All About Pearls

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Pearls are very popular during the Christmas season, and during a slow economy, pearls are an affordable luxury.  To help you pick out the perfect pearl necklace, earrings or bracelet, here’s some quick facts about pearls that you’ll need to know:

• What is a cultured pearl?  Because of the rare nature of natural pearls, cultured pearls are basically “helped” to begin the process of becoming a pearl.  In nature a pearl begins forming when a grain of sand, dirt, etc. finds it’s way into an oyster.  To speed things up, a cultured pearl is created by inserting a tiny bead into the oyster manually.  You get the same beautiful, natural result with a little less wait.
• What color are pearls?  Pearls come in a variety of colors including white, cream, black, pink and yellow.
• What shapes are pearls? Pearls come in a variety of natural shape, the rarest (and most expensive) of which is round.  You’ll also found pearls in teardrop shapes, oval shapes and slightly off-round.
• How do I care for pearl jewelry?  Keep your pearl jewelry away from harsh chemicals such as household cleaning solutions, perfume and hairspray.  Pearls have a relatively soft surface, so you should store your pearl jewelry separately from other jewelry to avoid scratching your pearl jewelry.  You can clean your pearl with a soft cloth.  If needed you can dampen the cloth, but make sure you allow the pearls to dry before storing them if using a dampened cloth.

For some of my favorite pearl jewelry, click the pictures below: