| If you are looking to buy a pearl necklace, then doing a | | | | formed. |
| bit of research will pay off big time. Pearls are great to | | | | When you want to determine the quality and price of |
| look at and have been used as jewelry for hundreds | | | | a pearl, there are several things to look at: |
| of years. In fact, they used to be an adornment, | | | | The lustre is the most important factor. Lustre is the |
| reserved only for the very wealthy. That was naturally | | | | combined effect of the inner glow and outer brilliance. |
| because of the way natural pearls are formed; a small | | | | These two combined, make the pearl seem solid and |
| piece of sand encased within a mussel or oyster for | | | | dense. If it lacks lustre, it may seem brittle, chalky and |
| up to 10 years. | | | | dull. |
| Today, natural pearls like that are still very valuable but | | | | The smoothness of the pearl's surface is the second |
| becoming increasingly scarce due to overfishing and | | | | most important factor. A pearl will always have |
| destruction of the shellfish' natural habitat. | | | | blemishes, as it is grown organically, but the high quality |
| Cultured specimens are organic pearls, often | | | | pearl, will only have minute faults, visible only from up |
| freshwater, which resemble the quality, look and feel | | | | close. |
| of the natural grown. For this reason, they are very | | | | The shape of the pearl is also very important. Few |
| popular and much cheaper to buy than natural pearls. | | | | pearls are born perfectly round. It is much more |
| The Chinese mastered cultivation 700 years ago, but | | | | common for pearls to be shaped a bit differently. The |
| the West caught up much later. | | | | rounder the pearl, the higher quality it is considered. |
| Pearls come in almost all colors of the rainbow: white, | | | | The color of the pearl is not really a determining factor |
| black, brown, cream, pink, silver and gold. The pearl's | | | | for a pearl. That is mostly a preference of whomever |
| color is determined by the water and environment, as | | | | is the buyer. |
| well as the kind of shellfish in which the pearl was | | | | |