewer the spots or blemishes a pearl has, the higher its value. But again flaws can also be positive features. They may serve as identifying marks that a pearl is yours and not somebody else's, and help prove that it is real and not imitation. Flaws can also lower the price of a pearl without necessarily affecting its overall beauty.

Size

The size of a pearl is expressed in terms of its diameter, which is measured in millimetres. Size has a significant impact on price. One millimetre's difference has been known to raise a price by between 100 and 200 per cent.

Source from www.costellos.com