Pearls Require Special Care

Pearls are organic gemstone created by living oysters; hence they are different from other gemstones and precious metals. It is a unique gem as it carries the gentleness and warmth of life. They are soft and very delicate making them easily prone to scratches, cracks, and damages. Pearls, if taken care, will maintain their luster for a lifetime.

Caring for Your Pearls

1. Pearls are vulnerable to acid, alkaline and different humidity levels. It is advisable to wear pearls after applying makeup, hair spray, perfume and other cosmetics. Perspiration can also harm the beauty of pearls, dulling their beautiful luster. After wearing pearls remember to wipe them with a soft damp cloth to remove any traces of cosmetic products or body oils. The cloth can be dampened with water or it can be dry. If damp, allow the pearls to air dry before putting them away.

2. Dirty pearls can be cleaned with a mild soap and water solution (try Ivory flakes). Never clean pearls with solutions that contain ammonia or harsh detergents. Don't put pearl jewelry in an ultrasonic cleaner. Don't use abrasive cleaners or rub pearls with abrasive cloth. Both can wear away the nacre coating, leaving you with a plain looking bead.

3. Do not wet pearls. Water can erode the pearl surface Take off your pearl ring before washing your hands. Do not dip pearls in water or wear them while bathing, as water can weaken the silk thread. Pearls should not be left in direct sunlight or exposed to high temperatures. If pearls happen to come into contact with substances such as vinegar, fruit juices or detergents, immediately wipe that substance off.

4. Because of their delicacy, pearls should be stored separately, away from hard jewelry items, to prevent scratches or other damage. If possible, store them wrapped in soft cloth or in a soft-lined container, pouch, jewelry box or in a soft bag made from chamois or any non-abrasive material.

5. To prevent strand breakage, get your pearls restrung periodically. Knotting the strand between each pearl will prevent all of the pearls from falling off the strand in the event the strand breaks. Also, knotting prevents the pearls from rubbing against one another and causing damage.

Mother’s Day Gifts in Your Budget

This Mother’s Day, bejewel your mom with suave and fabulous jewelry she’d cherish for years to come. Find with us an enticing piece of pearl jewelry that suits your mom’s likings as well as your budget.

14K White Gold Freshwater Cultured Pearl Stud Earrings

Check out these stunning 14K white gold studs, each highlighting a freshwater cultured pearl to make your mom’s appearance look charming and adorable.

Price: $45

PERC1050

Freshwater Pearl 3 Row Stretch Bracelet

Here’s a gorgeous sterling silver bracelet with three rows of freshwater pearls. Gift to your mom this marvelous bracelet and embellish her wrist with beauty.

Price: $70

PBST3928

14K White Gold Cultured Pearl Pendant

Witness this ravishing 14K white gold pendant with a radiant cultured pearl and cable chain to show gratitude to your mom with maximum allure and elegance.

Price: $140

14K Yellow Gold and Black Cultured Pearl and Diamond Earrings

Entice your mom with these 14K yellow gold dangling earrings studded with a vibrant diamond and a black pearl on each. Tell how much you love and admire her with these complimenting pair of earrings.

Price: $225

Make This Valentine's Day Special With B2CJewels.com

Different kind of Baroque Pearls

Amongst all the gemstones, Pearls carry their own exclusivity, being the only gems produced by a living organism. Pearls have always been considered as priced possessions for their innocent beauty and rarity.

Baroque Pearls are normally irregular in shape, appearing in asymmetrical, rough contours. These are grown from fresh & saltwater shells & form inside the shell. They growth within the mantle of shellfish because of which their shape is not uniform.

Baroque pearls are better classified as cultured pearls. The beauty of these pearls is due to the nacre present within, the more the presence of nacre pear, the brighter pearl appears.

The element of brightness in pearls is called the iridescence or luster which when exposed to light gives a show of colors which any person would find irresistible.

Let us go through the process by which baroque pearls are formed. Since any foreign body is ejected by the shell, these pearls are formed because of this natural action. Sometimes the shell throws out the nucleus bead which is preformed earlier than normal before fully coating it.

