A girl's best friend may be a diamond, but the diamond lacks the subtle elegance of a pearl. Many powerful women throughout history have liked pearls and pearl jewellery more than other gems.
Many powerful women throughout history have liked pearls and pearl jewellery more than other gems. Elizabeth I of England was said to have been buried in a dress and shoes that were covered in pearls to the inch. Coco Chanel, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana, and Elizabeth Taylor were also said to have worn pearls.
Why is the pearl considered one of the most valuable gemstones, and why do so many women like it so much? Diana Vreeland, who was the editor-in-chief of Vogue in the 1960s and a fashion icon in her own right, said, "Nothing gives the luxury of pearls."
How Pearls Get Made
Pearls are unique because they are the only organic gemstones in the world. It's organic in the sense that an animal made it. Mollusks with two shells, like oysters and abalones, can make pearls.
The pearl is actually made by the way these mollusks deal with things that bother them. When a foreign object gets inside a mollusk's shell, the mollusk coats it quickly with nacre. The process keeps going until the mollusk can finally deal with having the foreign object inside its shell. The pearl is the foreign object that has been covered with nacre.
Before, it was hard and time-consuming to find pearls. The best way to grow pearls has not yet been found. People have to dive deep into the ocean or collect mollusks near rivers and lakes to get natural pearls. Pearls don't come from every shell, though. In the past, having pearl jewellery, or even just one pearl, was a sign of great wealth. Pearls were worth a lot of money because it can take years to find enough pearls to make even a single-strand necklace, let alone a whole set.
But a Japanese man named Kokichi Mikimoto figured out how to grow pearls at the end of the 1800s. To do this, irritants are put into the oysters' shells after they have been raised and cared for. His cultured pearls became known as Mikimoto pearls, and the way he made them became the standard way to make pearls all over the world.
Sorting out pearl jewellery
A pearl can be put into many different groups. A pearl can be either natural or made in a lab. Natural pearls are made by the oyster on its own, while cultured pearls are made by putting things in the oyster's shell that make it irritable. Pearls can come from either freshwater or saltwater. Oysters that grow up in the ocean make saltwater pearls, while oysters that grow up in rivers or lakes make freshwater pearls.
Pearls are also put into groups based on their shapes. The roundest pearls are the ones people want the most, but they are harder to find and cost more. Even though they aren't perfectly round, asymmetric pearls have their own beauty. Baroque pearls are very unusual because they have very strange shapes. They are the pearls with the least value.
Pearls also vary in colour. Most pearls are white, but there are also some that are pinkish or golden. But because of new ways to grow pearls, there are now so many different colours of pearls to choose from. In addition to the traditional white, pink, and gold, pearls now come in black, blue, green, reddish, brownish, and many other colours.
How to Buy and Take Care of Pearl Jewelry
Investing in pearl jewellery is a good idea. It is a gift of style that can be passed down from one generation to the next. It's not that hard to find real pearl jewellery. When you buy pearl jewellery, it should come with a certificate that says it is real. If you're not sure if the string of pearls you're about to buy is real or fake, the easiest way to find out is to gently rub two of the pearls together. If pieces of the pearl fall off or if you can see a scratch, it is a fake.
Care must be taken with pearl jewellery. They should be washed often in water with a little mild soap and rubbed gently with a soft cloth. They should never be cleaned with ammonia-based detergents, since ammonia can break down nacre.
When wearing pearl jewellery, it should be the last thing you put on, after your makeup and perfume. So, the chemicals in your makeup, perfume, and other skin products won't get on the pearls and make them look dirty.
It's important to keep pearl jewellery in the right way. Pearls are very soft and can get scratched if they are rubbed the wrong way. Pearls lose their shine when they are scratched. Pearls should be kept in a jewellery box in a lined compartment that is just for them. If that isn't possible, they should be put in a bag made of soft, non-abrasive cloth and then put in the jewellery box.
