The qualities that determine the overall value of a natural or cultured pearl or a piece of pearl jewelry are size, shape, color, luster, surface quality, nacre quality, and—for jewelry with two or more pearls—matching.

Size: When other value factors are equal, larger pearls are rarer and more valuable than smaller pearls of the same type.

Shape: Round is the most difficult shape to culture, making it the rarest cultured pearl shape and—if all other factors are equal—also generally the most valuable. There are exceptions, though. Well-formed pear, oval, or baroque (irregularly shaped) cultured pearls are also prized by pearl lovers.

Color: Natural and cultured pearls occur in a broad range of hues. There are warm hues like yellow, orange, and pink, and cool hues like blue, green, and violet. Pearls have a wide range of tone from light to dark. Pearl colors tend to be muted, with a soft, subtle quality.

Pearl color can have three components. Bodycolor is the pearl’s dominant overall color. Overtone is one or more translucent colors that lie over a pearl’s bodycolor. And orient is a shimmer of iridescent rainbow colors on or just below a pearl’s surface. All pearls display bodycolor, but only some show overtone, orient, or both.

The law of supply and demand determines the value of certain pearl colors at any given time. If supplies of high-quality pearls displaying a preferred color are low, their prices can rise to unusually high levels. Other complex factors, like fashion trends and cultural traditions, can influence color preferences.

Luster: Of the seven pearl value factors, luster might be the most important. Luster is what gives a natural or cultured pearl its unique beauty.

• Excellent – Reflections appear bright and sharp
• Very Good – Reflections appear bright and near sharp
• Good – Reflections are bright but not sharp, and slightly hazy around the edges
• Fair – Reflections are weak and blurred
• Poor – Reflections are dim and diffused

Within a pearl type, when other value factors are equal, the higher the luster, the more valuable the pearl.

 

 

 

South Sea Pearls are one of the rarest gems in the world. In this article I will try to disclose the reasons behind this.

The Queen Mary Pearl ~ As a foremost authority in the testing of Natural Pearls , the SSEF has had the chance in the past few decades to see and analyse the most unique and outstanding natural pearls in the market, many of them of historic provenance, such as the Peregrina pearl , the Marie-Antoinette pearl pendant, and the Ana Maria pearl to name only a few. As a true highlight of this illustrious collection, we recently had the pleasure to analyse the Queen Mary Pearl, a drop-shaped Natural Pearl of 41.5 ct (166 grains) of finest quality and lustre. 🦪 Based on the provided documentation, this pearl is of historic provenance and is known as the ‘Queen Mary Pearl’, once owned by Queen Mary (1867- 1953). She had accumulated a collection of priceless jewels during her life and they were passed on to her only daughter..... 

Colour in cultured pearls has many causes, namely organic pigments and the chemistry related to the water reservoir where the pearl shell is grown (for example, sea water and freshwater have different manganese concentrations with impact on the color of the nacre). The pearl mollusc species is, of course, one of the most important factors in this process, specially the donor specimen that provides the mantle tissue graft (known as saibo) that is inserted in the gonads or mantle (depending on the culturing method) of a productive pearl mollusc for the formation of the cultured pearl sac. Experiments in xenotransplantation (meaning graft from one species in host mollusc of another species) have demonstrated that colour is controlled mostly by the genetic characteristics of the graft in cultured pearls.
Furthermore, understanding colour mechanisms is critical in the laboratory to determine if the colour of a pearl is natural or a resulto or a treatment (e.g. dyeing, heat, bleaching).  The pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera typica has mantle tissue cells that secrete unusual earthy coloured nacre (seen in the oysters' mother-of-pearl shell interior), and thus the colours of those cultured pearls are also expected to be coloured in such a way. 
#southseapearls #tahiti #indonesia #myanmar #pearls #culturedpearls #australia