Pearls

The better the nacre quality of the pearl, the more superior its luster. Only the highest quality pearls with the most luminous luster carry the Mikimoto name. Subtle blemishes and tiny marks are part of a pearl's natural texture and proof of its genuine origin. These blemishes result from sea particles that drift into the oyster and brush against the pearl as it forms. Fewer surface imperfections denote a higher quality, more valuable pearl. Of the many shapes available, perfectly round pearls are the rarest and most valuable. With Mikimoto South Sea pearls, unique shapes like button, tear drop, oval and baroque are also favoured.

Pearls vary widely in colour, based on the type of oyster that produces them. The rarer the shade, the more valuable the pearl. Colours range from cream, pink and grey to black, green and blue.

While colour choice is a matter of personal preference, always look for rich colour that is evenly distributed throughout the pearl. While size does not affect the quality of cultured pearls, it does affect the price. Large pearls are more difficult to cultivate because oysters often reject the large implanted nucleus; their rarity creates higher value.

Pearls are measured in diameter increments of millimetres mm. The classic Akoya Cultured Pearl generally ranges from 3mm to 10mm. South Sea pearls begin at 8mm and can grow as large as 18mm. The single phrase "pearl necklace" encompasses a wide range of jewelry of many different lengths. For formal occasions; for casual fashion; for a luncheon meeting; for an evening out Regardless of the occasion or the style of dress, pearl necklaces bring out the refinement and elegance of their wearer.

The Choker length, about 40 cm, is the most popular length, suitable for a wide range of occasions both formal and casual. At about 80 cm, the Opera length is often worn for formal occasions. Over reviews and counting. From pearl type to pearl sizing, we'll educate you on everything you need to From pearl type to pearl sizing, we'll educate you on everything you need to pick the perfect jewelry piece.

The Akoya Pearl is said the be the oldest cultured saltwater pearl in history. It comes from the Akoya oyster and is the most abundant type of saltwater pearl on the market. Jewelers commonly use this classic pearl type to create pearl necklaces. Yet, they are also used in the creation of other types of pearl jewelry. These classic gemstones generally come in perfectly round shapes.

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Culturing these gems is a tedious, yet a safe process that takes place on pearl farms. In the absence of an official definition for the pearl from the black oyster, these pearls are usually referred to as "black pearls".

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A farm in the Gulf of California , Mexico, is culturing pearls from the black lipped Pinctada mazatlanica oysters and the rainbow lipped Pteria sterna oysters. Biologically speaking, under the right set of circumstances, almost any shelled mollusk can produce some kind of pearl. However, most of these molluskan pearls have no luster or iridescence. The great majority of mollusk species produce pearls which are not attractive, and are sometimes not even very durable, such that they usually have no value at all, except perhaps to a scientist or collector, or as a curiosity.

These objects used to be referred to as "calcareous concretions" by some gemologists, even though a malacologist would still consider them to be pearls. Valueless pearls of this type are sometimes found in edible mussels , edible oysters , escargot snails, and so on. The GIA and CIBJO now simply use the term 'pearl' or, where appropriate, the more descriptive term 'non-nacreous pearl' when referring to such items [21] [22] and, under Federal Trade Commission rules, various mollusk pearls may be referred to as 'pearls', without qualification.

A few species produce pearls that can be of interest as gemstones. These species include the bailer shell Melo , the giant clam Tridacna , various scallop species, Pen shells Pinna , and the Haliotis iris species of abalone. Pearls of abalone, or paua , are mabe pearls, or blister pearls, unique to New Zealand waters and are commonly referred to as 'blue pearls'. They are admired for their incredible luster and naturally bright vibrant colors that are often compared to opal.

Another example is the conch pearl sometimes referred to simply as the 'pink pearl' , which is found very rarely growing between the mantle and the shell of the queen conch or pink conch, Strombus gigas , a large sea snail or marine gastropod from the Caribbean Sea.

These pearls, which are often pink in color, are a by-product of the conch fishing industry, and the best of them display a shimmering optical effect related to chatoyance known as 'flame structure'. Somewhat similar gastropod pearls, this time more orange in hue, are again very rarely found in the horse conch Triplofusus papillosus.

