What is a Pearl?
The pearl is believed to be one of the world's first gemstones. It's indeed a miracle of nature. Because of their timeless beauty, pearls are cultivated and harvested for people to enjoy wearing as jewelry. As such, the pearl is regarded as a valuable gemstone and is the birthstone for June. Nature creates pearls usually in creamy shades of white, black or gold; however, pearls sometimes have soft lavender, pink, orange, or champagne tinges. Pearls can also be custom tinted into hues of gold, green, blue, brown, chocolate, black and iridescent shades.

History of Pearls
From as early as the twenty-third century B.C., pearls have meant countless things to different people who have sought and gained them. No other gem has drawn so many men and women into the web of its allure.

In classic Sanskrit literature in the first century of the Christian era, pearls were referred to as mukta, meaning "the pure." In fact, the creation and appearance of a pearl suggests the simple purity that has been so highly prized over time and across cultures.

The first pearl was originally discovered in China thousands of years ago. The pearl was the first gem to be valued by mankind. The Shu Jing, one of the earliest books in Chinese history, describes ropes of freshwater baroque pearls harvested from Chinese rivers, which were offered as gifts by princes visiting Emperor Yu between 2350 B.C. and 625 B.C.

Pearls continued to be held in high esteem in other cultures throughout the ages. Many ancient rulers enjoyed pearls as a symbol of their divine status and heavenly authority, from Julius Caesar's pearl diadem in the first century B.C. to the pearl-embroidered cap of Italy's Emperor Justinian.

Throughout history, European royals have adorned themselves in pearls. Many European countries even passed laws stating that only those of nobility could wear pearls because of the high value of this natural gemstone.

The love affair with pearls continues as celebrities of every nation seek to wear them in many varied ways. Fortunately, with PearlLadyDesigns.com, everyday people have the ability to feel special wearing gorgeous pearls that are affordable.

Types of Pearls
All pearls fit into two categories: freshwater and saltwater.

Freshwater pearls develop inside Hyriopsis cumingi mussels that live in rivers, lakes and streams. Freshwater pearls are cultured by inserting a tiny piece of mantle tissue from freshwater mussels. This mantle-only process produces a pearl of 100% pure nacre. It usually takes 2-6 years for the pearl growth, sometimes it can be up to 10 years. The sizes range from 4mm to 15mm. Most freshwater pearls sold worldwide today come from China.

In 1914, pearl farmers began commercially culturing freshwater pearls at Lake Biwa in Japan. Biwa pearls became almost synonymous with freshwater pearls because of the high quality of these pearls. Unfortunately, by 1980, severe pollution caused the extinction of Biwa mussels and thus the end of Biwa pearls. In the 1990s, Japanese pearl producers invested in producing cultured freshwater pearls in China. Since then, Chinese farmers have greatly improved the breeding and culturing technology and have made the Chinese freshwater pearls competitive with the best cultured pearls on the market.

Saltwater pearls grow in oysters that live in the ocean, such as in protected lagoons. Natural saltwater pearls most often come from the Pinctada radiata oyster in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. But they are very rare due to pollution and over harvesting. Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian are the three main types of saltwater pearls.

Akoya pearls, the original Japanese cultured pearls, were first developed by Kokichi Mikimoto in Japan in 1896. The scientific name for Akoya oysters is Pinctada fucata. The nucleation age for these oysters is 2-3 years, and the pearl growth process can take from 8 months to 2 years to complete. Due to the pollution and over harvesting in Japan, the production of Japanese Akoya pearls has been dwindling. Since the 1990s, Chinese pearl farmers have been breeding Japanese Akoya oysters to produce Chinese Akoya pearls, which are sold worldwide today.

South Sea pearls have three types: White, Golden and Tahitian/Black South Sea pearls, with sizes ranging from 9 to 20mm. Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand are some of the most important sources of South Sea pearls. White and Golden South Sea pearls come from the world's largest pearl-yielding oyster, Pinctada maxima. The nucleation age for the oyster is 2 years, and the pearl growth time is normally 2 years. Commonly known as the Black Lipped oyster, Pinctada margaritifera is responsible for the creation of Tahitian pearls/Black South Sea pearls. Nucleated at 2.5-3 years, it takes the oyster 2 to 3 years to produce pearls which range between 8 and 14mm.


Imitation pearls are a substitute for genuine pearls. Known as "faux," "fake," "simulated," or even "semi-cultured," they are made from glass, plastic or mother-of-pearl beads that have been dipped in a mixture of ground fish scales and lacquer or a similar chemical and a plastic coating. Some imitations are painted to look like pearls, and others are simply chemically dyed plastic beads. These fake pearls are usually of lighter weight because most are made from hollow-core plastic, resin, or glass beads, and the coating is lackluster. The cheap varieties are coated to produce a very shiny surface as an inexpensive substitute for the gorgeous luster of genuine pearls.

How should I choose pearls?
When you want to buy pearl jewelry, what do you look for? What are the most important qualities that make one pearl stand out over the others? First, decide whether you are looking for genuine or imitation/fake pearls. Choosing which variety is right for you is a matter of personal taste, opinion, and budget.


Seven Virtues of Pearls
There are several factors involved in determining the quality and value of a cultured pearl, which we refer to as the "Seven Virtues" of cultured pearls.

Luster -The true magic of a pearl lies in its luster. Luster is caused by light traveling to the nacre of the pearl then reflecting back, giving the pearl an inner glow. Quality pearls with high luster are bright with a deep inner glow, clearly reflecting objects near its surface, while low luster pearls will appear dull or chalky.

Surface -Surface quality refers to the amount of blemishes that appear on the surface. The complexion of a pearl is categorized into classifications which include very good, average, fair, and imperfect. Since cultured pearls are a product of nature, no genuine pearl is truly flawless.

Nacre -When a foreign object becomes lodged in the soft tissue of a mollusk, it begins to secrete a protective and crystalline substance called nacre. It is these layers of nacre that form a pearl. A pearl with thick nacre is more valuable and desirable than one with thin nacre. Most freshwater pearls are cultured with the tissue technology which resulted in 100% nacre pearls because the mantle tissue originally inserted will be completely dissolved during the process and becomes part of the nacre. Cultured saltwater pearls are always nucleated with a bead implant which results in pearls with different thicknesses of nacre.

Shape -Pearls come in eight basic shapes: round, near round, half-round, drop, circle, oval, baroque, and button. Traditionally, people think rounder pearls have higher value. That is because perfectly round pearls are indeed rare. However, non-round cultured pearl shapes, such as oval and baroque, are unique and fashionable, making them just as desirable as round pearls nowadays.

Color -Pearls come in different colors ranging from white to black and nearly all the colors in between. Overall, no pearl color is superior to another. However, the most important factor in choosing the color is whether it's a natural color or chemically treated color. That should make the biggest difference in the value of the pearl.

Size -With all other factors being equal, larger pearls are usually more valuable. Measured in millimeters, cultured pearls, depending on type, can range in size from smaller than 1mm to larger than 20mm.

Matching -Like snowflakes, no two pearls are exactly alike. It's the uniqueness of a pearl that gives this gem its character. But if each pearl in the strand harmonizes with the others to create a balanced effect, the strand is considered to have good matching.