Pearls

Pearls are a beautiful classic gemstone, which are highly regarded and add a touch of elegance to an outfit. In Tudor times they were extremely highly prized as they were completely natural and therefore very rare… and rather costly. Royalty loved wearing them to show off wealth and status and even sewed them into some of their clothing. Nowadays because of changes in technology and therefore the way pearls are cultured, there is a wider market for these gems, making them much more accessible and affordable in jewellery.

The definition of a pearl is a lustrous, hard spherical mass made up of Nacre, protein and a nucleus. In the wild a natural pearl forms when an oysters shell is breached by an irritant, normally a grain of sand or sometimes it can be a piece of their own shell broken off inside. The mollusc inside the shell then tries to protect itself from the intruder and starts to cover it in calcium carbonate. Over the years more and more layers form over the irritant and a pearl is formed. Their size can depend on a few elements including the age of the oyster and the size of the original irritant. The arrangement of the layers of nacre determine the lustre and generally older oysters produce finer more lustrous pearls.

Cultured versions are similar to the natural pearl in that an irritant is present inside the molluscs shell and the mollusc will cover this in its nacre (also known as mother of pearl) but the irritant has been placed inside by human intervention. It used to be that cultured freshwater pearls were small rice like shaped gems. So originally when the cultured pearl businesses started out, there was not much call for them. But as knowledge and technology have advanced, the shape, size and quality of cultured pearls have improved considerably. Sometimes it is tricky to tell if you have a natural or a cultured one but the common belief is if you run your teeth over the surface of it – if it’s natural then the surface will be slightly grainy, if it is a cultured, then it should be smother.

Freshwater and river pearls are essentially the same thing, as all freshwater pearls are created in fresh water, lakes, rivers and streams. Lots of different mussels produce freshwater pearls and normally the molluscs will create quite a few in their shell rather than just the one. Unionidae and Margaritiferidae are the main types of mussels that are cultured and produce fine pearls. A freshwater mollusc that has a thicker shell generally produces finer pearls. Saltwater molluscs generally tend to produce one in each shell and normally these are of finer quality.

When they are harvested from the mollusc, the colour can vary and some are not a particularly desirable colour to the consumer. Treatments are undertaken with the majority of cultured pearls to make them better quality, colour and shape. There are various different techniques and some include dyeing, irradiating, oiling, bleaching, waxing and tinting to name a few. The majority of white pearls have been bleached as this is not their natural colour. The colour it has depends on what mollusc the it comes from. There are various types of mollusc that tend to produce different colours; natural colours can vary from black to gold to apricot.

Tahitian pearls come from the area around Tahiti and the majority of them have a black hue, most are undyed but some may be. Other colours are available but most are black and black variations; such as green black and blue black. They come from a seawater black lipped pearl oyster.

South sea are regarded as the rarest cultured pearl and also the most costly. They have a brilliant lustre and shape and come in beautiful colours naturally

Acoya pearls are highly prized and are said to be the best saltwater oyster to produce the lighter colours, including rose pink and gold. It’s these in particular that are the most desirable for necklaces as they are known for their superior quality and lustre.