Pearl - What is pearl

Lustrous, glistening gems

(Pearls are) equally becoming to everybody, lovely with almost every ensemble, appropriate for almost any occasion, and indispensable in every woman’s wardrobe. —Madame Genevieve Antoine, French style-guru. Yes, you simply cannot go wrong with pearls.

For centuries, the pearl has been regarded as an object of beauty, an oft-used metaphor for something rare, refined, and admirable. Minute calcium carbonate crystals caught within the mantle folds of living shelled molluscs — oysters, mussels, and clams — transform into pearls. These gems display a natural iridescence caused by the coating of nacre secreted within the mollusc.

Gem-quality natural pearls are scarce and involve prohibitive costs. Single natural pearls are often sold as collectors’ items or set as a centrepiece in jewellery. Cultured pearls, farmed with human intervention through a controlled process, are excellent and affordable alternatives.

Pearly colours

The main categories of cultured pearls are Akoya, Tahitian, South Sea, and Freshwater pearls.

Akoya pearls are mostly round and occur in neutral hues of white to grey—and, rarely, blue—with pink, green, or silver overtones.

Tahitian pearls form in the Black-lip oyster as rounds, circles, and baroque. Although hailed as the only naturally occurring “black” pearls, Tahitian pearls are very dark blue, brown, purple, green, or silver with peacock overtones.

South Sea pearls are from the Silver-lip oysters and range from white to golden with neutral, rose, silver, and champagne overtones. These are the largest-sized cultured pearls, measuring up to 20mm. White South Sea pearls are primarily from Australia, while the golden ones are now mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Freshwater pearls, grown in mussels, come in various shapes and colours, such as white, pink, peach, and lavender.

While dyed cultured pearls are pretty inexpensive, genuinely valuable pearls are never dyed or treated.

Did you know?

Traditionally worn by brides, white pearls stand for purity. Akoya pearls are the most common white pearl type.

In 1916, Pierre Cartier exchanged a pearl necklace for the mansion that houses the landmark Cartier showroom in New York. This perfectly matched two-strand necklace of 128 natural South Sea pearls took years to assemble.

A birthstone for June, pearls also mark the 30th wedding anniversary. They are measured in millimetres or mommes; one momme equals 3.75 grams. Pearls may be as tiny as 1mm.

These organic gems measure 2.5 to 4.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness. They are delicate and require careful handling and storage.

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