About pearls

“There are many reasons that people need luxuries, for example, sending gifts, escaping from the pressure. When people are under tough conditions, they are more eager for luxuries, because luxuries can comfort the soul and keep them away from the pressure.”

Thierry Frisch, global CEO of a famous jewelry brand Chaumet

 

“A woman is admiring if she is materially rich;

But she will be respected if she is confident, elegant, independent and self-respected!”

World Association of Women

 

“Every pearl is a temple which is built by pain around a grain of sand.”

Gibran, a Lebanese Poet

“Today, the accessories for women, and there is no more noticeable than a pearl.”

U.S. Jade jewelry Association

 

“I always wear pearl jewelry, which can increase the luster and aesthetic feeling of complexion. While wearing an ordinary dress or overcoat, if you can wear some pearl jewelry,it will look extraordinary.”

Margaret Thatcher

 

“Wearing pearl can give me calmness and confidence,showing the elegance of eastern female.”

Xiangmei,Chen

“If a woman could only own a piece of jewelry ,it must be pearl jewelry.”

Diana

“If a woman does not even have pearls, can not be called a real woman.”

Chanel 

Beautiful languages that relate to pearls

1. Pearl [C]

Most pearls have a soft silvery-white or cream shine.

The necklace is made of natural pearls.

2. A pearl: an outstanding person; a typical outstanding thing [C]

She is a pearl among women.

3. Things with a pearl shape (such as tears and white teeth, etc.) [C]

Pearls of dew glistened on the leaves.

4. Mother-of-pearl [U]

5. Pearl color [U]

Phrases and idioms that relate to “pearl”:

Pearly heart, as honest as a pearl, as valuable as a purple, treasure something as if it is a pearl, as precious as a pearl, cherish something as if it is a pearl, esteem something as if it is a pearl, love something as if it is a pearl

Luxury with pearls and many other jewelries, round as pearls and smooth as jade, every word a pearl, to pass off fish eyes for pearls, a hall of pearl and jade, recovery of the lost pearl

Allegory of the idiom “a string of pearls and a collection of jades”:

The interpretation to the allegory of the idiom “a string of pearls and a collection of Bi’s”: Bi: a piece of jade with a hole in center, which generally refers to the gems. “A string of pearls and a collection of Bi’s” means to put many pearls in a string and gems in a collection. This phrase comes from Chronicles of the Han Dynasty- Record of Temperament and Calendar: “The sun and the moon are like a collection of Bi’s, and the five stars are like a string of pearls”. At first this phrase is used on the celestial phenomena and later it means the gathering of outstanding people or the good and beautiful things. Now it is used to eulogize the happy marriage. Couplets about marriage write, “A string of pearls and a collection of Bi’s; the soaring of the phoenix and the flying of Luan.”

There is also epithalamion with speech of congratulations, such as:

A match blessed by God, a complete meeting of minds, to be of one mind forever, a harmonious union lasting a hundred years, bathe in a river of love forever, a good match as if made in heaven, to make a harmonious and orderly home, live to old age in conjugal bliss, married couple for a hundred years, to stick to each other for a hundred years, blooming flowers and full moon, a happy wealthy couple, a destiny given by heaven and a wonderful match, a happy and wonderful marriage, talented man and beautiful woman, continuous generations of children, find one another congenial, the man sings, the wife follows- domestic harmony, a string of pearls and a collection of Bi’s, a couple of phoenixes flying together, a happy family, felicity of husband and wife, (of married couple) to treat each other with respect, to be of one mind, a harmonious couple, two flowers growing from the same base-symbol of marital luck, form material ties, the three lives of marriage, the beginning of marriage, an affectionate couple, an auspicious engagement, a matched marriage, a written treaty to live to old age, a vow of an union for life, a vow to be married happily

Pearl’s five kinds of beauty

Aesthetic features of pearls

1. Pearl’s beauty of shape

The beauty of round shape: there is an old saying in China -“round as the pearl and smooth as the jade”. The rounder the shape, the rarer and more valuable the pearl is. So many people think round pearl and paragon pearl possess pearls’ most beautiful shape. “Pearl is beautiful only when it is round.” People said so not only because round pearls are rare, but also because the round shape can show all the beauties of the pearl. In addition, only round pearl has the appeal of smoothness, fullness and softness.

