HOW TO PICK CULTURED PEARLS : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

The value of the pearls lies in its quality. This mainly include the luster, color, shape, size, surface, matching and the skill of string. These composit the judging parameters and rules when selecting and buying Cultured Pearl Jewelry.

Georgeous and splendid Pearls are the dream of every person who loves the Pearls. However, it's very difficult to find the 100% exact same Pearl, no matter it's natural or cultured pearl. The price of the Pearl could vary a lot depending on its size and other quality. Therefore, one must be knowledgeble on how to tell good or bad Pearls before spending money.

1. The color of Pearls (also called skin color)
There are many different kinds of Colors Pearls can display. For Tahitian Pearls, the best color is the Black Peapock Color. For Akoya saltwater Cultured Pearls, the best color is the white with rosy overtone, white with pinkish overtone, or pinkish with rosy overtone. Freshwater Cultured Pearls have 3 natural colors from oysters (without dye), they are white, lavender and cream.

2. The Luster of Pearls
Luster is the formost important parameter in judging Pearl Quality, same as the luster of Diamonds to the quality of Diamonds. Without Luster, Pearls won't be considered high grade even all other qualities are good. The highest class pearls must have the highest shiny luster. The luster of Pearls are mainly decided by the Thickness and Physical entity of the Pearl Layer. It also was affected by the health of the harboring oyster, the temperature of the sea water, the culturing speed and length of the growth of the oyster, etc. If all conditions are well, the luster of the pearl will be high. Luster is not only the main quality to judge when one buy pearls, but also is the main factor in deciding the price of the pearls.

3. The Shape of Pearls
a. Round Shape Pearls - The rounder the Pearls, the better. The best is the Complete Round Pearl, some people call it "pan walking pearls", because if it is put on the surface of the horizontal pan, it will roll around continuously. This shape of pearls are very rare, thus very expensive. b. Symmetrical Pearls - Tear Drop, Button, Egg, Pear, etc. In general these shape of pearls are much less precious than the round or near round shape pearls. But those shape has its own charms. Round Shape offers the feeling of perfection and high class, and the symmetrical pearls give the outgoing and romantic feelings. c. Irregular Shape Pearls - These types of pearls are the least expensive ones. Since they are easily being manipulated, therefore the jewelry designers like to use them as the key composites to invent many types of artistic animals, flowers, and other kind of totem jewelry. Of course, they can also make many kinds of necklaces, bracelets, pendants, etc.

4. The Smoothness of the Pearl Surface
The surface of the Pearls is best to be smooth and shiny. However, it's hard to find the perfect surface as pearls are the organic products from the living organisms. Therefore, the pearls will have somewhat imperfections, such as the wrinkles, the black scar, the broken line, the outstreching, etc. These imperfections definitely affect the beauty of the Pearls.
Judging the surface of the Pearls is the same as judging the surface of the diamonds. It is very rare that the surface of the pearls are completely and perfectly smooth. The occurance of little, medium or many imperfections are mainly due to the growth environment. One can directly judge the surface scars using the bare eye. If you can't find any imperfections using yuor bare eye, those pearls are considered the high grade ones. If the imperfections are obvious of course the pearl will be graded much less. Normally a very high luster and shiny Pearl will cover some of the imperfections. Therefore, if a buyer does not want to pay very high price to buy perfect pearls, one can choose the shiny pearls with little imperfections.

5. The Size of Pearls
The Size of the Pearls has a great deal in determining the value of the pearls. In general, the bigger, the more value. In the early times, the natural pearls are relatively large in size. From the view of the modern Pearl Culture Industry, the South Sea and Tahitian Cultured Pearls are larger than the Freshwater or Saltware Cultured Pearls. Because the South Sea and Tahitian Pearls are cultured and Harvested fro the natural, large Oysters, and those oysters can accomodate the larger size Pearls. Moreover, the water temperature is higher in those areas, and the growth rate of the oysters are faster. Therefore, the Pearl Ingrediants these oysters secreted are 8 times more comparing to the Japanese Akoya Oysters.

6. The Matching of the Pearls
Pearls are used to produce many different types of jewelry. If grading the Pearl Ring or Pendant, then the grade is toward the single pearl on it. However, if we grade the pear necklace or bracelet, then the grade has to be considered toward the whole strand. If the whole strand of Pearls makes each and every pearl in sync and brings harmony, this is considered good matching. The size, color, surface, shape, and overtone of the whole strand of pearls have to be uniformed. These are highly important when pearl jewelry is being made.

7. The Artwork of the Pearls
When producing pearl necklaces and bracelets, the skill to sting the pearls are very important. A very luminous, round and splendid strand of pearls will be easily broken if not strung well between each pearl, and resulted in scars, chips of the expensive pearls. Also, the position of where pearls are drilled also should be measured and considered. One shall choose the center and appropriate place to drill the pearl, and also glue tightly if making stud earrings and pendants.

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