Unveiling Nature's Gems: The Fascinating World of Pearls

Warm and delicate pearls are the beginning of a woman’s elegance and are the jewelry of a woman’s life. Every woman must have them! Pearls symbolize health, purity, wealth and happiness and have been loved by people since ancient times. However, how much do you know about the seven classifications of pearls?
Now I have sorted it out so that everyone can have a deeper understanding of pearls.

Pearl is a hard, smooth product produced by molluscs (mainly oysters), mainly produced in pearl oysters and pinctada molluscs; and minerals containing calcium carbonate (aragonite) produced due to endocrine effects ) beads are composed of a large number of tiny aragonite crystals.

1. According to the causes of formation, pearls can be divided into two categories: natural pearls and artificially cultured pearls.

1.1. Natural pearls: refer to pearls formed from wild shellfish in the natural environment. Natural pearls can be formed in various environments suitable for growth such as sea water, lakes, and rivers. This kind of pearls are usually not round in shape, rough in texture, and have poor luster. They are very rare and are currently not available in the market.

1.2. Artificially cultured pearls: refers to artificially inserting pearl nuclei or foreign objects into artificially cultivated pearl mussels in the natural environment. In fact, they are not cultured pearls themselves, but cultured pearl oysters, and their nacre is still the natural content of the pearl oyster body. secretions.
In the current pearl market, most of them are artificially cultured pearls. Artificially cultured pearls can be further divided into several types according to the characteristics of the bead core and foreign matter: nucleated cultured pearls, non-nucleated cultured pearls, regenerated pearls, and shell-attached pearls.

2. According to the production environment, it can be divided into two categories: seawater pearls and freshwater pearls.

2.1. Seawater pearls: refer to pearls produced by seawater shellfish. They are bred in the sea and their shells cannot be kept in captivity. According to the growth area, they are generally divided into South Sea pearls, Tahitian pearls, Australian white pearls, akoya pearls, and maple pearls. Saltwater pearls are generally of higher quality than freshwater pearls.
2.2. Freshwater pearls: refers to pearls produced by freshwater mussels, which are generally produced in various lakes, rivers and streams. About 95% of the world's freshwater pearls are produced in China, followed by Japan and the United States. Therefore, freshwater pearls are generally also called Chinese freshwater pearls.

3. Classification by color
Pearls can be divided according to the color they present: white pearls, black pearls, pink pearls, golden pearls, purple pearls, gray pearls, variegated pearls and dyed pearls.

4. Classification by form
According to the shape of pearls, they can be divided into round beads, oval beads, flat beads, special-shaped beads, etc. Round pearls refer to pearls that are round in shape. They are divided into three types according to their roundness, namely full round pearls, round pearls and nearly round pearls.
Generally speaking, round pearls are recognized as the most beautiful pearls and are coveted by everyone. Therefore, the rounder the pearl, the higher its value.

5. Classification by size
Pearl size is measured in mm (millimeter). Pearls from 3mm to 5mm are of small size, pearls of 6mm to 7mm are of moderate size, and pearls of 8mm and above are of large size.

6. According to gloss classification, it can be divided into:
A. Extremely strong: the reflected light is very bright, sharp and even, and the image is very clear
B. Strong: The reflected light is bright and the image of the object can be seen on the surface
C. Medium: The reflected light is not bright, the object can be seen on the surface, but the image is blurry
D. Weak: All reflected light is diffuse reflected light, the surface gloss is dull, and there is almost no image.

7. According to the smoothness of the pearl skin
A. Flawless: The surface is smooth and delicate when viewed with the naked eye, and it is extremely difficult to observe defects on the surface.
B. Slight flaws: There are very few flaws on the surface, like pinpoints, which are difficult to observe with the naked eye.
C. Minor flaws: There are minor flaws that are easily visible to the naked eye.
D. Defects: The defects are obvious and occupy less than a quarter of the surface area.
E. Heavy defects: The defects are very obvious and seriously occupy more than a quarter of the surface area.