2. Pearl’s beauty of luster

Luster is the light that reflected on the surface of the minerals. The pearl is of multi-layers and is translucent. The surface of the pearl and multiple interfaces in the inner layers, after the superposition of the reflection, refraction and interference of light, will look lustrous. The pearl’s optical property makes it shinning, glossy, beautiful and elegant. This property is also an important aesthetic feature and the basis in judging its values. Pearls, according to their luster, can be classified into three categories: pearls with strong luster, pearls with moderate luster and pearls with weak luster, which is subject to the thickness and goodness of the layers.

3. Pearl’s beauty of color

As most of the pearls are white, it might be easily misunderstood that pearls are white. In fact, there are many pearls with different colors. Colors of pearls are constituted by body color (also called background color) and overtone (refractive color). Overtone overlapping on the body color reveals the beauty of harmony. Observing in soft and diffused light, you can easily make out the body color. When the light source is stronger, the overtone will be revealed from the reflection of the surface of the pearls. If you do not observe in a careful way, you will only see the surface color, which is body color that overlapped by overtone.

4. Pearl ornament’s beauty of match

There are many kinds of pearl ornaments, including necklaces, bracelets, earrings and finger rings, etc. Pearls can obtain their best aesthetic effects and gain economic returns only when their designs and processing techniques follow pearls’ aesthetic principles. As to those simple products, people should pay attention to the primary aesthetic principle, make full use of the aesthetic features of the round pearls and give a full play to these features in the match. For example, when stringing the pearl necklace, you do it in “neat style” and choose pearls with the same specification, size and color, then the ornament you make will look to be luminous and pure; you can also do it in “progressive style” and choose pearls with different sizes, string them with a big one in the middle and the pearl on both sides are symmetric and gradually becoming smaller, then the ornament you make will also look to be harmonious with a good order. When designing and making big and complex pearl ornaments, many aesthetic principles shall be taken into account to make them look harmonious as a whole. While customers, when purchasing, shall take their own conditions into consideration, making the ornaments properly match with their bodies and clothes and gain the harmonious and parallel aesthetic effects.

5. Pearl’s artistic beauty

Aside from the external formal beauty, pearls also possess rich internal artistic beauty and symbolic meanings.

Artistic beauty of the shape

The round shape of the pearl not only means the smoothness, fullness and softness, but also gives us an aesthetic sensibility of perfectness, completeness, thoroughness and nobleness, etc. If all people learned from Pearls and do things as pearls do, then the family would be harmonious, the society stable and the world peaceful. Of course, the gravity of round pearls, the romance of symmetric pearls and the plastic development of irregular pearls can surely show people richer inner meanings as well.

Artistic beauty of the color

It is generally believed that all the connotations of different colors can apply to the symbolic meanings of pearls with different colors. For example, white means purity, simplicity, elegance and divinity; black means mystery, gravity and sadness; yellow means wildness, maturity and light; green means youth, vitality and peace, etc. The color of pearls is harmonized by body color and iridescence. The symbolic meaning that colors are of harmonious beauty is just the uniqueness of pearls’ beauty of color, which are worthy of deploring.

Artistic beauty of the luster

Pearls that are of high quality tend to have a strong luster. You can say they are shinning or glossy. However, different from the ordinary dazzling of gems, the luster of pearls is soft, gentle and graceful. As a result, pearls are appealing to women in different age groups from all over the world.

Beauty of the moonlight

Pearls belong to the series of light colored gems. Particularly that its pure white will remind us of the cold light from the galaxy and the moonlight in autumn; its typical luster and iridescence effect give a sense of shadowy beauty; its round shape and half-round shape resemble the shape of a full moon and a half-moon; adding that an ancient Chinese legend says pearl oyster can only generate pearls in moonlight, and in combination with the shape, color and luster of the pearls, we can feel the beauty of the moonlight.

Artistic beauty of the structure

Concentric circle structure not only determines pearls’ formal beauty elements, but also has rich symbolic beauty meanings. The so-called concentric circle is a series of circles with one center. And since these circles have the same center, then there comes the symbolic meaning of “hanging together”.

Why are pearls so beautiful?

