Hi Everybody!  Happy Howlloweeen!!! I’ve been wondering what to be this coming Holiday (last year I was a vampire, which doesn’t exactly rate very high on the old originality meter!), so I started looking around for a few ideas. I came across so many examples of gorgeous costumes incorporating pearls as the major accessory; I knew I had to write about it! Whether you’re going for a Victorian look, Pirate, Gothic Bride, and yes- the Classic Witch, it seems that pearls are the perfect adornment. Who knew?!  

While I wouldn’t recommend donning your most treasured pearls out for this coming night of Thrills and Chills (that is unless you’re going to a glittering Masque Ball where jewels are expected) breaking out your Freshwater pearls, or even picking up some synthetics at your local costume jewelry store will add glamour and a splash of elegance to your costume. Wow- pearls really do go with everything!!

Dear PurePearls.com,
 
My son’s name is ____ 8 years, (DOB 31st May, 2001 time 1.49pm) as per his astrology chart, he is supposed to put pure pearl. Can you please suggest to me what type of pearl I have to give my son?
 
Thanks Regards,

S.
 
Dear S.,
 
Thank you for your interest in PurePearls.com! We get requests from time to time regarding the proper gems for people as determined by their Astrological Charts, and although I am no expert, I can say that the modern cultured pearl that is closest in nature to a purely natural pearl is the Chinese Freshwater pearl.
 
Freshwater pearls are “tissue-nucleated”, which means that a surgical technician causes the mollusk to stimulate pearl sac formation by implanting a 1mm square piece of donor mantle tissue from another mollusk into the hosts’ mantle. This irritant causes the host to form a pearl sac around the donor mantle tissue square and begin secreting nacre in order to smooth over the irritant. Gradually, a beautiful pearl is formed, and the initial piece of tissue dissolves to leave a pure, round pearl that is composed completely of crystalline material. This is the same process by which natural pearls are formed, however in nature, it is usually a parasitic worm or piece of deitrus that finds it’s way into the mollusk that will stimulate the animal into creating a pearl- there is no human intervention involved.
 
All cultured saltwater pearls such as the famous Akoya, the Black Tahitian pearls and luxurious White and Golden South Seas pearls from Australia and the Philippines are all “bead-nucleated”, which means that a large, round, smooth Freshwater bead is inserted into the host oyster along with a piece of mantle tissue to stimulate pearl sac formation. When the oyster is finished covering the internal bead nuclei with nacre (crystalline material), the farmer harvests the oyster and the pearl inside. This pearl basically consists of a few millimeters of crystal covering a round bead- this is part of the reason why some of these pearls are so sensitive to chemicals, sweats and oils- the thin covering of nacre is eaten up and wears away, exposing the bead inside.
 
Almost all of our round Freshwater pearls are ½ drilled for mounting purposes- we receive them this way from the auctions and our overseas suppliers; your best bet would be to try and find larger Baroque pearls (Off-Round, Oval-ish, or Drop-Shaped- not spherical) that have yet to be processed and drilled- we do have a selection of these that are available, and I would be happy to pick out the largest, most lustrous and luminous pearls of the lot for you to choose from, or if you must absolutely have round, un-drilled pearls, I can try to see what is available in the matched stock that I have- you never know! I wish you the best of luck in finding the proper gem for your son.
 
Sincerely,
 
Ashley McNamara
Vice President of Sales

Hi Everybody! I have some exciting news- we are debuting a new look for our webpage! It features open, airy space and removal of a lot of cramped text that we thought took up too much room. Also featured prominently are our top 3 item categories: Necklaces, Earrings and Pendants for faster and more convenient shopping. We would like to know what you think!! Please feel free to comment directly below, or you can contact us at pearls@purepearls.com with your questions, suggestions and ideas. Customer feedback is extremely important to us in our mission to create and maintain the best Online Shopping experience; we are looking forward to hearing from you!