The second largest pearl known was found in the Philippines in and is known as the Pearl of Lao Tzu. It is a naturally occurring, non-nacreous, calcareous concretion pearl from a giant clam. Because it did not grow in a pearl oyster it is not pearly; instead the surface is glossy like porcelain. The largest known pearl also from a giant clam is the Pearl of Puerto , also found in the Philippines by a fisherman from Puerto Princesa , Palawan Island.

The ancient chronicle Mahavamsa mentions the thriving pearl industry in the port of Oruwella in the Gulf of Mannar in Sri Lanka. It also records that eight varieties of pearls accompanied Prince Vijaya 's embassy to the Pandyan king as well as king Devanampiya Tissa 's embassy to Emperor Ashoka. For thousands of years, seawater pearls were retrieved by divers in the Indian Ocean in areas such as the Persian Gulf , the Red Sea and the Gulf of Mannar.

Margarita pearls are extremely difficult to find today and are known for their unique yellowish color. The most famous Margarita necklace that anyone can see today is the one that then Venezuelan President Romulo Betancourt gave to Jacqueline Kennedy when she and her husband, President John F. Kennedy paid an official visit to Venezuela. Before the beginning of the 20th century, pearl hunting was the most common way of harvesting pearls. Divers manually pulled oysters from ocean floors and river bottoms and checked them individually for pearls.

Not all mussels and oysters produce pearls. In a haul of three tons, only three or four oysters will produce perfect pearls. Pearls were one of the attractions which drew Julius Caesar to Britain. Pearling was banned in the U. Today, the cultured pearls on the market can be divided into two categories. The first category covers the beaded cultured pearls, including Akoya, South Sea and Tahiti.

These pearls are gonad grown, and usually one pearl is grown at a time. This limits the number of pearls at a harvest period. The pearls are usually harvested after one year for akoya, 2—4 years for Tahitian and South Sea, and 2—7 years for freshwater. This perliculture process was first developed by the British biologist William Saville-Kent who passed the information along to Tatsuhei Mise and Tokichi Nishikawa from Japan.

The second category includes the non-beaded freshwater cultured pearls, like the Biwa or Chinese pearls. As they grow in the mantle, where on each wing up to 25 grafts can be implanted, these pearls are much more frequent and saturate the market completely.

PEARL NECKLACES

An impressive improvement in quality has taken place in the last ten years when the former rice-grain-shaped pebbles are compared with the near round pearls of today. In the last two years large near perfect round bead nucleated pearls up to 15mm in diameter have been produced with metallic luster. The nucleus bead in a beaded cultured pearl is generally a polished sphere made from freshwater mussel shell.

Along with a small piece of mantle tissue from another mollusk donor shell to serve as a catalyst for the pearl sac, it is surgically implanted into the gonad reproductive organ of a saltwater mollusk.

In freshwater perliculture, only the piece of tissue is used in most cases, and is inserted into the fleshy mantle of the host mussel. South Sea and Tahitian pearl oysters, also known as Pinctada maxima and Pinctada margaritifera , which survive the subsequent surgery to remove the finished pearl, are often implanted with a new, larger beads as part of the same procedure and then returned to the water for another 2—3 years of growth.

Despite the common misperception, Mikimoto did not discover the process of pearl culture. Nishikawa was granted the patent in , and married the daughter of Mikimoto. Mikimoto was able to use Nishikawa's technology. After the patent was granted in , the technology was immediately commercially applied to akoya pearl oysters in Japan in Mise's brother was the first to produce a commercial crop of pearls in the akoya oyster.

Mitsubishi's Baron Iwasaki immediately applied the technology to the south sea pearl oyster in in the Philippines, and later in Buton, and Palau. Today, a hybrid mollusk is used in both Japan and China in the production of akoya pearls. Cultured Pearls were sold in cans for the export market. These were packed in Japan by the I. Mitsubishi commenced pearl culture with the South Sea pearl oyster in , as soon as the technology patent was commercialized. By this project was showing signs of success, but was upset by the death of Tatsuhei Mise. Although the project was recommenced after Tatsuhei's death, the project was discontinued at the beginning of WWII before significant productions of pearls were achieved.

Japanese companies were involved in all projects using technicians from the original Mitsubishi South Sea pre-war projects. Kuri Bay is now the location of one of the largest and most well-known pearl farms owned by Paspaley , the biggest producer of South Sea pearls in the world. In , China overtook Japan in akoya pearl production. These pearls are then processed often simply matched and sorted , relabeled as product of Japan, and exported.