Put pearls in the light and observe them from different perspective, and you will find that they look so mysterious and appear different as the perspective changes. Some pearls are as glittering and translucent as the dews dropped on the lotus leaves in early morning; some are mysterious with classic simplicity as if they are from the copper casting with a long history of a millennium. Why? To understand this, we shall start from the structure and components of the pearls.

There are two elements that determine the looks of pearls:

I. Color elements that pearl oysters excrete

Color elements are different as the environment and the kinds of pearl oysters change. Since the environment is ever-changing, the colors of pearls as a result are complicated and vague. Color elements of pearl oysters vary because they contain mental trace elements. The chemical composition of pearls is mainly calcium carbonate, with a little bit of keratin, moisture and mental trace elements. Among the pearls, those contain copper are usually golden; those contain silver, butter yellow; those contain sodium, flesh color; those contain zinc, pink; and those pure pearls, they are as white as polished jade.

II. The structure of the pearls

The essential component of pearls is calcium carbonate, taking up 82%-93%. The pearl crystals are round or spearhead shaped. They are vertically aligned in each nacreous layer, forming a radial patterned bed plane. This plays a key role in the formation of a glittery rainbow-like pearl color. Pearls are composed by nacreous layers of 0.3-0.4um thick. These nacreous layers are parallel. And the sectional plane is in concentric circle structure. Each nacreous layer is very smooth and translucent. So when a ray of light falls on the pearls, some will be reflected, some will enter into the inner side of the pearls and be reflected by another nacreous layer, and of course, some will enter into deeper side of nacreous layers. Therefore, in each nacreous layer, there will be some light being reflected, some being refracted, and some passing through the pearls (see the following picture):

The reflection of lights makes pearls bright and glossy; the transmission of lights makes pearls glittering and translucent; and the refraction of lights causes the interference phenomenon, thus produces the ever-changing color.

The colors of pearls themselves, the colors of the surrounding environment plus the colors caused by optical refraction and interference made pearls become misty and mysterious as if they are from your dreams. However, things are far from simple. The beauty of pearls is more from their rareness and the marks and stories left on them in the long, long history. There are plenty of extraordinary stories that relate to pearls. There are reasons for this- the truly perfect pearls can only be found by accident and not through seeking.

Under natural conditions, it is really not easy to produce a superior pearl. And it is not in the least easy to find a good one from the cultured pearls, because it takes 4 to 5 years to produce a pearl, from when it was born from the mother-of-pearl (larva) to the final formation of the pearl. In this process, the change of seasons, the shortage of food and so on will all cast negative impacts on the growth of pearl oysters, and thus cast negative impacts on the production of the pearls. At the harvest time, we can only select one or two pearls that we feel satisfactory with among tens of thousands of pearls. If there is a perfect pearl, then it should be a miracle.

1. 2.     Ancient people classified pearls into nine categories

Ancient Chinese have their own judging system on the quality and value of pearls. They classified pearls in such a very trivial and detailed way as in the early Qing dynasty “it can hardly be recognized”.

Records of South Yue State classified pearls into nine categories: those with diameters from about half an inch to one inch are “great pearls”; those flat, with one side looking like the inverted iron pan (inverted kettle) are “superior pearls”, also precious pearls; and the rolling pearls and gliding pearls are classified as off-grade pearls.

Exploration of the Works of Nature classified pearls with diameters from half an inch to one and a half inch are “great pearls”, those glossy and slightly gilt-like pearls are “superior pearls”, each worth thousands of pieces of gold.

And Guangdong New Pieces of Records writes: the “big and flat” “superior ones of southern pearls” are secondary to those large pearls with diameters of one inch. Those round glossy ones with silver color are selected pearls. The values of these pearls are dependent on their weights. “Those weighted one Fen are worth six pieces of silver; those weighted two Fen are worth forty pieces of silver”. As for those flesh colored pearls which are not very glossy, “those weighted two Fen are worth just four pieces of silver”. 800 pearls, each of which weights one Liang, are called “Eight Hundred Pearls”, worth ten pieces of silver; 1000 pearls, each of which weights one Liang, are called “One Thousand Pearls”, worth just eight pieces of silver.

1. 3.     Seven principles to evaluate pearls

Even the pearls that are generated in the same kind of mother-of-pearls in the same water domain have their own unique features, just as there are no leaves or persons that are exactly the same. For this reason, there are tens of thousands of selections you can make in the qualities of pearls. The aesthetic standard of Pearl Beauty TM is so strict that there are only no more than 15% of the pearls that can be selected.

