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TIPS ON PEARL CARE
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Besides being soft, pearls are easily damaged by chemicals or eaten away by acids
such as vinegar and lemon juice.
Heavy secretion of human body has an effect on pearl luster. Peal jewelry should
be taken off before you are doing exercise, bathing and swimming.
Heat can turn pearls brown or dry them out and make them crack. Cultured pearls,
especially those with thin nacre, are not very durable. Therefore, avoid dropping
or crushing them.
Take your pearls off when applying cosmetics, hair sprays and perfume. These beauty
aids are made of chemicals and acids which can harm your pearls.
Never use detergents, bleaches, powdered cleansers, baking soda or ammonia-based
cleaners on pearls.
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VARIETY OF PEARLS |
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Akoya Pearls
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Akoya pearls are produced by Akoya oysters in Japan and China. Depending on the
size of the oyster, their size may vary between 2mm to 9mm. The range of color of
these pearls includes white, cream, pink, green, silver, and gold. Akoya pearls
are famous for their lovely lustre and warm colours
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South Sea Pearl
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These are large pearls, most more than 8 mm to 20 mm, produced by much larger oysters
in the warm waters of the South Seas, in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The color of the South Sea pearls is determined by different oyster types. White
South Sea pearls are produced by Silver Lipped pearl oysters. Golden pearls are
produced by the Golden lipped oyster. Their warm, natural golden color is said to
be rarer than gold itself.
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Black South Sea Pearl or Tahitian Pearls
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Produced by black lipped oysters, these naturally black pearls come from Tahiti
and Okinawa and are approximately 8 - 16 mm. Their color combines blue, green and
violet tones with the peacock green being the most popular. It may take a dozen
harvest years to collect enough black pearls that match in size, shape and color
to create one necklace.
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Freshwater Pearl
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Freshwater Mussels reside in lake, ponds and rivers. Smaller sizes of irritants
are used in making freshwater pearls, which result in more pearls per mussel. It
is much easier to create freshwater pearls than saltwater pearls. Freshwater mussels
can produce up to 30 pearls at a time compared to saltwater oysters that can produce
only a few pearls at a time. , The size may vary between 1mm to 12mm.
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Keshi Pearls
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Keshi means "Poppy seed" in Japanese, and originally referred to the small
size of these pearls. They are a by-product of pearl culturing and, because they
are made of solid nacre with no nucleus, they appear identical to natural pearls.
Usually they have a bright lustre with colours ranging from silver white to silver
gray. With more and more large South Sea Pearls being cultivated, Keshi pearls are
now available upto 10 mm.
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Mabe Pearls
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A mabe pearl is a hemispherical shaped pearl which is grown against the inside of
the oyster's shell, rather than within its tissue. Mabes occasionally appear in
nature. Cultured mabes are grown intentionally, by using a hemispheric nucleus,
rather than a round one; and by implanting it against the oyster's shell, rather
than within its tissue. The pearl then develops in a hemispheric form, with a flat
back. While in the oyster a mabe pearl is actually considered a blister pearl not
a mabe pearl
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PEARL IN HISTORY |
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The Beginning History of Pearls
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Pearls have long been treasured and highly valued in many cultures throughout history.
As far back as 2300 BC, Chinese records indicate that pearls were the prized possessions
of (and gifts to) royalty. In India, ancient Hindu texts repeatedly refer to pearls,
stating in one place that the god Krishna discovered the first pearl. In ancient
Egypt, mother-of-pearl was used for decorative purposes as far back as 4000 BC,
although the use of actual pearls did not come until much later -- perhaps the 5th
century BC.
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Famous Pearls in History
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Pearls are among the world's oldest gems, and from the time they were first discovered,
they have remained some of the world's most sought-after and most revered gems.
Throughout time, there have occasionally been a few pearls discovered that stand
out among even these rare gems. Many of these famous pearls, some of them thousands
of years old, are still around to be admired today. These pearls are remarkable
reminders of the rich pearl history.
Some of the world's famous pearls in history are :
 The Abernathy
Pearl
The Arco Valley
Pearl
The Big Pink
Pearl
The Gogibus Pearl
The Hope Pearl |
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The Abernathy Pearl
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This 44-grain, natural freshwater pearl, is the most perfect pearl ever found in
the rivers of Scotland. A 44-grain natural pearl is a rare find, and even rarer
still is to find a pearl of such outstanding quality as the Abernathy. This famous
specimen is nicknamed "The Little Willie Pearl".
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The Arco Valley Pearl
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Reportedly given to Khubilai Khan, the emperor of China, by Marco Polo, the Arco
Valley Pearl is a baroque pearl weighing 575 carats, or 2301 grains, (78 x 41 x
35 mm) and is a white pearl with overtones of pink and brown.
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The Big Pink Pearl
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Valued in 1991 at $4.7 million US dollars, the Big Pink Pearl is listed in the Guiness
book of World Records as being the largest natural abalone pearl ever found. This
baroque gem weighs a full 470 carats.
The purported owner of this gem is Wesley Rankin, who found the pearl while diving
at California's Salt Point State Park in Petaluma California in 1990.
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The Gogibus Pearl
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This pear-shaped pearl was the largest know pearl discovered during the early 17th
Century off the coast of the West Indies. The gem weighs a hefty 126 carats. It
is said that King Philip IV purchased this pearl from a merchant name Gogibus who
wore the pearl as a button in his cap in 1620.
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The Hope Pearl
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Most likely the largest and most famous natural saltwater pearl ever discovered,
the Hope Pearl, is an astonishing gem. The pearl weighs 1,800 grains (450 carats),
or approximately 4 ounces! The Hope is a white, drop-shaped blister pearl, measuring
approximately 2 x 4 inches, and ranging in color from greenish-gold on one end to
white on the other.
Currently residing in the British Museum of Natural History, the Hope Pearl was
once owned my Henry Philip Hope, the one-time owner of the Hope Diamond.
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