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The Value of Pearls:
The value of the pearls in jewelry is determined by a combination of the luster, color, size, lack of surface flaw and symmetry that are appropriate for the type of pearl under consideration. Among those attributes, luster is the most important differentiator of pearl quality according to jewelers. All factors being equal, however, the larger the pearl the more valuable it is. Large perfectly round pearls are rare and highly valued. Teardrop-shaped pearls are often used in pendants. Irregular shaped pearls are often used in necklaces.
Pearls come in eight basic shapes, round, semi-round, button, drop, pear, oval, baroque, and ringed. Perfectly round pearls are the rarest and most expensive, and are generally used in necklaces, or strings of pearls. Semi-rounds are also used in necklaces or in pieces where the shape of the pearl can be disguised to look like it is a perfectly round pearl. Button pearls are like a slightly flattened round pearl and can also make a necklace, but are more often used in single pendants or earring where the back half of the pearl is covered, making it look like a larger, round pearl.
Pearl Shapes:
Drop and pear shaped pearls are sometimes refered to as teardrop pearls and are most often seen in earrings, pendants, or as a center pearl in a necklace. Baroque pearls have a different appeal to them than more standard shapes because they are often highly irregular and make unique and interesting shapes. They are also commonly seen in necklaces. Ringed pearls are characterized by concentric ridges, or rings, around the body of the pearl.
Cultivated or Natural?
In general, cultivated pearls are less valuable than natural pearls, and imitation pearls are the least expensive. One way that jewellers can determine whether a pearl is cultivated or natural is by x-raying the pearl. If the grit in the centre of the pearl is a perfect sphere, then the jeweller knows it is cultivated. This is because when the cultivaters insert the grit, (usually a polished piece of mussel shell), it is always pefectly round, so as to produce a more expensive, perfectly round pearl. If the centre is not perfectly round, the jeweller recognises that it is genuine, and gives it a higher value. Imitation pearls are much easier to identify by jewellers. Some imitation pearls are simply made of mother-of-pearl, coral or conch or conch, while others are made from glass and are coated with a solution containing fish scales called essence d'Orient. Although imitation pearls look the part, they do not have the same weight or smoothness as real pearls, and their luster will also dim greatly.
There is also a unique way of naming pearl necklaces. While most other necklaces are simply refered to by their physical measurement, strings of pearls have their own set of names that characterize the pearls based on where they hang when worn around the neck. A collar will sit directly against the throat and not hang down the neck at all, they are often made up of multiple strands of pearls. Pearl chokers nestle just at the base of the neck. The size called a princess comes down to or just below the collarbone. A matinee of pearls falls just above the breasts. An opera will be long enough to reach the breastbone or sternum of the wearer, and longer still, a pearl rope is any length that falls down further than an opera.
Necklaces can also be classified as uniform, where all the pearls are the same size, graduated, where the pearls are arranged in size from large in the centre to smaller at the ends, or tin cup, where pearls are generally the same size, but separated by lengths of chain.
Baroque Pearls - What are they?
Baroque pearls are simply pearls that are not round and have an undefined shape. Freshwater pearls are most commonly baroque as freshwater pearls are mantle-tissue nucleated instead of bead nucleated. So the pearls are almost never round. Akoya pearls (commonly known as cultured saltwater pearls) can also be baroque, but the baroque shape of an Akoya pearl differs from that of a freshwater pearl. This is because Akoya pearls are bead-nucleated and thus have a perfectly round bead within. So in the event a harvested Akoya pearl is a baroque, it has a small tail that comes to a sharp point behind a rounded front.
The most valuable of baroque pearls are the South Sea and Tahitian pearls. These pearls are produced by black-lipped oysters and white-lipped oysters). Although these are a variety of cultured saltwater pearls, the amount of time that the pearls are cultured dramatically increases the depth of the nacre, and the likelihood of producing a baroque pearl. Most Tahitian pearl farm harvests, for example, produce more than 40% baroque and semi-baroque pearls.
Mother of Pearl - What is it?
Nacre, also known as "mother of pearl" is a naturally occuring organic-inorganic composite. It is formed of layers of calcium carbonate in the form of aragonite and conchiolin (a scleroprotein), separated by elastic (such as chitin and lustrin). This mixture of hard and elastic domains makes the material strong yet resilient.
The iridescent inner layer is considered highly attractive by many cultures and is often used in making jewelery or as inlays in wood furniture and guitars.
When a mollusk is invaded by a parasite or is irritated by a foreign object that the animal cannot eject, a process known as encystation entombs the offending entity in successive, concentric layers of nacre. This process eventually forms what we call pealrs and continues for as long as the mollusk lives.
Other guides relating to jewelry and gemstone buying which you may find helpful are as follows:
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