Luster

The primary focus that experts of Pearl Beauty put in selecting the pearls is their luster. The luster is dependent on the roundness and fullness of the pearl surface, the evenness of the nacreous layers and the amount of the impurities.

Luster is formed by the reflection from the surface of the pearl. Luster of the pearl not only come from the surface, but also reflects in the inner side of the nacreous layers, causing the shinning and glossy reflections. Pearls with good luster have strong and bright reflections. And the scopes of bright and dark areas on the surface of the pearls also form an obvious contrast. On the contrary, pearls whose luster is not as good are not very shinning. They are of weak reflection, looking as if there were a layer of powder on the surfaces. This kind of luster is also called dull luster.

Goodness or badness of the luster is determined by the thickness, fineness and transparency of the nacreous layers. The thickness of the luster has close relation to the thickness of the nacreous layers. As a result, pearls with thicker nacreous layers tend to have a more profound luster. The fineness of the nacreous layers relates to the formation of the atomic particles. If the atomic particles are small and balanced, then the texture will be fine and tiny. Or else, the texture of the surface will be rough and not as glossy. Luster also relates to the health conditions of the mollusks, places and time of the culturing, way of culturing, pollution conditions of the seawater and the categories of the mollusks.

Thickness

The thickness of the nacreous layers means the thickness of the pearl’s cortical layers. The thicker the nacreous layers are, the higher the pearl’s quality is. The thickness is also an important factor to keep the surface of the pearl durable and good-looking. The thickness of pearls relate to the incubation period of the pearls. The shorter the incubation period is, the thinner the nacreous layers are.

The thickness of the nacreous layers directly affects the looks and durability of the cultured pearls. If the cultured pearls are taken from the mollusks too early, then the elements of the pearls will be seriously affected. The nacreous layers may fall off when you are wearing the pearl. At this time, if you look at the pearl in the lamp light, you will see the inner pearl nucleus, which is not in the least beautiful.

Volume

When two pearls are of the same quality, the bigger one will relatively be more valuable. Between the pearls with different volumes, you are advised to select the one of which the design and the match are more suitable for you and can as well meet your requirements for your social life.

Shape

Pearls of nearly circular shapes are of higher grades, yet there are some pearls whose shapes are irregular and uncommon, including those pearls with tears’ shapes and soft and delicate curves, are also of their particular appeals.

Shapes of pearls can be classified into three categories, and the values can also be classified into three categories: round pearls, symmetric pearls and Special shaped pearls.

The ideal shape for the pearls is round. As the saying goes, “as round as the pearl, as smooth as the jade”. The rounder the pearl is, the more valuable they will be. There is a saying in jewelry circle that “roundness of the pearls determines the money they are worth”. However, it is a pity that 99% of the natural products are not perfect. Some are not as round, so they are of low value. The symmetric pearls, such as those with shapes of pears, eggs, potato, button ,rice or are bended, etc., they are either longitudinally symmetric or bilaterally symmetric, thus are also valuable. Those pearls with Special yet beautiful shapes are also of high value.

Smoothness/Splits

Pearls with smooth surfaces and few splits are regarded to be of high quality. However, because they are from the nature, all of them will have more or less natural marks. There is no perfect pearl with not in the least any flaw. Though sometimes we can hardly tell if there is any flaw on the surface of the AAA grade black pearls, South Sea Pearls, Chinese South Pearls and fresh water pearls, with magnifiers, we can see there are lines and splits of bio-crystal like shapes on their surfaces.

The splits on the surfaces of the pearls will directly affect their values. Those with smooth and flawless surfaces are masterworks. A few of flaws reveal a kind of natural beauty and are also of artistic value. So they will not affect the appearances of the pearls; however, there are some flaws that not only affect the appearances of the pearls, but also pose a threat to the durability of the pearls. Common flaws include:

Bump and Welt

The irregular bumps are formed by excretions of excessive keratin or nacreous. They will not have a big impact on the appearance of the pearl, yet the bulgy places are noticeable to the naked eyes. Welts are some fine lines. But if there are lots of welts, then it will look to be wrinkles. If you find hammered surface or martelled surface in the pearl, it is not serious flaws, because they can add the iridescence of the pearl, besides, they will make the pearl look more like a natural pearl.

