|
1.
Are these pearls natural, cultured, or imitation?
2.
How much should I expect to spend on pearls?
3.
Is there a grading system for overall quality?
4.
What is the shape of the pearls?
5.
Do these pearls exhibit good luster or have “orient”?
6.
How does the cleanliness of the surface rank?
7.
What are the size of the pearls?
8.
How well matched are the pearls?
Are these
pearls natural, cultured, or imitation?
Pure Pearls carries only genuine cultured pearls. Fine
cultured pearls are the most popular pearls today and
what you see when you go to any retail jewelry shop.
Natural pearls are extremely rare due to overfishing
and pollution, thus a pearl diver may dive a lifetime
and only end up with a handful of pearls, in which most
will probably not be very pretty.
The difference between a natural pearl and a cultured
pearl is that natural pearls are a product of nature
and cultured pearls are a product of nature helped along
by science. A nucleus is implanted into the mollusk
to stimulate nacre production and over a few years nacre
builds up layer by layer ultimately creating the pearl.
The nacre is the key determiner in the pearls luster.
Although the pearls are cultured, this doesn’t
mean they are all beautiful. In fact, many are not,
especially for the larger pearls which are in the mollusk
for a longer period of time and susceptible to more
adverse conditions. This is why larger round cultured
pearls are so round. Natural pearls and cultured pearls
are produced in rivers, lakes, and bays by mollusks.
Imitation pearls, also known as “faux”,
“simulated,” and “semi-cultured”
are not produced in a mollusk or anything living for
that matter. Many are glass, plastic, or shell beads
dipped in ground fish scales and lacquered with pearlescence.
It is easy to notice the difference when placing them
side by side with a cultured pearl. Cultured pearls
have an inner glow but imitation pearls only have a
surface shine. You can also use the “tooth test”
to spot an imitation pearl. If you run the pearl along
the edge of your upper teeth, the genuine cultured pearl
will have a gritty feel but the fake pearl will not.
If you do a comparison on cultured pearls and fake pearls,
the difference is very apparent. This does not work
with false teeth, however.
How much should I expect
to spend on pearls?
Considering pearls do not go out of style and can be
worn with any style, we believe you should not compromise
the quality of your pearl purchase! We believe you should
purchase the best quality pearls you can afford within
your budget. You need not spend a fortune on fine quality
pearls.
Is there a grading system
for overall quality?
There is not an industry-wide grading system for pearls.
For comparative purposes, many pearl companies use the
A, AA, AAA system to grade cultured pearls on overall
quality. Pure Pearls only offers pearls considered of
the finest quality at other retail stores.
What is the shape of the
pearls?
Ask the jeweler about the shape of the pearl. There
are round, off-round “three-quarter round”,
teardrop, and baroque shaped pearls among others. Baroque
pearls can be symmetrical or asymmetrical.
Do these pearls exhibit good
luster or have “orient”?
Luster is the glow that emanates from within the pearl
as a result of light reflection. The higher the pearls
reflective qualities, the more intense the luster. Pure
Pearls offer pearls with high to exceptionally high
luster with orient. Luster can range from poor, fair,
medium, high, very high, or exceptionally high. Orient
is the result of the nacre layers aligning perfectly
on top of one another which creates a prismatic effect.
How does the cleanliness
of the surface rank?
Cultured pearls are a product of nature, thus they all
have some imperfections just as any other product of
nature does. Our pearls are free of large blemishes
and imperfections. There is no universal grading system
for cleanliness of the pearls complexion, but generally,
descriptions include “exceptional,” “very
good,” “average,” and so forth. Other
terms may include “flawless,” “slight
imperfections, or “imperfect.” Imperfect
pearls mean they have a high degree of flaws; thus,
they are “poor.”
What are the size of the
pearls?
Size is a key determining factor in the price of pearls.
Pearls get their size from the thickness of nacre and
the size of the implant nucleus. The thicker the nacre,
the more luminous the pearl. Beware the size of the
nucleus because if the implant is large, the nacre will
not be as thick, resulting in cracking and discoloration.
Pure Pearls does not consider pearls with thin nacre
acceptable and only offers high quality pearls with
thick nacre. Nacre thickness can be confirmed by an
expert.
How well matched are the
pearls?
Pearls that are not well matched are very noticeable
and do not look appealing. Pure Pearls takes extra care
to match the pearls in each piece of jewelry.
|
