Faceted Pearls Among the Rest
Published On: 12-10-2011 01:09am
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Category: FAQS
Here is some pearl knowledge to help with defining types, shapes and origins of pearls.
There are primarily 4 types of pearls: Akoya, Freshwater, Tahitian, Awabi and South Sea. Shapes may include round, coin, keshi, biwa, baroque, button, flat-sided and many, many more. Natural pearls are very rare and hard to find. Most pearls are cultured but many people think of cultured pearls as the smooth perfectly round shapes. Cultured means that they are grown and farmed. Humans insert a mother of pearl pebble or other object into the mollusk. Over time, it is coated with the nacre protein excreted by the muscle and thus forms a pearl. The longer it is coated, the thicker the pearl. The shape of the pearl can be controlled by the object laid within the mollusk. This is how we have special shapes of pearls such as stars and hearts.
Akoya pearls are from the cool ocean waters of the Pacific just off the coasts of Japan and China. These are perfectly round and come in natural colors of ivory and peaches but can be dyed. These pearls are usually much like the freshwater pearl with the acception of being much larger and more lustrous.
Freshwater pearls are mostly farmed and found in the warm fresh waters like ponds or lakes. These are the most common and economically sound for a small pocket book. They are also the easiest to dye.
Tahitian pearls are grown in a black lipped oyster of the South Pacific. They are perfect is shape and usually come in dark colors like gray, black, purples and greens.
Awabi pearls are the Japanese name for Abalone pearl. They are grown in the Abalone mollusk found in the Atlantic waters. Abalone nacre has a peacock like iridescent color that gives an awabi pearl their multi-colored rainbow effect.
South Sea pearls are grown in the South Pacific waters by the white lipped oyster. They are perfectly round as well and come in white, silver and gold.
Faceted pearls are a rare gemstone. Because they are soft, they tend to flake or chip easily. It takes an experienced hand to facet pearls. Faceted pearls must be hand faceted due to their soft nucleus. They last just as long as freshwater pearls and hold their color well. So if you are interested in pearls, you must understand why they are not perfectly faceted. You won't find the more valuable pearls like Tahitian pearls faceted as it degrades their value.
Pearls available are generally 13 mm or less.
However, the largest pearl ever found was called the Pearl of Allah at 14 pounds.
Read more on the Pearl of Allah...
You can read more on the genetics and history of pearls...