Pinpoint and Pimple

There are small bulgy dots. Tiny ones are called pinpoints, bigger one are called pimple. They are all very small, and can only be found when you observe carefully.

Dark spot

This kind of flaw is caused by imbalanced excretion of black keratin, which will concentrate and be shown through the inside of the nacreous layers. These dark spots may sometimes be washed away in the bleaching process. So it is uncommon.

Dull spot

Opaque pearls have some dull parts. Imbalanced excretion in nacreous layers will make some parts look dull, yet they will not affect the durability of pearls. However, if the dull spots are caused by human body’s excretion, cosmetics or hair spray, making the nacreous layers fade and break, then they will affect the durability of pearls.

Clip

Clips on the surfaces of the pearls can be most commonly found in the parts where there are drills. Pearls with thin nacreous layers tend to have more clips, which not only affect the appearances, but also are shelters for dirt.

Crack

The cracks in nacreous layers can make breakage to the nacreous layers and thus seriously affect the durability of pearls.

Gap

The place where it is not covered by nacreous layer is not only common-looking, but also reveals the pearl nucleus, causing damages to the nearby pearls.

Color

We can associate the adjective phrase “pearl white” with that pearls are mainly white or milky white. But there are many colorful and fantastic color systems in pearl family, including pink, light purple, silver white, black and golden color, etc. Those pearls with well-distributed color are regarded as the best.

Color of the pearl means its body color, overtone and iridescence. Body color is the pearl’s basic color element. Overtone is the surface color which is on top of the body color element. It is better to observe the overtone of a black pearl at the places where the surface color is light. While if you observe the overtone of a white pearl, it would be easier for you look down at the place whose surface is relatively dark.

Iridescence include the colors of rainbow, such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue-green, blue and purple, etc. In most cases, they blend and become the overtone. Pearls whose overtones are iridescences are rare, which can hardly be found in round seawater cultured pearls. Iridescence phenomenon is common in pearls with irregular shapes, because the surfaces of these pearls are uneven and can disperse the white light into various colors that included in the rainbow. The phenomenon that iridescence is the overtone is also common in fresh water pearls.

The factors that determine the color of pearls include the following four:

Mollusks that produce pearls

Elements of the nacreous layers

The environment that mollusks grow in

The color of mantle, which is inserted in the mollusk together with the pearl nucleolus

Match

When judging a piece of pearl necklace or jewelry that has been embedded, handwork is a very important factor. Structure means the match of a string of pearls, a pair of earrings or a finger ring. That is, whether the color, shape, size and luster of the pearl are harmonious or not; whether the hole of the lock is in the right in the centre or not; in a string of pearls with different sizes, whether they will be well organized or not. The above aspects have obvious influence on the value of pearls. Taking necklace as an example, observe the whole necklace with the eyes away from it for 30-40 cm. Those with pearls’ shape, color and luster harmoniously match with each other are good.

1. 4.     Identification of the real and fake pearls

Many people will ask “how to identify the real pearls from the fake ones?” There are hardly any things that cannot be faked. Pearls, which are especially favored, are no exception. However, as long as you know some basic knowledge, you can easily tell the real pearls from the fake ones. “The beauties, sprits and charms” that a real pearl possesses are things that the fake one cannot have, though the fake one may seem “perfect without any flaw” at first glance, exactly the same with the real one, or even seem more beautiful than the real one.

Now Ladiesfair tells you some methods on how to quickly identify the real pearls from the fake ones.

See its holes:

[Real Pearls] There are layered structures in the holes punched;

[Fake Pearls] The surfaces crinkle and you can see glasses or plastic cores if examined carefully.

Feel with hands:

[Real Pearls] Cool and smooth by touch;

[Fake Pearls] Slippery and greasy by touch

Bite with teeth:

[Real Pearls] Not smooth if you bite them with teeth or rub them on glasses, usually uneven with white powders appearing;

[Fake Pearls] smooth if you bite them with teeth, parts of layers will drop if you bite with strength.

Rub:

[Real Pearls] Rub two pearls, if it feels rough and unsmooth, then, they are real;

[Fake Pearls] Those slippery are fake pearls.

