Making Wise Choices
What makes one piece of jewelry so much more costly than another and yet they both appear to be so similar? Pearls Selecting your Pearl Jewelry. There are six key factors that contribute to the value of pearl jewelry. Lustre Lustre is at the top of the list! Lustre is the inner brilliance that deepens and grows as the number of pearl layers increase. This brilliance is the single most important factor in selecting pearls! Just as advocates of finely cut diamonds stress the brilliance and fire of properly proportioned stones; advocates of fine pearls stress the brightness and glow of high lustre pearls! Like the radiance of diamonds, this glow is what first strikes the casual observer of pearls when they are viewed from a distance and none of their other quality characteristics are or can be conspicuous. Color Pearls come in a wealth of different colors and are often chosen based on what is most flattering to the skin tone and color of hair. Though white and rose white are two of the most popular classic colors of pearls; pearls come in all shades of creams to gold, pink, peach, grey and black. Like the changing attitudes in the world of fancy colored diamonds, natural fashion colors in pearls continue to become more popular and sought after than in the past! Shape One of the most common preconceptions is that pearls are round. Again like the fancy cut stones and fancy colors, pearls of fancy shapes are gaining popularity. Recognize them and appreciate them for their own individual beauty rather than comparing them to rounds! Pearls come in such a variety of shapes besides round drop, semi round, pear, oval, button and baroque. These shapes are all desirable and can be evaluated for the own aesthetics and affordability. While these exotic pearls give the individual a way to express uniqueness round pearls continue to be a classic and a highly sought after shape. In regard to monetary value the more perfectly round the pearl the higher it's market price. Surface Smoothness Like all other natural gems, pearls have natural blemishes that make each a one of a kind creation. The smoother a pearl?s surface the more valuable the pearl but do not underestimate the beauty of a lustrous pearl with a few tiny wrinkles, bumps, welts and the like. Lustre can drown out pearl blemishes the same way brilliance can drown out diamond flaws. So, just as a consumer will often need a microscope to see diamond flaws, he will often have to peer at a pearl close up to see its blemishes. Stand a few feet back and you will need the eyes of a hawk to see the same flaws especially if the lustre of the pearl is good! Size Millimeters are to pearls what carat weight is to diamonds! Pearls come in a variety of sizes. Although pearl size like color is a personal preference, the larger the size the more expensive and valuable the pearl. Matching The degree to which pearls in strands blend together and harmonize with one another is called ?matching?. As a consumer becomes more aware of the quality factors which contribute to the beauty and value of pearls it is normal to appreciate the value of matching. Pearl Care ? The dos and don'ts of caring for your pearls! Cultured Pearls are precious jewels and should be treated as such. Don't toss them carelessly into a purse or jewel box where they can become scratched by hard metal edges or harder stones. Don't expose them to acid-based hair sprays, cosmetics and perfumes. Don't clean them with chemicals or abrasives. Do treat pearls gently. Place them in a soft cloth or a chamois bag or wrap them in tissue when putting them away. Do put on pearls after applying cosmetics, hair sprays and perfume. Do wash your pearls with mild soap and water after taking them off. This will remove all traces of perfume, cosmetics or hair spray from the pearls. Do bring your pearls back to a reputable jeweler for restringing periodically depending on how often you wear them. We suggest having them checked once a year. Cosmetics and ordinary wear weaken and stretch the nylon threads on which the pearls are strung. It is better to be safe than sorry. Do have pearls strung with a knot between each pearl. This will prevent loss of pearls if the string should break. Types of Pearls South Sea Pearls Grown in the gigantic Pinctada maxima oyster, South Sea pearls have the greatest size range of any pearl variety. You may buy them as small as 7mm and as large as 20mm. Usually light in tone, South Sea pearls more easily show spots and blemishes than the darker Tahitian pearls. In keeping with their subtle hues, South Sea pearls tend to have satin-like lustre that gives them more of an inward glow and refined elegance far different from the sharper, sleeker, more mirrorlike finish of fine Akoya pearls. South Sea pearls should have a soft, luminous gleam. Avoid ones that look dull or chalky. Tahitian Pearls Formerly called Black Pearls. Tahitian Pearls actually come in wide gamut of colors, practically everything but black! Most Tahitian pearls range in color from a light flannel to a dark charcoal gray. Some are dusky white while others are silver. Tahitian pearls often exhibit distinctive overtones of purple, green, blue, brown and most recently bronze and beige. In addition you may find Tahitian baroques with circles girdling their entire surface (called circle pearls). These often have particularly pronounced prismatice flashes of color called orient that set them apart from other pearls. |