About Pearls at aypearl.com
Generally, a nature pearl forms when a piece of sand, work its way into a particular species of oyster. But more than ever, there are other irritant enter the shellfishes, and stimulate them to secrete a fluid to coat the irritant, layer upon layer until a lustrous pearl is formed. With the development of seeding technology, the irritant is surgically implanted into piece of shell called mother pear. The chief process to culturing pearl is to culture special oyster for generating pearls. Basically, oyster culturing is a different matter from pearl culturing, but both process takes several years. In culturing pearls, first of all, a core with some muscle of oyster, should be implanted into mother oyster, as a defense, the mother oyster secrete a fluid to coat the core, layer on layer, a culture pearl is formed. It is very difficult to culture a perfect pear in quality and shape. It needs the culturing people make much of it with excellent technology. As the same, the jewelry should concentrate on searching these rare pearl gems.
Difference Between Salt Water & Freshwater Pearls
1. Salt pearl is generally round in shape, freshwater pearl is oblate, perform or semicircular in shape.
2. The shine of salt pearl is more brilliant than freshwater pearl.
Identification between salt pearl, Imitation pearl and dye pearl When two pearls scrape each other, it has soapy feeling on imitation pearl and uncouthly feeling on real pearl; Use pearl to scrape the glass, we could see that there has no abrasion marks on imitation pearl but there has on the real pearl. Dye pearl is usually weak color. If you wipe it with a cloth with 5% dilute nitric acid, you could see some black spots contaminated on the cloth.
Pearl Quality-Glossary
Luster
Luster is the quantity and quality of light reflected from the surface of a pearl. High luster pearls also have a deep seated glow. The luster of a good quality pearl should be bright and not dull. You should be able to see your own reflection clearly on the surface of a very high luster pearl. Reflected images of overhead lights are crisp and distinct in higher luster pearls while they are smudgy and washed-out in the dull ones. Higher luster pearls are most valuable.
Body Color
Body color is the basic color of a pearl. The most common body colors are white and cream. White and pink command the highest value.
Shape
Shape is important in judging pearls. The rounder a pearl is, the higher its value. Baroque pearls have irregular, distorted shapes.
Overtone
Overtone(s) are the colors that overlie the body color. Pearls with rose or silver overtones have the highest value.
Blemish
A blemish is a defect found on the surface of the pearl. Minor blemishes include spots, bumps, pits and wrinkles, and can affect a pearl's price. Major blemishes, which can affect the durability of a pearl as well as its price include cracks, holes and chips.
Button
A button is a dome-shaped pearl with a flat bottom.
Choker
A choker is a pearl necklace that is 16 - 18 inches in length.
Circles
Circles are concave, concentric rings found on the surface of a pearl.
Clean
Clean refers to the absence of blemishes on the surface of a pearl.
Color
Color is a quality factor used to describe the color of a pearl.
Collar
A collar is a pearl necklace that is 10 - 13 inches in length.
Grafting
Grafting is the human insertion of an irritant into a mollusk in order to produce a cultured pearl.
Luster
Luster refers to the combination of surface shine and depth of inner light refraction in a pearl. Luster is one of the main factors of pearl quality.
Mantle Issue
The layer of tissue adhering a mollusk to it's inner shell.
Matching
Matching refers to using luster, surface, shape, color, and size to match several pearls in order to create a piece of pearl jewelry.
Momme
Momme is the weight measurement for pearls in Japan. One momme equals 3.75 grams or 18.7 carats
Nacre
Nacre is the calcium carbonate substance secreted by a mollusk as a defensive measure against a foreign irritant in its body.
Nucleus
Nucleus is a small piece of shell from one mollusk used as an irritant for another mollusk.
Nucleation
Also called grafting or implementation, the process of inserting an irritant (nucleus) into the body of a mollusk so that it will secrete nacre to cover it, consequently producing a cultured pearl.
Opera
An opera is a pearl necklace 28 - 32 inches in length.
Princess
A princess is a pearl necklace 17 - 19 inches in length.
Rope
A rope is a pearl necklace over 45 inches in length.
Shape
A quality factor used to describe the shape of a pearl. A round pearl is the most prized shape in the industry.
Sorting
Separating pearls by surface, shape, color, and size prior to the matching process.
Surface
A quality factor indicating the amount of blemishes on a pearl, ranging from clean to heavily-blemished.
Freshwater Pearls
Freshwater pearl mussels living in lakes, rivers and streams produce pearls that rival those of saltwater mollusks in luster and diverse color. As locally obtainable "jewels," these pearls were long prized in Europe, Asia, and North America. The central display in this section is a necklace of Scottish freshwater half-pearls set in gold that belongs to the present Duke of Norfolk in England. The central display in this section is a wedding necklace of natural freshwater pearls from the Tennessee River. It took 25 years to collect the pearls for this necklace.
Pearl Mussels: A Unique Life Cycle
Unlike the larvae of saltwater pearl oysters, the specialized larvae of freshwater pearl mussels must attach to a fish for survival. Their tiny hooks cling to the fish¡¯s fins or gills until the larvae grow enough to drop off and settle on a lake bottom or streambed. The attached larvae feed on particles from the fish¡¯s food supply, and the fish carries them to a new habitat. Because the environment must sustain both the larvae and the fish to which they attach, the presence or absence of pearl mussels may indicate the health of a river or lake.
Pearls In Human History
Humans have long been fascinated by pearls and the shells of the mollusks that produce them. Pearls were highly valued by some cultures while others preferred the more easily obtained mother-of-pearl, or pearl shell. Pearl artifacts date to 7,000 to 8,000 years ago but are more abundant in the last 3,000 to 2,500 years, concomitant with the rise of sophisticated civilizations and the development of trade routes. Over time, pearls have symbolized wealth, power, religion, and influence.
The exhibition concludes with an impressive array of historically and culturally significant pieces of pearl jewelry and decorative objects from around the world. The shifting popularity of pearls in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries is traced from the royal court of Louis XVI in France to the cresting of the natural pearl market during the Gilded Age of the early 1900s. As cultured pearls began to come onto the market, pearls became affordable not only to the rich and royal, but to almost everyone. A simple strand of pearls became a standard part of every woman¡¯s wardrobe.
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