History of Pearls

The pearl, warm with inner glow and shimmering iridescence, has been one of the most highly prized, sought after gems. Early man probably discovered the first pearl while searching the seashore for food. Countless references to this gem of the sea has been found from the earliest times in both religions and mythology.

Cleopatra reportedly dissolved a single pearl in a glass of wine and drank it, simply to win a wager with Marc Antony that she could consume the wealth of an entire country in just one meal.

Ancient Egyptians prized pearls so much they were buried with them. Ancient Romans considered pearls the ultimate symbol of wealth and social standing. The Greeks held pearls in high esteem for both its unrivaled beauty and its association with love and marriage.

During the Dark Ages fair maidens of nobility cherished their delicate pearl necklaces. Gallant knights, believing that pearls possessed a magic to protect them from harm often wore them onto the battlefield.

During the Renaissance, the royal courts of Europe were awash in pearls. Because pearls were so highly regarded, a number of European countries passed laws forbidding pearls to be worn by those not of noble birth.

The discovery of pearls in Central American waters during the European expansion into the New World added to the wealth of Europe. However greedy harvesting of the sea grown gems depleted all of the American pearl oyster populations by the 17th Century.

Until the early 1900's, natural pearls were accessible only to the rich and famous. Natural pearls were so highly sought-after that in 1916, famed French jeweler Jacques Cartier bought his landmark store on New York's famous Fifth Avenue by trading two pearl necklaces for the property.  

Formation of Pearls

Today through the process of pearl cultivation these gems are now affordable and available to all. Cultured pearls share the same physical properties as natural pearls and are also grown by live oysters. The only difference is that cultured pearls are grown with a little help from man.

Pearls are grown by live oysters deep on the ocean floor. Natural pearls begin their life when a foreign object such as a grain of sand or a small parasite lodges itself in the oyster's soft inner body. The oyster senses this irritant and begins to take defensive action by secreting a smooth, hard substance, called nacre, in order to protect itself. As long as the irritant remains, the oyster will continue to secrete the nacre, layer by layer. After a few years of this constant secretion the irritant will be totally encased by silky crystalline coatings, resulting in the gem we call a pearl.

Just exactly how natural pearls are formed is one of natures most prized secrets. Nacre is composed of microscopic crystals that align perfectly with each other. When light passes along the axis of one of these microscopic crystals it is reflected and refracted by other crystals to produce a rainbow of color and light. 

Cultured Pearls

Cultured pearls are produced in almost an identical fashion, except the irritant that causes pearls to secrete the nacre are surgically implanted by man. Live pearl oysters are carefully opened and surgically implanted with a small polished bead and a piece of mantle tissue. This bead serves as the nucleus around which the oyster secrets the nacre that forms the pearl. Once the oysters are nucleated, they are returned to sheltered bays in the sea. These bays, rich in natural nutrients, are where the oysters feed and grow while continuing to deposit layers of nacre around the nuclei. The oysters are moved south to warmer waters in the winter. In order to provide the best growing conditions, nucleated oysters are suspended from rafts. Pearl technicians continuously check water temperatures and feeding conditions daily and move the oysters up or down to take advantage of the best growing conditions.

Pearl-bearing oysters are then periodically lifted from the sea for cleaning and health treatments. Seaweed, barnacles and other undersea growths that might impede feeding are removed from their shells and the shells are treated with medicinal compounds that discourage parasites from injuring the oysters.  

Pearl Jewelry

Millions of oysters are nucleated each year, but only a small proportion will live to bear fine quality cultured pearls. On the average, about fifty percent of the nucleated oysters do not survive to bear pearls. Only twenty percent of those that survive will bear marketable pearls, with the rest being too imperfect and flawed to be used in jewelry. Less than five percent of nucleated oysters will yield pearls that can be considered fine gem quality. When it is time for the harvest, the oysters that have survived the perils of the sea, including typhoons, red tides and attacks from predators are then brought ashore and opened. If everything has gone well throughout the cultivation process the result will be a lovely pearl.

No two cultured pearls will ever be exactly alike. Each pearl possesses its own unique combination of size, shape lustre and color. Assembling pearls into a necklace, a pair of earrings or other jewelry requires refined skills to blend similar looking pearls together so they look as though they match. Most pearls are sorted by experts with highly trained eyes and years of experience.

Once the pearls are sorted they must be drilled with care and precision. Careless handling can cause pearls to be split or ruined. Drill holes even slightly off-center can ruin a necklace or piece of jewelry that depends on symmetrical assembly.

When the pearls are sorted and drilled, they are then strung into necklaces, or assembled into jewelry. Because no two cultured pearls are exactly alike, pearl dealers must cull through about 10,000 pearls to find enough closely matched to be blended and strung into a necklace.  

Pearl Types

Akoya - Grown in China and Japan The classic cultured pearls of Japan are the Akoya pearls. They are the most lustrous of all pearls found anywhere in the world. China has been successful in recent years in producing Akoya pearls within their own waters, but these pearls do not produce as brilliant a lustre as the high quality Japanese Akoya cultured pearls.

Pinctada Maxima White South Sea - Grown in Australia, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines White South Sea cultured pearls are grown in large tropical or semitropical oysters in Australia, Myanmar, Indonesia and other Pacific countries. They generally range in size from 10 mm to 20 mm and command premium prices because of their relative rarity and large size.

Pinctada Margaritifera Tahitian - Grown in French Polynesia Tahitian cultured pearls are grown in a variety of large pearl oysters found primarily in French Polynesia. Their beautiful, unique colors (which can range from light gray to black, and green to purple) and large size can command very high prices.

Hyriopsis Schlegeli Freshwater - Grown in Japan, China and the United States Freshwater pearls can be found in bays and rivers throughout the world. They are easily cultivated from freshwater mollusks in China, Japan and the United States. Many are less lustrous than salt water cultured pearls but their low price, unique shapes and colors have made them popular jewelry items in recent years.

Pteria Penguina Mabe - Grown in Japan, Indonesia, French Polynesia and Australia Mabe pearls are hemispherical cultured pearls grown against the inside shell of an oyster rather than within the oyster’s body. They generally are used in earrings or rings which conceal their flat backs.  

Cultured pearl jewelry is evaluated on the following quality factors:

LUSTRE: A combination of surface brilliance and a deep seated glow. The lustre of a good quality pearl should be bright and not dull. You should be able to see your own reflection clearly on the surface of a pearl. Any pearl that appears too white, dull or chalky indicates low quality.

SURFACE: Cleanliness refers to the absence of disfiguring spots, bumps or cracks on the surface of a pearl. The cleaner the surface of the pearl, the more valuable.

SHAPE: Since cultured pearls are grown by oysters in nature, it is very rare to find a perfectly round pearl. However, the rounder the pearl, the more valuable it is. Baroque pearls, which are asymmetrical in shape, can be lustrous and appealing, and often cost less than round pearls.

COLOR: Cultured pearls come in a variety of colors from rosé to black. While the color of a pearl is really a matter of the wearers preference, usually rosé or silver/white pearls tend to look best on fair skins while cream and gold toned pearls are flattering to darker complexions.

SIZE: Cultured pearls are measured by their diameter in millimeters. They can be smaller than one millimeter in the case of tiny seed pearls, or as large as twenty millimeters for a big South Sea pearl. The larger the pearl, other factors being equal, the more valuable it will be. The average sized pearl sold today is between 7 and 7-1/2 millimeters.