Pearls are one of the oldest and most cherished gems, creating histories, sonnets, poems and spiritual parables. Ancient Greeks believed them to be the tears of Aphrodite, the Goddess of love, and Egyptians believed them to be associated with Isis, the Goddess of healing and life. No other gem has captivated our fascination and admiration like the pearl, and they have been treasured by people around the world. Whether in strands or a single perfect gem, they invoke beauty, refinement and style and are favorites for brides and bridesmaids to wear for a wedding.
Pearls come in eight basic shapes: round, semi-round, button, drop, pear, oval, baroque, and circled. Perfectly round pearls are the rarest and most valuable shape. Almost all pearls are a product of ‘culturing’, meaning that an oyster is ‘nucleated’ with a bead or piece of mantle tissue by hand, then put back in the water for several years to allow the oyster to coat the foreign object with its special luster (nacre) and produce a pearl.
Pearls that are grown in cold salt water oysters are called Akoya pearls. The largest of pearls are South Sea and Tahitian pearls that come in a variety of colors and are grown in oysters that are the size of dinner plates. They are grown in the warmer waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, around Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. There are some farms in the Burma and Kuri Bay areas. All others that are grown in lakes, rivers and streams are termed Freshwater and used to have the ‘rice crispy’ texture but with new techniques are getting rounder and rounder in appearance.
China is the largest producer of cultured pearls in the world, both salt water and fresh water. Japan remains the largest clearing house for salt water pearls, sorting, grading and stringing the precious gems and sending them out across the globe. Once you see a beautiful pearl, you will be under the spell of their special luster and iridescence too.