 

Take you into the beautiful world of natural pearls:
South sea pearls

Tahitian pearls

Australian white pearl

Akoya Pearl

Mabe pearls

Freshwater Pearls

How to clean pearl jewelry

1. Fine velvet cloth
Pearl jewelry that has been worn for a long time is easy to be stained with skin oils and absorb dust. You only need to carefully wipe each pearl with a delicate velvet cloth to quickly remove the dirt on the surface of the pearl and restore its bright luster.

2. Soapy water
Pearl is a highly active gemstone. Whether it is acidic or alkaline chemicals, it is easy to cause damage to it. Therefore, it is best to dilute a little soap with water in a ratio of 1:10, and then use a flannel cloth to soak in the soap. Water scrubs the pearls repeatedly.

3. Purified water
You can also directly use distilled or purified water, put in the pearl jewelry and rub it gently, then change the water once, and clean it repeatedly to clean the dust and grease on the surface of the pearl. Finally, wipe the moisture on the surface of the pearl with a fine velvet cloth.

4. Cleaning agent
Buy a special detergent in the market, dip it in a cotton swab and clean the pearls carefully. Cleaning is a careful job, and only patient cleaning can make a pearl necklace look brand new. If you get sweaty every time you wear it, you can wipe it clean carefully with a soft wet towel.

How to maintain pearl jewelry

1. Do not come into contact with acids and alkaline chemicals
Pearls are organic gemstones. Therefore, in order to prevent the luster and color of pearls from being affected, you should avoid exposing pearls to acids, alkalis and chemicals, such as perfume, soap, setting water, etc., so please wear them after applying makeup and spraying perfume. Put on pearl jewelry.

2. Stay away from fume areas
There are tiny pores on the surface of pearls, so it is not advisable to expose pearls to relatively polluted air. Pearls will absorb impurities in the air. Be especially careful in the kitchen when cooking with beautiful pearls. Steam and oil fumes may penetrate into the pearls and cause them to turn yellow.

3． Care with cashmere cloth
Every time you wear pearls, you must wipe them clean before putting them away, so as to maintain the luster of the pearls. It is best to use sheepskin or fine flannel instead of tissue paper, because the friction of some tissue paper will wear the pearls and make the surface of the pearls lose their luster.

4． Do not wash with water
Try not to use water to clean pearl jewelry. Water can enter the tiny pores on the surface of the pearl, making it difficult to wipe it dry. It may also ferment with impurities in other pores, and the beading thread may also turn green. If you sweat a lot while wearing it, wipe it carefully with a soft wet towel, dry it naturally and put it back in the jewelry box.

5. Requires close contact with air
Do not keep pearls in a safe for a long time, and do not seal them with plastic bags. The pearls need fresh air, and they need to be taken out to air-dry every few months to let them breathe. If placed in a closed drying box for a long time, pearls will easily turn yellow.

6.  Avoid sun exposure
Since pearls contain a certain amount of water, they should be placed in a cool place and try to avoid direct sunlight to prevent dehydration and yellowing or loss of luster.

7. Anti-scratch with hard objects
It is best to store pearl jewelry separately to prevent other hard jewelry and gemstones from scratching the pearl cortex. If you even wear the pearl necklace on clothes, try to choose clothes with soft and smooth texture to avoid too rough materials that may scratch the precious pearls.

8. Store flat
Do not hang the bead chain for a long time. Over time, the bead string will loosen, deform, and easily break. It is best to store the bead chain flat.

9. Regular inspection and line replacement every 3 years
Beading threads tend to loosen over time, so you need to regularly check whether the threads are loose and replace them. It is best to re-string pearls every 3 years, depending on how often they are worn. To prevent the bead string from suddenly breaking when you need to wear it, precious pearls will usually be lost.

10. Remedies for yellowing pearls
After the pearls turn yellow, they can be soaked in dilute hydrochloric acid to dissolve the yellowed shell and restore the crystal-clear, brilliant and charming color of the pearls. But if the color turns too yellow, it will be difficult to reverse.