TIPS AND TRICKS

warrenfeldby Warren Feld
blog.landofodds.com

Occasional insights into beading, jewelry making, and business…

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About Pearls



Pearls symbolize beauty, purity and wealth.  Their lustrousness is treasured throughout the world.  

When Mark Antony expressed his uncertainty of Cleopatra's love, she dissolved her most cherished pear-shaped pearls in wine.  Even the Bible refers to the value of pearls in the Epistle according to St. Matthew.  "The kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant searching for beautiful pearls, who, finding one of great cost, sells all his possessions to buy it."

Pearls happen when a grain of sand lodges within the mantle of a mollusk (a saltwater oyster or freshwater mussel).  To protect itself, the animal secretes nacreous layers around the grain of sand.  Eventually, this "irritant" forms into a pearl.  In cultured pearls, a bead nucleus is inserted between the mantle and the shell, and the natural nacre-forming process produces a pearl.

Pearl quality is determined by surface quality, luster, nacre thickness, color, size, and shape.  The perfect pearl:

o flawless, no surface imperfection
o higher lustre and thicker nacre
o pleasing translucent color
o larger size, either round or a very interesting shape

Most pearls are color enhanced to become a specific color.  First they are bleached, then dyed.  Freshwater pearls are either natural color, or dyed.

 

 

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