[Jewelry making - Article 00762] - Re: [Orchid] Pearls of wisdom

[Daniel R. Spirer]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========


    Virtually all pearls in the marketplace today are cultured.  The
    term "cultured" refers to the fact that the pearl has been induced by
    man; either through the insertion of a round shell bead nucleus,
    created from shells of freshwater mollusks from the United States,
    into a salt water oyster or through the insertion of a piece of
    mantle tissue into a freshwater mussel (although some people now
    claim that freshwater pearl growers are using freshwater pearls that
    they have rounded off as starters for freshwater pearls as well). 

    Cultured pearls can be both inexpensive and expensive.  Strands of
    black Tahitian South Sea cultured pearls can run into the tens, and
    sometimes even hundreds, of thousands of dollars.  Strands of very
    fine cultured Japanese cultured salt water pearls also are regularly
    thousands of dollars, as are whatever the largest new freshwater
    pearls that are in the market (It seems that every year they produce
    larger and rounder freshwaters and when the new, larger size is
    introduced they are always expensive.  The price usually drops after
    a few years when they have managed to step the size up another
    notch.)  On the other hand there are cultured low quality freshwater
    pearls that can sell for a few dollars a strand. 

    There are virtually no natural pearls available anywhere in the
    world today, except at auctions.  Usually the pearls have aged quite
    dramatically and are no longer nearly as attractive as they once
    were.  There are natural seed pearls available (very small pearls)
    and occasionally someone will find a few naturals (I own one that
    someone found off the coast of Baja CA) but they are virtually
    unheard of  for the most part.  We used to be able to get Mississippi
    River pearls, that I believe to be natural (from old stocks) that are
    always wing shaped.  These show up on and off in the marketplace and
    quite often in antique jewelry. 

    All pearls are enhanced in some form, either through bleaching
    processes, dying or irradiation.  The dyed and irradiated pearls are
    usually easy to recognize because the colors are so vividly intense
    that it is quite obvious they aren't natural.  However there is some
    material of a lighter tone that is dyed (check the silk for color)
    and there are not many ways to tell if pearls have simply gone
    through some bleaching process.  Natural colors of pearls come from 
    a variety of factors, including but not limited to, the color of the
    mollusk and the actual area where the starter is placed in the
    mollusk. 

    You might want to look into taking a GIA course on pearls as a way
    to vastly expand your knowledge of pearls and their differences. 

Daniel R. Spirer, GG
Spirer Somes Jewelers
1794 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-491-6000
spirersomes AT earthlink.net
www.spirersomes.com


____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________