Types of Pearls

Freshwater Pearls - These pearls usually come from China and are grown in freshwater. They look very similar to Akoya pearls and cost about 1/5 of the price.

Akoya Pearls - These pearls usually come from Japan. They look similar to Freshwater pearls, the only difference is they generally have a slightly higher luster and are more symmetrical.

South Sea Pearls - These pearls usually come from Australia. They are larger than Freshwater or Akoya pearls and cost more as well.

Tahitian Pearls - This is some of the most expensive pearl jewelry you can buy. Like the South Sea pearls they are also very large.

Pearl Quality

Luster - This is the pearl's ability to reflect light. Usually the larger the pearl, the more luster it has.

Surface - Pearls are made by living organisms and thus are not perfect. They can have bubbles, dents, or spots. The fewer blemishes the more the pearl will cost.

Shape - Pearls come in all different shapes. They can be round, off round, teardrop shaped, or irregular. Round pearls cost the most.

Size - The larger the pearl, the more it will cost.

Color - Pearls can come in all different colors. The color does not effect the value of the pearl, it is completely up to your opinion of what looks the best.

Pearl Shape

Mabe Pearls - These are dome-shaped pearls. These pearls grew on the shell of the mollusk rather than in the middle of the body.

Baroque Pearls - These are asymmetrical pearls.

Biwa Pearls - These are pearls that were grown in Lake Biwa, Japan. Although now it can also mean any freshwater pearls grown in Japan.

Keshii Pearls/Seed Pearls - Not generally considered true pearls, they came into existence accidentally as a byproduct of the cultivation process and are very small.

Pearl Care

Pearl Care - Put pearls on after putting on any cosmetics so it doesn't harm your pearls. When cleaning your pearl jewelry, don't use any cleaning solution, simply wipe them with a soft cloth. Just wearing your pearls helps them too, your body's natural oils will help keep them lustrous.

Eastern cultures have prized the perfect beauty of a pearl for thousands of years, so there's no surprise that they play a big role in legend, mythology and astrology. Here is some of the lore associated with the pearl from the practitioners of Hindu.

In Astrology
Pearls are ruled by the moon. If the moon is the lord of an auspicious house or is afflicted in your birth chart, then you should wear pearls. Pearls can used to strengthen a weak moon in your birth chart or can enhance your moon if it is well-placed in the birth chart.

Different Vedic Gods preside over different types of pearls: dark pearls by Vishnu, moonlike pearls by Indra, black pearls by Yamaraja, red pearls by Vayu, yellow pearls by Varuna, and pearls that are brilliant like fire or which have the luster of lotuses by Agni.

Pearls strengthen the mind, help control anger and increase memory. They have a calming and peaceful effect, and encourage feelings of compassion and love. They also help the wearer with spiritual meditation.

People should wear pearls colors according to their occupation. A priest, teacher, scientist, or intellectual should wear a white pearl. A ruler, soldier, or administrator should wear an orange-white pearl. A businessman, farmer, or banker should wear a greenish white pearl. A laborer, artisan, or servant should wear a black or bluish pearl.

People who own pearls receive wealth, sons, popularity, fortune, fame, and freedom from disease and grief. Hindu brides frequently wear pearl nose rings at their weddings in order to ensure happy marriages and to guard against widowhood.

Those who wear a perfect pearl will be blessed by Goddess Lakshmi with riches. Perfect pearl wearers will have long lives, intelligence, happiness, success, good luck and receive important positions. They will be blessed with patience, determination, purity, a dislike for anger and a desire to do well. Pearls with a yellow luster give wealth. Red pearls increase intelligence. White pearls give fame. Blue pearls give good fortune. Pearls can help the wearer become more self-confident and creative, and can make the work environment more peaceful.

Pearls can help students concentrate better and suffer from less inner turmoil. They can help young married couples stay happy. Single people can wear pearls to help them find a spouse. Pearls are helpful to diplomats and people engaged in charity.

For Health
Pearls transmit the color orange. Orange rays have a cold effect, and can be used to treat the diseases relating to blood and bodily secretions that are caused by inflammation. Pearls reduce body heat to balance bodily fluids.

Pearls can calm the nerves, relieve anxiety, lessen tension and help with mental problems caused by too much heat in the brain and heart. Pearls may also help improve tuberculosis, heart disease, ulcers, fever, epilepsy, diabetes, insomnia, eye problems and uterine problems. Women can wear pearls for menstrual problems.

Wearing defective pearls causes misfortune. Watch for cracks, lack of luster, a thin line across the outside of the pearl, spots, internal dirt or a wood-like material in them. If a black spot, or mole, is found on your pearl, then you will suffer many calamities.

Bad Pearl, Bad Luck?
Several bad things can happen if you wear a defective pearl. They include:

* If a pearl does not have luster, one's life will be shortened by wearing it.
* If a pearl has a spot that looks like a fish's eye, one's children may be lost.
* If a pearl is broken, one will lose his livelihood.
* If a pearl is in the shape of a bird rather than round, the wearer will lose his or her wealth.
* If a pearl is shaped like coral, one will become poor.
* Wearing a spotted pearl can cause leprosy.
* An oval pearl takes away intelligence and makes the wearer foolish.
* A pearl with a protrusion on three corners is bad luck.
* Wearers of flat pearls will get a bad name.

A natural pearl has much more astrological power than a cultured pearl, but since natural pearls are so difficult to find–and are so expensive–some people use cultured pearls as a remedy. One natural pearl can have more effect than a strand of cultured pearls, however. The only way to determine whether one is If you are using a pearl for astrological power, don't use a drilled one. A drilled pearl is of no use astrologically.

For astrological purposes, a pearl should weigh at least two grams, although four, six, nine, or eleven grams are acceptable weights. If you are using a cultured pearl, it should weigh at least three to five grams.

When to Wear Pearls
Pearls should always be set in silver. Wear your jewelry for the first time on a Monday, which is best or Thursday in the evening. They should definitely not be purchased on Saturdays. Pearls should be worshipped with incense and flowers, and the following mantra should be chanted 108 times: Om som somaya namaha om. Om som chandraya namaha can also be chanted.

A pearl ring should be worn on a Monday morning during the bright half of the lunar month – best during the full moon but during the waxing moon is acceptable. For best results, wear it during one of the constellations ruled by the Moon, such as Rohini, Hasta, Shravan, or Pushya. The ring should ideally be worn during Cancer, Pisces or Taurus, or while in a friendly sign.

Wear the pearl ring on the ring finger of either hand. The ritual to install the ring should be performed on a Monday evening after moonrise. People often feel a strong effect within a week of the installation.

As the Moon is not compatible with Rahu or Ketu, the Hindi ascending or descending of the moon, neither hessonite, associated with Rahu, or cat's eye, associated with Ketu, should be worn with pearl or its substitutes. The Navaratna setting is an exception to this rule. The Navaratna is nine specific gems that represent each of the planets, as well as Rahu and Ketu.

Some authorities say that pearls should also not be worn with diamonds, blue sapphires, or emeralds.

The cosmic color enhanced by pearl is orange, the cosmic number is two. Pearls affect water, taste, the tongue, blood and the second charka.

To test a pearl's quality, soak it in a solution of warm oil and salt. This will not damage a natural pearl. If a natural pearl is rubbed with a dry cotton cloth containing rice, a genuine pearl will maintain its luster and color. It is best to drill only oyster pearls through the center.

Who was the first person to open an oyster and see a perfectly round, lustrous pearl? Whoever she or he was, it was most likely thousands and thousands of years ago. Pearls were one of the first stones to be valued by people because it was, and still is, one of the only gemstones that require no cutting or polishing. Its beauty is evident the moment it's removed from the shell.

In ancient times
Frederick Kunz, an American gemologist who lived 100 years ago, believed an ancient fish-eating tribe initially appreciated the shape and luster of saltwater pearls, having discovered the gems while opening oysters for food.

Ancient civilizations in India and China mention love of pearls. India's Hindu god Krishna was credited with discovering pearls when he took one from the sea and presents it to his daughter Pandaïa on her wedding day. China's long recorded history discussed the value of pearls thousands of years ago. In the Shu King, written in 2300 B.C., a gift of pearls was described.

In Egypt, mother-of-pearl was used as decoration far back as 4000 B.C. The use of pearls was later, perhaps as late as 5 B.C., according to historians, when Persia conquered Egypt. Ancient Romans adored pearls. Roman women upholstered sofas with pearls and sewed them into their gowns. Pearls are mentioned in both the Bible and the Koran.

Pearls were found in oyster beds in the Persian Gulf, along the coasts of India, Sri Lanka, Japan and in the Red Sea. Nearly all pearls came from these sources, until Europeans began exploring the New World.

A flood of pearls
Spain began finding pearls off the shores of Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. English colonizers and French explorers found Native Americans wearing pearls. Soon they discovered freshwater pearls in the Ohio, Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. The gems were sent back to Europe, virtually flooding the market.

The best freshwater pearls ended up into Europe's royal gem collections, misidentified as Oriental saltwater pearls. Mother-of-pearl found in the Americas was made into fashionable buttons and exported all over the world. Until plastic buttons were invented in World War II, Iowa was the center of the button market.

Luminous white saltwater pearls from the coasts off Panama and Venezuela rivaled the gems from the Persian Gulf, and black saltwater pearls from the Bay of California were as beautiful as the prized Tahitians. More pearls arrived in Spain than the country's aristocratic market could absorb, so they were traded throughout Europe. The Americas were a huge source of pearls until the 19th century when over-fishing and industrialization took their toll on the oyster and mussel beds.

Culturing brings pearls to the masses
On the other side of the world, Japanese Biologist Tokichi Nishikawa and carpenter Tatsuhei Mise had each independently figured out how to make oysters create pearls on demand by inserting a piece of oyster epithelial membrane with a nucleus of shell or metal into an oyster's body or mantle. This “culturing” caused the tissue to form a pearl sack. The sack secretes nacre to coat the nucleus, creating a pearl.

Mise received a 1907 patent for his grafting needle. When Nishikawa applied for a patent for nucleating, he realized that he and Mise had discovered the same process. In a compromise, the pair signed an agreement combining their discovery into the Mise-Nishikawa method, which is still the standard of pearl culturing today.

Kokichi Mikimoto had received patents for culturing hemispherical pearls and culturing in mantle tissue, and he could not use the Mise-Nishikawa method without invalidating his patents. He altered his earlier patent application to cover a technique to make round pearls in mantle tissue. Through this technicality, Mikimoto began an unprecedented expansion, buying rights to the Mise-Niskikawa method.

Mikimoto contributed one discovery. The original culturing method used silver and gold beads, but Mikimoto found the best success when he inserted round nuclei cut from U.S. mussel shells. Although some manufacturers still continue to test other nuclei, U.S. mussel shells have been the basis for virtually all cultured saltwater pearls for nearly a century.

As a brilliant marketer, Mikimoto revolutionized the pearl industry. He lobbied jewelers and governments to accept his cultured products as authentic gemstones. His employees designed huge pearl structures, displayed at every major international exposition. By mastering the culturing techniques, Mikimoto, then hundreds of other Japanese companies, took pearls from being unattainable to everyone but the extremely wealth to everyone.

Pearls are some of the most prized gems and jewelry pieces in museums around the world. Their rareness, mystery and symbolism of purity have made them one of the most cherished gifts among the wealthy, so between the jewelry and the mysterious gems from the deep, there is a treasure trove of celebrated pearls. Here are some of them.

The Abernethy Pearl
The Abernethy is the most famous and perhaps most perfect specimen of a Scottish freshwater pearl, weighing 44 grains, which would be about 2200 mm. The pearl was collected by Bill Abernethy, a professional pearl diver, from an “odd-shaped mussel” in River Tay in 1967. Not only was it huge, it also was on incredible quality. The Abernethy Pearl was on display in a store Cairncross, Scotland, for nearly 30 years, but was sold in 1992 for an undisclosed amount. Scots have searched for pearls in the River Tay for hundreds of years, and many rivers in Scotland were home to freshwater pearls until the Industrial Revolution polluted the waterways.

Big Pink Pearl
This pearl was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest known natural abalone pearl. The baroque specimen is 470 carats, or 94,000 mm. It is purportedly owned by a pearl diver in California, and it was last valued in the early 1990s at $4.7 million. It was found at California's Salt Point State Park in 1990.

Eugénie Pearls
The Eugénie pearls are a large jewelry collection that were once part of the extensive French crown jewels. Along with much of the monarchy's jewelry, the pearls were auctioned off in 1887 at the Palace of the Tuileries. Napoleon Bonaparte had purchased many of the pieces for his wives Josephine and Marie Louise.

Gogibus Pearl
This pearl was the largest known specimen in Europe during the early 17th century. It was found off the coast of the West Indies, and the pear-shaped beauty weighed 126 carats, or 25,200 mm. Spain's King Philip IV bought it from a merchant named Gogibus in 1620. The merchant reportedly wore the gem as a button on his cap.

Hope Pearl
Possibly the most famous pearl, and perhaps the largest saltwater specimen in existence, the Hope is a white drop-shaped freshwater blister pearl weighing 90,000 mm or 450 carats. It measures approximately two by four inches in size and ranges in color from white on one end to greenish-gold on the other. The Hope Pearl was first owned by Henry Philip Hope, the man who once owned the Hope Diamond, in the 19th century. You can see it at the British Museum of Natural History.

Huerfana Pearl
The Huerfana, or “Orphan,” pearl was allegedly found not in an oyster but loose in a shell bed in the Gulf of Panama. It was one of the most beautiful treasures in the Spanish crown jewels. The Huerfana was distinguished by its magnificent luster, perfect shape and large size. It is said to have been destroyed when the palace burned in the 18th century.

La Pellegrina Pearl
The La Pellegrina, or "The Incomparable,” pearl weighs 111.5 grains. This perfectly round silver GEM was found off the coast of South America and was once part of the Spanish crown jewels. It was brought to Russia from India in the 18th century, and was known as the Zozima Pearl, named after the Czar's jeweler. It was lost for a while, but resurfaced and was sold by Christie's auction house in 1987 for $463,800.

La Peregrina Pearl
The La Peregrina, of “The Pilgrim” pearl, has a long, colorful history that started in Spain and ended up in Hollywood. The large, pear-shaped white pearl of 203.84 grains was found off the coast of Panama in the mid-16th century and was brought to Spain's King Phillip II, who presented it as a wedding gift to his wife, Queen Mary. It belonged to other members of Spanish royalty, and also to France's Bonapartes. Later it was acquired by the British Marquis of Abercorn from the son of French emperor Napoleon III. At one point it was in the possession of King Henry VIII's daughter, Mary Tudor. It was purchased in 1969 for $37,000 by actor Richard Burton for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, who owns it today. She nearly lost it forever several years ago. Frantically searching for the misplaced gem, she found it in her dog's mouth.

La Régente Pearl
The La Régente pearl is an oval pearl weighing a hefty 337 grains. Napoleon bought it in 1811 for his second wife, Empress Marie Louise, to be set in her imperial tiara. Along with most of the French crown jewels, it was sold at auction in 1887 to Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé. It was sold by Christie's auction house for $859,100 in 1988.

Mancini Pearls
These two large drop-shaped pearls are set as earrings and were originally owned by the de Medicis, ruling family of Florence. Maria de Medici brought them to France when she married Henry the IV in 1600, and they then went to her daughter, Henrietta Maria, when she married King Charles I of England. Christie's auction house sold the earrings for $333,000 in 1969.

Mary Queen of Scots Pearls
These pearls are one of the earliest known collections. The most famous piece was a six-strand necklace designed as a rosary that consisted of more than 600 pearls. Much of the collection was purchased by Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was an avid pearl lover. Pieces of her original collection were bought from the de Medicis.

Morgan-Tiffany Pearls
This collection, made possible by J. Piermont Morgan and the Tiffany, includes 557 North American freshwater pearls. They, and about 1,500 others in the extensive collection, are now displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Pearl of Allah
The Pearl of Allah is the largest pearl on record. It was recovered from a 160-lb giant claim by a pearl diver in 1934 off Palawan Iland in the Philippines. This gem is 23.8 cm long, and weighs about 14 pounds. It is now called the Pearl of Lao-tze. A Palawan chieftain gave the pearl to Wilbur Dowell Cobb in 1936 as gift for having saved the life of his son. In 1980, Cobb's heirs sold it to a Beverly Hills jeweler for $200,000. It is now estimated by the San Francisco Gem Laboratory to be worth $40 million.

Pearl of Asia
This 2,400 grain, eggplant-shaped pearl hasn't been seen in years. It belonged to the last Chinese empress. Some speculate it is hidden in a Chinese museum or a European bank. It is mounted on a group of golden branches and leaves, decorated with jade and a large pink quartz cabochon.

Queen Pearl
The Queen Pearl is among the first significant pearls found in the United States, creating a pearl rush in New England. The pink gem weighs 93 grains and was discovered in 1857 in Notch Brook, New Jersey. Tiffany bought the Queen Pearl, then probably sold it to Cartier in Europe. It ended up in the collection of Empress Eugénie of France in the mid 1850s. She gave it to an American friend, Thomas Evans, who helped her escape from France during the revolution in 1870. Evans was a Philadelphia dentist who bequeathed his collection of pearls and gems to the Philadelphia Dental School. Some of the items were sold to the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York, and although a large pink pearl in its collection isn't identified as the Queen Pearl, experts believe that it probably is the legendary gem.

Roseate Pearl
The fabled Roseate pearl is an Akoya pearl from western Australia. Allegedly several of its died while in possession of the gem, so a curse is linked to it, much like that of the Hope Diamond. The Roseate Pearl's last purported owner, Abraham Davis, died when the Koombana, an Australian ship, went down in a cyclone The ship's wreckage has never been found and the Roseate Pearl was rumored to be on board. It is perfectly round, pink pearl. Some question that it ever existed.

Sara Pearl
This drop-shaped gray pearl weighing 220 grains was found near Isla Margarita off Venezuela. Although its whereabouts today are unknown, it is most likely “Pearl Number 3” illustrated by French author Jean Baptiste Tavernier in Travels in India in the 17th century.

Thiers Pearls
The Thiers pearls were made into a necklace for Madame Thiers, the wife of France's first president. They are now in the Louvre. The necklace is made up of three strands of 145 large, almost perfectly round, graduated natural pearls.

Van Buren Pearls
The Van Buren pearls were strung into a necklace a given as a gift to widowed President Martin Van Buren, who immediately gave them to the U.S. government. They are part of an exhibition of First Ladies' inaugural gowns at the Smithsonian.

It's difficult to determine the true quality of a pearl in the bricks-and-mortar and online jewelry stores of today. So how do you know if you're getting your money's worth? Educating yourself about pearls before shopping will help.

Many buyers aren't aware that there is no internationally recognized standard for grading pearls. This leaves the door open for some sellers to stretch the truth – and sometimes quite a bit. The most common pearl, the one you think about in the traditional pearl necklace, is the Akoya pearl. These pearls, and freshwater pearls, which look similar to Akoyas but are rarely perfectly round, are graded by the A-AAA system by most reputable retailers. A is the lowest quality acceptable in jewelry. AA quality is very fine, and AAA is considered gem-quality or flawless.

One of the biggest jewelry scams today is retailers selling AAAA or AAA+ pearls. If the seller is offering pearls above AAA quality, it means that their AAA pearls aren't as high-quality as other retailers, and they often are trying to sell them for the same amount!

Pearl buyers have absolutely nothing to compare quality with in a made-up system, so if your jeweler doesn't give full details about how they determine their pearl quality, watch out! It is very possible that a sellers AAA+ or AAAA pearls are equivalent in quality to a reputable seller's AA pearls or even the A in some cases.

Another way to tell if you are dealing with a reputable pearl jeweler is that they should have very few AAA pearls. Experts say that a pearl farm producing 250,000 pearls in one harvest will produce enough AAA pearls for only 50 necklaces! So if your retailer has a store full of AAA-quality strands, beware! Here is another rule of thumb – the typical pearl farm's wholesale prices of gem-quality or AAA strands, based on pearl size:

* 18" - 6-6.5mm ($250-$300)
* 18" - 6.5-7mm ($290-$400)
* 18" - 7-7.5mm ($380-$500)
* 18" - 7.5-8mm ($680-$900)

These are the average prices that the pearl farms charge for AAA pearls. These prices are also only available from a few select pearl sellers who deal directly with pearl farms. Most pearl sellers deal with wholesalers, who charge a commission on top of these prices. So, if a seller is claiming to sell an AAA quality, 7.5mm pearl necklace for $300, unless they are selling at a loss, the pearl quality is very likely to be much less than what they are claiming.