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Pearl
Knowledge A. Pearl
Identification: Natural, Cultured, and Imitation B. What
is the difference between cultured pearls and natural pearls? C. What is the
difference between freshwater pearls and saltwater pearls? A. Pearl
Identification: Natural,
Cultured, and Imitation Pearls
are an organic gem because they are created by mollusk (certain types of
oysters and clams). When a piece
of grit or other particle that makes its way into the shell of a mollusk, a
defense mechanism kicks-in and coats the particle with layer after
layer. The layer is called
nacre, or mother-of-pearl, which eventually becomes
thick enough to form a pearl. There are different kinds of pearls. They can be roughly classified as
follows: 1.
Natural Pearls Natural
pearls are created as an accident within oysters and mussels in the
wild. Humans will not have had
any part of their formation. Natural
pearls have always been considered rare and are quite expensive because they
are so rarely fished today. They
can be found in the sea or rivers and lakes. Most natural pearls on today's market are vintage pearls. They are usually sold by carat
weight. 2.
Cultured Pearls Most
pearls that we see in jeweler shops are cultured pearls. Cultured pearls are come from pearl farms. Pearls are grown with human
intervention; i.e. an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to
grow. They may be saltwater pearls or freshwater
pearls, depend on where is the pearl farm. The
depth of the nacre coating depends on the type of mollusk involved, the water
it lives in, and how long the intruder is left in place before being
harvested. As nacre thickness
increases, so does the quality and durability of the cultured pearl. Cultured pearls are sold by their
size in millimeters. 3.
Imitation pearls
Imitation
pearls are simply stones that look like pearls. They can be made of many different substances such as
glass, plastic, and even shell, which are formed into spheres, and polished
with items such as lacquer, fish scales, or plastic, for that pearly
finish. It needs only a 10x lens
to identify whether they are imitation pearls. If in doubt, ask your jeweler. B. What
is the difference between cultured pearls and natural pearls? Cultured and
natural pearls are both real pearls.
There are no visible differences. The differences are in the way they get start and the
price. Natural
pearl growth occurs when a mollusk protects or soothes itself from an irritation.
The irritant may be grain of sand, minute parasites or other small foreign
bodies. The layers of protection
form what is called “nacre,” and is what gives pearl it’s subtle beauty. Natural pearls can be fished
from seawater or from inland rivers and lakes. Cultured
pearls form in basically the same way, except that humans foster the
irritation by placing a shell bead and/or a piece of mollusk tissue into the
animal. This process was
patented in Japan in 1910.
Nowadays, the pearls can be cultured in freshwaters as well as
saltwater areas. Moreover,
the price of natural pearls is much more expensive than cultured pearl. Most of the pearls can be found in
the jewelry shops are cultured pearls because the supply is more stable and
their prices are more affordable.
The cultured pearls are sold by millimeter size of their diameter. Due to a
lack of divers, oyster shortages and pollution, natural pearl supplies have
virtually ceased. Occasionally
new natural pearls are found but no steady supply exists. Some high quality natural pearl
jewelry today tend to be found
primarily in older jewelry from estate sales or auctions. They are usually sold by carat weight. C. What
is the difference between freshwater pearls and saltwater pearls? 1.
Where they have been cultured Freshwater pearls are cultured in mussels grown in freshwater environment, like lakes or
rivers. Most freshwater pearls
come from China. Saltwater pearls are cultured
in mussels grown in ocean. The
three most common types of saltwater pearls are Akoya pearls, Tahitian pearls
and South Sea pearls. 2.
Nucleation Freshwater pearls are
mantle nucleated, in other words a piece of the mantle of a sacrificed mussel
is inserted into the receiving freshwater mussels where the 'nacre' forms around
it to produce the pearl.
Freshwater pearls are solid pearl. Saltwater pearls are bead
nucleated. A small round bead is
inserted to stimulate nacre production (nacre is the material that creates
the pearl). The rounded shape of
the bead helps to produce the classic round pearl shape. 3.
Size, Shape & color Most freshwater pearls range from 3 mm to 12 mm and are usually smaller then saltwater pearls. Some saltwater pearls range from 8 to 18 mm or larger. Most freshwater pearls are
mostly round to off round, or rice-shaped to baroque. Saltwater pearls are generally round
in shape because of bead nucleated and the shine is more brilliant than
freshwater pearl. Freshwater cultured pearls can
be created in a spectrum of colors.
Many popular colors, white, pink, orange, and other pastels, can be
achieved through natural means. Saltwater water pearls, such as south sea
pearls, have white, silver, cream and golden color. The natural golden color is considered to be the rarest of
all pearls. 4. Price Saltwater pearls are typically much more valuable than freshwater pearls because they tend to be more lustrous and are consistently spherical or nearly so. Moreover, each freshwater mussel
can be harvested many times, yielding several pearls at a time. So the supply is more than the
saltwater pearls and makes the price less expensive. Contact Us For any further queries, please feel free to
contact us by email, cs@supreme-gems.com. |