Things You Should Know About Pearl Necklaces

By Author: Evelyn Quick
Total Articles: 26
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A pearl necklace is a hard object that is created within the shell of a mollusk. it is made up of calcium carbonate in a crystalline mineral form. The usual pearl is perfectly round, but sometimes a baroque pearl can be found. Although pearls can be found in freshwater areas, pearls from the sea tend to cost more.

In more modern times, pearls are harvested, and some are just cheap, inexpensive imitation pearl necklaces. The natural ones, found in the sea, are very rare. Even more rare are natural ones of gemstone quality, which are almost always iridescent and/or nacreous. Centuries ago, a pearl necklace would belong most likely to someone of royal descent.

The rarity of gemstone quality pearls makes them ridiculously expensive when compared to the cultured ones. The difference between natural and cultured pearls is seen when carrying out an X-ray examination. Cultured pearls, when compared in X-rays with a natural pearl, reveal that the nucleus of the pearl ...
... is "pre-formed" or planted inside it to make it look like a natural pearl to the naked eye. The natural also has concentric growth rings while the cultured pearl has a purely solid center.

Pearl necklaces are especially popular today, but a great deal of them are harvested pearls. The value of a natural pearl can be determined in the same way you would determine the value of another precious gem - quality of surface, shape, size, luster and orient. There is a very small number of stranded, matching pearl necklaces that exist. The largest provider of "fake" pearls at the moment is china, closely followed by Japan, although the entirety of this industry has had to mostly cease it's production due to pollution.

There are three famous ways a person could wear a pearl necklace: the "collar" way, where the necklace sits right against the throat, the "choker" way, which are at the base of the neck, and the "princess" way, where it is located just below the collarbone. The word "pearl" could be used to describe something very rare, and for a good reason.


Evelyn Quick writes and publishes women-related articles. Her current blog centers on pearl jewelry. Read on and learn more about pearl bracelets and pearl necklaces.