In the past two decades, cultured pearls have been produced using larger oysters in the south Pacific and Indian Ocean. The largest pearl oyster is the Pinctada maxima , which is roughly the size of a dinner plate. South Sea pearls are characterized by their large size and warm luster. In , pearl farmers began growing cultured freshwater pearls using the pearl mussels native to Lake Biwa.

This lake, the largest and most ancient in Japan, lies near the city of Kyoto. The extensive and successful use of the Biwa Pearl Mussel is reflected in the name Biwa pearls , a phrase which was at one time nearly synonymous with freshwater pearls in general. Since the time of peak production in , when Biwa pearl farmers produced six tons of cultured pearls, pollution has caused the virtual extinction of the industry. Japanese pearl farmers recently [ when? This industry has also nearly ceased production, due to pollution. Japanese pearl producers also invested in producing cultured pearls with freshwater mussels in the region of Shanghai , China.

China has since become the world's largest producer of freshwater pearls, producing more than 1, metric tons per year in addition to metric measurements, Japanese units of measurement such as the kan and momme are sometimes encountered in the pearl industry. Led by pearl pioneer John Latendresse and his wife Chessy, the United States began farming cultured freshwater pearls in the mids. National Geographic magazine introduced the American cultured pearl as a commercial product in their August issue. The Tennessee pearl farm has emerged as a tourist destination in recent years, but commercial production of freshwater pearls has ceased.

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For many cultured pearl dealers and wholesalers, the preferred weight measure used for loose pearls and pearl strands is the momme. Momme is a weight measure used by the Japanese for centuries.

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Today, momme weight is still the standard unit of measure used by most pearl dealers to communicate with pearl producers and wholesalers. Reluctant to give up tradition, the Japanese government formalized the kan measure in as being exactly 3. In the United States, during the 19th and 20th centuries, through trade with Japan in silk cloth the momme became a unit indicating the quality of silk cloth.

Though millimeter size range is typically the first factor in determining a cultured pearl necklace's value, the momme weight of pearl necklace will allow the buyer to quickly determine if the necklace is properly proportioned. This is especially true when comparing the larger south sea and Tahitian pearl necklaces.

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The value of the pearls in jewelry is determined by a combination of the luster, color, size, lack of surface flaw and symmetry that are appropriate for the type of pearl under consideration. Among those attributes, luster is the most important differentiator of pearl quality according to jewelers.

All factors being equal, however, the larger the pearl the more valuable it is. Large, perfectly round pearls are rare and highly valued. Teardrop-shaped pearls are often used in pendants. Queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy , owned one of the most famous collections of natural pearls. She is wearing a multi-strand choker and a rope of pearls. Pearls come in eight basic shapes: Perfectly round pearls are the rarest and most valuable shape. Semi-rounds are also used in necklaces or in pieces where the shape of the pearl can be disguised to look like it is a perfectly round pearl.

Button pearls are like a slightly flattened round pearl and can also make a necklace, but are more often used in single pendants or earrings where the back half of the pearl is covered, making it look like a larger, rounder pearl. Drop and pear shaped pearls are sometimes referred to as teardrop pearls and are most often seen in earrings, pendants, or as a center pearl in a necklace. Baroque pearls have a different appeal; they are often highly irregular with unique and interesting shapes. They are also commonly seen in necklaces.

Circled pearls are characterized by concentric ridges, or rings, around the body of the pearl. In general, cultured pearls are less valuable than natural pearls, whereas imitation pearls have almost no value. One way that jewelers can determine whether a pearl is cultured or natural is to have a gemlab perform an X-ray examination of the pearl.

If X-rays reveals a nucleus, the pearl is likely a bead-nucleated saltwater pearl. If no nucleus is present, but irregular and small dark inner spots indicating a cavity are visible, combined with concentric rings of organic substance, the pearl is likely a cultured freshwater. Cultured freshwater pearls can often be confused for natural pearls which present as homogeneous pictures which continuously darken toward the surface of the pearl. Natural pearls will often show larger cavities where organic matter has dried out and decomposed. There is a special vocabulary used to describe the length of pearl necklaces.

While most other necklaces are simply referred to by their physical measurement, pearl necklaces are named by how low they hang when worn around the neck. Necklaces can also be classified as uniform, or graduated.