Pearl

When we look at the immaculate white pearls, glowing in all their peaceful beauty it hardly seems possible that they are formed after an incredible and elaborate natural process which is nothing short of a miracle by nature and a way to bring to us one of the most beautiful forms of jewelry. It therefore comes as no surprise that pearls are one of the most sought after varieties of jewelry and no matter how much women are enamored by the dazzle of diamonds and the glitter of gemstones it cannot be denied that they simply cannot resist pearls and almost every woman throughout the world has some form of pearl jewelry tucked away in her jewelry box which she knows will never cease to make her look ultimately elegant.

It is not without reason that pearls in earlier times were considered even more valuable than diamonds and were extremely sought after by the emperors and rulers from across the world. Talking of pearls one fact that demands mention is their inception and the most interesting way in which nature brings us these exceptional beauties. Pearl, an organic gem; unlike every other gemstone is created by living the organisms’ oysters and mollusks.

Due to the presence of foreign materials inside the oysters pearls are formed. In fact the mollusk keeps coating this foreign material with layer after layer of mollusk of nacre to save itself from it. This is the process by which a pearl is formed inside a mollusk which is also an extremely lengthy and time consuming one but the result is one that is truly breathtaking. The only deterrent here is that any disturbance during this entire process may damage the beauty and luster of a pearl. Those pearls that enjoy no disturbance during this whole process which may even be years are the ones that are perfectly beautiful.

Those pearls that have a perfect symmetry and are somewhat large and naturally produced are the best ones. Pearls come in many varieties namely natural pearls which are the result of nature alone with no human interference, cultured pearls which occur when a foreign substance is injected in a living oyster, baroque pearls which bear irregular shapes, fresh water pearls which resemble puffed rice and form in fresh water mollusks.

The color in pearls range from white to those that bear a trace of color, from pink and brown to grey and black and the coloration depends on the type of mollusk and the water where it lived. Pearls are extremely sensitive to heat, dryness, humidity and dryness so they should be stored very carefully. Pearls are soft by nature and measure between 2.5 and 4.5 on Moh’s scale.