The Pearl Quality Factors

There are 6 main factors to keep in mind when determining a pearls quality and worth: Nacre, Luster, Surface, Shape, Color and Size.

Nacre:
Nacre is the smooth surface that gives the pearl its beauty. When an irritant enters the oyster or as in the case of cultured pearls is placed inside the oyster, it responds by coating the irritant with layers of nacre. The thicker and smoother the nacre the more valuable the pearl. Good quality Akoya pearls should have a nacre thickness of about 10-15% of the diameter of the pearl - in comparison Tahitian pearls may be up to 50% nacre.

Luster:
This is the intense glow that comes from within the pearl, this is produced by light entering the pearl and reflecting back through the layers of nacre. The quality of the luster is directly related to how even and smooth the layers of nacre are. You should be able to see your reflection on the surface of a pearl with good luster. A pearl with no reflection or a dull color is of poor quality.

Surface:
With pearls the cleaner the surface the more valuable it will be. A good quality pearl will have few blemishes or marks - of course a pearl is from mother nature and few minor blemishes should be expected on all but the finest strands.

Shape:
A perfectly round pearl is the most sought after and the most rare of cultured pearls. So rare are round pearls that only 5-10% of a pearl farm's harvest will be even and round. The rest of the harvest will vary from semi-round pearls to asymmetrical baroque pearls.


Color:
Color does not greatly affect the price of pearls as it is mostly a matter of taste - When choosing a color a general guideline is skin tone. Many women with fair or light colored skin feel rose (pink) overtones look best. While women with dark skin, olive skin or that tan easily find black or cream overtones look best.

Size:
Pearls can range in size from 1mm seed pearls to huge 20mm South Sea pearls. Cultured pearls of 6 - 7.5mm are the most common, above this size the price jumps upward rapidly with each half-millimeter from 7.5mm up. To date the largest pearl recorded is a 26.95mm baroque south sea pearl.

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Pearl Maintenance

1. Do not put pearls in your wallet or your favorite box that with other jewelry mixed together, lest some things hard to scratch the pearl surface;


2. Do not let them touch with something such as hair gel, cosmetics and perfumes, etc;

3. Do not wear a pearl necklace when you are in bath or exercising;

4. If a string of pearls is connected together by nylon line, it can be washed using very dilute soapy water, and dry it immediately;

5. Gently care your pearls. Use chamois leather, cotton or silk cloth to wrap it up when save;

6. For round pearls, make a knot between every two pearls is best, so that will not all fall if broken;

7. Go shop to re-string your pearls every two years is necessary;
 
8. Do not wear your pearls if no need, taking down to save it is the largest protection.

A natural pearl weighing 2.25 kg

It is believed to the second largest pearl that have found in the world.

Bonhams said in a statement that the pearl was discovered in waters near the Philippine island of Palawan, its shape like the human brain and the diameter is up to 15 cm, the pearl weighs 2.25 kg.
 
The estimated price of this pearl is between 300,000 to 400,000 dollars, the auction will be held on Dec. 6 at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, and the lower half of the clamshell which seeds this large peal will be auctioned together.
 
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Why pearl is so beautiful

Under the light, from different angles to observe the pearls, we will find pearls radiating mysterious colors, and will change with the angle change. Some pearls are as drops of glittering dew which are scattered on the lotus leaf of the morning, and some pearls are primitive simplicity and mysterious as the copper cast that comes from the long history river of thousands years.

Why?

It relates to the structure and composition of pearl.

There are 2 factors to determine the pearl's color:

First is the pigment pearl secreted. The pigment will be varyed with the different environment and the different shellfish species. Because the environment is ever changing, so of course the color of pearls is confusing.

Second is the structure of pearls. Pearl is formed by layers nacre (about 0.3 ~ 0.4um thick layer). These nacres are parallel, and the profile is a concentric circles structure. each of nacre is very smooth, and is translucent. So when the light shine on pearl, some would be reflected by the surface, while the other part enter into the pearl inside, and would be reflected by another layer of nacre, of course, there would be a part of light can enter into the deeper layers of nacre. Therefore, on each layer of nacre, there will be some light is reflected, but also part of the light is refracted, and part of the light will pass through Pearl (below).

Because of the light reflection, pearl looks very bright and shiny; because of the light transmission, pearl looks very crystal clear; and because of the refraction, the light will produce interference, resulting in volatile colors.

There is Pearl's own color, and the color of the surrounding environment, coupled with the color generated by refraction and interference, pearl becomes very hazy and mysterious.

But things are far from so simple, the beauty of pearls comes more from its rare, and the happy stories it leaves in the long history river. There are so many of pearl-related stories and they are certainly not ordinary. It has its truth, because the really good pearl is encountered but not importuned.

In natural circumstances, to produce a good pearl is extremely difficult, even if in the artificial breeding conditions, to appear a good pearl is never easy, too. Because a pearl from its mother at birth (larvae) started to the last pearl breeding, for up to 5 years. During this period, There is cold, heat and season turns, food shortages, etc. all will adversely affect the growth of shellfish at any time, then a negative impact on the pearl. When up to harvest time, we could pick out only one or two satisfactory pearls from thousands and millions pearls, if there is a perfect pearl appears, it is simply a miracle.