Usually, shell does not stop nacre secretion immediately after the nucleus bead is released. Thus, nacre still gets produced & stays in the mantle tissue. The shellfish does not absorb this nacre again & the shell accumulates it into little beads, resulting into irregular shaped baroque beads.

Some other kind of baroque pearls are: Keshi and Akoya Pearls.

Keshi Pearls: These are well-known baroque pearls as they are free-forming pearls which do not have a nucleus. It means that there are no embedded beads in the mollusk, so the keshi pearls are purely composed of many layers of nacre.

Akoya Pearls: For at least a century now, these pearls have been cultivated in Japan. In Akoya pearls the shell is implanted with several of previously formed nucleus beads which range from 1 to 4 depending on the condition & size of the mollusk.

The pearls are formed inside the shell when two of the beads are close to each other. As a result of which the beads that are almost side by side get coated with nacre resulting in a “Siamese” pearl that can’t be separated anymore.

Pearls- For the Juno of June

Pearls are the recognized birthstone for the month of June and the anniversary stone for the 3rd and the 30th years of marriage. It promises the wearer of good health and long life. Pearl jewelry, therefore, forms an apposite gift for those celebrating their birthdays in the month of June.

Pearls have always signified purity and modesty and are the most feminine of all gems. Pearl jewelry has been a passion and even obsession of people since ages. Pearl jewelry was, at one point in history, worn by the royal alone but is now seen among women of all classes.

Owing to the elegance and innocence associated to pearl jewelry, these gems of unsurpassed beauty are considered the best of gifts to form an adornment to the beatifying glory of womanhood. Moreover, pearls suit well to all ages right from young teens to the aging beauties. While pearl necklaces might seem appropriate for the mature women, there is an immense variety in pearl earrings and pendants for the bubbly youth.

Pearls not just match the suitability criteria of age groups but also add to the perfection of every outfit, from a pair of casual jeans to that of a graceful evening gown. Delicate pearl stud earrings enhance the grace of an evening wear while bold pearl bracelets and dangling pearl earrings brush up the casual look.

Beside the most popular round shape often associated with pearls, pearls also exhibit other interesting shapes such as semi-spherical and other elongated shapes and an extensive array of colors ranging from a delicate rose gold to a sensuous black. Though pearl jewelry embodied by fresh water pearls is by far the most popular, Black Tahitian pearl jewelry is the “in” thing of the ongoing season.

Pearls are nature’s perfect gift intensifying every element of beauty and grace.

Classic Beauty of pearls

Pearls are naturally occurring and have found their use in cosmetics and pearl jewelry for thousands of years.

Pearls have long been considered a traditional and elegant form of ornamentation. They have taken the recognition in artwork, photographs, and fashion over the centuries and have set the standard for beauty and refinement. The luster and modest grace of the pearl is well-known.

In due course, pearls have been used in a variety of fashions. While the original use of pearls was as simple pearl jewelry, and in particular as pearl necklaces, and adornment, new uses for pearls have been created now. Beginning in the 13th and 14th century, pearls made a leap from basic jewelry to fashion accessory. Both men and women used pearls as decorations for their clothing, and the use of pearls in this manner was a patent statement of wealth.

In the Americas, natives began harvesting pearls, and the uses spread further. Pearl pendants and pearl earrings were worn by both genders, and pearls became adornments on clothing. Pearls were furthermore used as a form of tribute, or money, and the shells of mussels that produce the pearls were commonly used as armbands and gaming pieces.

Pearl jewelry is classic in nature and elegant in design. The use of pearl accessories best speaks a certain merit of class and exquisite taste.

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Classification of Pearls

One of the most popular gems with jewelry among women, The Pearl, has the largest family of all other gems making its purchase convenient. You have a large variety and range to choose from, provided you know what type of pearl you are looking for.

There are there main classifications of Pearls:

1. Natural Pearls
2. Cultured Pearls
3. Imitation Pearls

Natural pearls are formed around an irritant such as a grain of sand, a piece of coral etc. The irritant enters the oyster and settles on the shell. The oyster, thus, disturbed by the irritant, secrets the pearl substance called nacre.

Cultured Pearls are formed just as natural pearls, the only difference being that the irritant is introduced by man and the oysters are grown in a controlled environment. Cultured pearls contribute 95% of the total pearls in the market.Both the above categories are classified into Fresh Water Pearls and Salt Water Pearls. As their names suggest, Fresh water pearls are got from lakes, rivers, ponds and other fresh water bodies whereas the salt water pearls occur in seas and oceans.

Imitation Pearls are not formed from oysters. They are some times formed from glass or mother of pearl or coral or conch and are then coated with a solution containing fish scales. These are, therefore not referred to as True Pearls and differ greatly in smoothness, weight and luster.

Some of the famous pearls are:

Black Tahitian Pearls: Black Tahitian Pearls are pearls colored black naturally from black-lipped oyster. They are the only natural colored black pearls and are very valuable because of their rarity owing to the low outputs given by the culturing process. The Black pearls from Tahiti are legendry and are known to evoke magical sensations. They can be black, silvery dark or grey.

South Sea Pearls: The most expensive and largest pearls are the South Sea Pearls, especially those from the Australian waters. As their name suggests these are salt water pearls. The color may vary from white, silvery colors abound in Australian waters to Golden, light yellowish colors typically got from Indonesian and Philippine waters.

Lake Biwa Pearls: These pearls fall under the category of fresh water pearls. Often confused for shape, Biwa is the name of the lake in Japan from where these pearls are obtained and not the name of the shape of these pearls. The production of these pearls has almost nearly stopped for many years now due to pollution.

Akoya Pearls: These are the most common pearls got from the Akoya oyster. These seawater cultured pearls can be owed to the Japanese pearl industry where these are mainly cultured. With exchange of technology, China became a producer of Akoya pearls commonly know as Chinese pearls or Chinese cultured pearls and accounts for a good deal of the total Akoya Pearl production. These are round or near round pearls available in white or cream color with overtones of silver or pink.

Persian Gulf Pearls: These are natural pearls also referred to as Oriental Pearls. These are known to be the finest natural pearls got from the Persian Gulf their production is disrupted because of pollution.

A Foreword to Pearls

Pearl - A symbol of purity, innocence, humility and sweetness.

Since ages these beautiful gems have served mankind in form of beauty-adding jewelry pieces. Their fame reached heights during the Roman times when women were garlanded with pearls.

Pearls are the only live gems found on the surface of earth. They are hard rounded objects produced by oysters, when a natural microscopic substance or a grain of sand enters the oyster and settles on the shell and the oyster, irritated by the intruder, secretes the pearl substance called nacre to cover the irritant.

Naturally occurring pearls are 100% nacre so pearls from oyster alone are considered to be True Pearls.

Pearls, usually occurring in white with a creamy or pinkish tinge but may be tinted with yellow, green, blue, brown, purple and black, depict 8 basic shapes – round, semi-round, button, drop, pear, oval, baroque and circled. The various shapes of pearls are popular with different forms of pearl jewelry.

While most necklaces are referred by their physical measurement, pearls strands command a set of names for themselves. The nomenclature is based on the length of the pearl strand on wearing;

· Collar: It sits touching the throat without dropping down to the neck and usually comprises three or four strands of pearls.

· Pearl Chokers: These lie just at the base of the neck.
· Princess: It reaches the collarbone or sometimes a little below that.
· Matinee of Pearls: A matinee of pearls falls just above the breasts.
· Opera: The opera reaches the breastbone.
· Pearl Rope: A Pearl Rope is any length that fall below opera.

With the discovery of diamonds in the early 1700’s, the popularity of pearls diminished prominently because of more affordability of diamonds than of pearls.
In the early 1900’s the discovery of the secret of culturing pearls by three Japanese men changed the scenario. Prior to the advent of cultured pearls, pearls formed part of the luxurious lifestyle of the royalty. Cultured pearls made the over expensive pearl purchase economical. Though it took several years for these cultured pearls to be accepted, they now account for 95% of the total pearl market.