A string of pearls is one of the most traditional gifts given to a woman who is about to be married. It is most common for the pearls to be handed down through generations of women in a family – each mother passing the necklace on to her daughter to wear on her special day. Pearls have been used in necklaces as long as people have been making jewellery. Perhaps this is because they were among the easiest precious substances to obtain.
Pearls are formed naturally by some bi-valve mollusks, such as oysters. The pearl commonly begins as a piece of grit or other irritant inside the mollusk’s shell – to ease the irritation, the mollusk will gradually deposit layer after layer of calcium carbonate around the irritation. Pearls are most often white, with a cream, yellow or pinkish tinge to them – their iridescent glow is down to the combination of layers surrounding the irritant in the mollusk’s shell. Darker coloured pearls are more rare – green, blue, brown, purple and black pearls are popular, but more expensive. Black pearls are the most rare, and consequently often most expensive pearls available.
There are two types of pearl – saltwater and freshwater. Freshwater pearls are found in mollusks that live in lakes, streams and other bodies of fresh water; saltwater pearls grow in ocean-dwelling molluscs. In jewellery, pearls are graded based on their size, colour, symmetry and lustre – generally speaking, the bigger the pearl, the more valuable it is.
When shopping for a string of pearls online, be sure you know the wearer’s neck measurement – the longer the string of pearls, the higher the price is likely to be, and as such, you may want to consider a pearl pendant instead of a full string of pearls. Be sure you get a guarantee of quality, as well as a clearly defined return policy.
© Jewellery Box.org.uk 2006.
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