What are pearls worth today?
The value
of the pearls in jewelry is determined by a combination of the luster, color,
size, lack of surface flaw and symmetry that are appropriate for the type of
pearl under consideration. Among those attributes, luster is the most important
differentiator of pearl quality according to jewelers. All factors being equal,
however, the larger the pearl the more valuable it is. Large, perfectly round
pearls are rare and highly valued. Teardrop-shaped pearls are often used in
pendants.
Shapes
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. Semi-rounds are also used in necklaces or in pieces where the shape of
the pearl can be disguised to look like it is a perfectly round pearl. Button
pearls are like a slightly flattened round pearl and can also make a necklace,
but are more often used in single pendants or earrings where the back half of
the pearl is covered, making it look like a larger, round pearl.
Pear shaped pearls are
sometimes referred to as teardrop pearls and are most often seen in earrings,
pendants, or as a center pearl in a necklace. Baroque pearls have a different
appeal to them than more standard shapes because they are often highly
irregular and make unique and interesting shapes. They are also commonly seen
in necklaces. Circled pearls are characterized by concentric ridges, or rings,
around the body of the pearl.
In
general, cultured pearls are less valuable than natural pearls, and imitation
pearls are less valuable than cultured pearls. One way that jewelers can
determine whether a pearl is cultivated or natural is to have a gem lab perform
an x-ray of the pearl. If the x-ray reveals a nucleus, the pearl is likely a
bead-nucleated saltwater pearl. If no nucleus is present, but irregular and
small dark inner spots indicating a cavity are visible, combined with
concentric rings of organic substance, the pearl is likely a cultured
freshwater. Cultured freshwater pearls can often be confused for natural pearls
which present as homogeneous pictures which continuously darken toward the
surface of the pearl. Natural pearls will often show larger cavities where
organic matter has dried out and decomposed.
Some
imitation pearls are simply made of mother-of-pearl, coral or conch, while
others are made from glass and are coated with a solution containing fish
scales called essence d’Orient. Although imitation pearls look the part, they
do not have the same weight or smoothness as real pearls, and their luster will
also dim greatly.
Baroque
pearl
Baroque
pearls are simply pearls that have an irregular shape. Freshwater pearls are
most commonly baroque, because freshwater pearls are mantle-tissue nucleated
instead of bead nucleated. Thus these pearls are rarely perfectly spherical and
can appear oval or ovoid.
Akoya
pearls (commonly known as cultured saltwater pearls) can also be baroque, but
the baroque shape of an akoya pearl differs from that of a freshwater pearl.
This is because akoya pearls are bead-nucleated; they have a perfectly
spherical bead within. So in the event that a harvested akoya pearl turns out
to be baroque, it has a small tail that comes to a sharp point behind a rounded
front, in other words, it is teardrop-shaped.
The most
valuable of baroque pearls are the South Sea and Tahitian pearls. These pearls
are produced by the Pinctada margaritifera, and the Pinctada maxima
(black-lipped oysters and white-lipped oysters). Although these are a variety
of cultured saltwater pearls, the amount of time that the pearls are cultured
dramatically increases the depth of the nacre, and the likelihood of producing
a baroque pearl. Most Tahitian pearl farm harvests, for example, produce more
than 40 percent baroque and semi-baroque pearls.
Lengths
of Pearl Necklaces
There is
a special vocabulary used to describe the length of pearl necklaces.
While most other necklaces are simply referred to by their physical
measurement, pearl necklaces are named by how low they hang when worn around
the neck. A collar sits directly against the throat and does not hang down the
neck at all; collars are often made up of multiple strands of pearls. Pearl
chokers nestle just at the base of the neck. The size called a princess comes
down to or just below the collarbone. A matinee of pearls falls just above the
breasts. An opera will be long enough to reach the breastbone or sternum of the
wearer, and longer still, a pearl rope is any length that falls down farther
than an opera.
Necklaces
can also be classified as uniform, or graduated. In a uniform strand of pearls,
all pearls are classified as the same size, but actually fall in a range. A
uniform strand of akoya pearls, for example, will measure within 0.5 mm. So a
strand will never be 7 mm, but will be 6.5-7 mm. Freshwater pearls, Tahitian
pearls, and South Sea pearls all measure to a full millimeter when considered
uniform.
A
graduated strand of pearls most often has at least 3 mm of differentiation from
the ends to the center of the necklace. Popularized in the United States during the 1950s
by the GIs bringing strands of cultured akoya pearls home from Japan, the
graduated style was much more affordable because most of the pearls in any
given strand were small.
Colors of
Pearl Jewelry
Earrings
and necklaces can also be classified on the grade of the color of the pearl.
While white, and more recently black, saltwater pearls are by far the most
popular, other color tints can be found on pearls from the oceans. Pink, blue,
champagne, green and even purple saltwater pearls can be encountered, but to
collect enough pearls to form a complete string of the same size and same shade
can take years.
Want to learn
more? please read, What to Look for When Buying Pearls? Your Guide to Buying Pearls and QuickTips on Having Your Jewellery Custom Made.
Posts
0 comments
Post a Comment