View directly:

[Real Pearls] With various natural colors, irregular in size and shape in a piece of necklace, with flaws on the surface, which can be seen by our naked eyes (excluding those rare black pearls or South Sea pearls, they have no flaws that can be identified by naked eyes.); because they are natural products, they are not that hard-core as if they were made by machine molds.

[Fake Pearls] Usually round shaped, iridescent with a unified luster and look “fake”

Observe with magnifier:

[Real Pearls] Observe the surface of the pearl, if the shape you see is like the sand dunes being blown by the wind, then, it is real peal; if the shape you see is like the surface of the egg, then, it is fake;

[Fake Pearls] You will only find the surface that is as even as the egg shells.

Bounce:

[Real Pearls] Drop the pearls from the 60 cm high place, and they will rebound 35 cm high.

[Fake Pearls] Under the same conditions, Fake Pearls do not rebound well.

1. 5.     Key points for the appreciation of pearls

Pearl ornaments are not as noble as precious metals and lacking the brilliance of the diamonds, yet they are as fascinating by their unique elegance, dignity and mystery. In the recent two years in Japan and Europe, pearl ornaments have attracted many intellectual women by their implicit and containing dispositions. As many of the most beautiful, charming and noble women and celebrities wear pearl ornaments, such as Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth, Japanese Queen, Hilary, Tymoshenko and so on, pearls have become the main stream in fashion ornaments. As queen of jewelry, pearls are the best in this aspect, though they may not as glossy as some other jewelry.

Pearls are the embodiment of vitality. If you wear the cool pearls around your neck or your wrists, you will look to be different at once, gentle and lovely beyond words- the glossy iridescence and the skin not only adding radiance and charm to each other , but also bring out the best in each other.

People who know just a little about pearls may know that pearls of good qualities must be smooth, glossy and big, etc. For example, pearls with pink color are more precious. Based on this standard, sea water pearls are much more precious than the fresh water pearls. And thus sea water pearls are more popular.

In ancient times, the elegant and noble pearls are favored by royalties for long, whether it is in China or in Europe. Pearls symbolize women’s charm and power. In Western people’s eyes, pearls also symbolize a happy marriage. June in Europe is a pleasant season with many beautiful sceneries, thus it is said to be the best time to get married. If you become a bride at this time, you are thought to be happy for life. As a result, the pearl is set as the “birthday gem” of June, which symbolizes health, wealth and happiness.

During the designing and makings of the pearls, needle embedding technique, also called inserted embedding, is adopted. This technique is mainly used in the embedment of the pearls. In techniques, a piece of metal needle is inserted vertically in the center of a saucer shaped metal bow. The other end of this metal needle is inserted in the pearls drilled with small holes, and thus the pearls are embedded. Inserted embedding will not affect the luster of the pearls at all but highlight the features of the pearls.

Style of inserted embedding: Inserted embedding is a technique aiming at pearls. Check if the pearls are embedded firmly and if there is any looseness. In some of pearl ornaments, pearls are not embedded but pasted by glue. The pearls will fall, if you stir them by just a little strength. So be careful when you purchase them.

1. The value of a pearl is mainly determined by its luster, color, size, shape and whether there is any flaw on the surface, of which luster is the most important factor.

2. The peculiar luster pears have is formed by optical reflection and diffraction on these transparent nacreous layers.

3. Rainbow like color that some pearls possess is formed by optical reflection and diffraction on different nacreous layers.

4. Generally speaking, the thicker and the more the nacreous layers are, the more beautiful the luster is. The top-level pearls are those without any cracks, flaws or spots and are soft to touch. Rose colored pearls are the most popular pearls. Natural pearls and cultured pearls may be a little rough to touch, as if they were fine sandpaper. But that is the natural texture of pearls. However, fake pearls feel as slippery as the glasses. That is because they are shaped by moulds or are painted on the surface.

5. Shapes of pearls: Pearls have various kinds of shapes, yet the round shape is the best. There is an old saying-“as round as the pearl, as smooth as the jade”. But pearls produced under natural conditions are affected by many factors. As a result, there are not too many pearls that are round and smooth. The other shapes of pearls include tear shape and oval shape, etc.

6. The size of a pearl also directly determines its value. There is a saying in the jewelry industry that “a pearl weighted seven Fen is a valuable; a pearl weighted eight Fen is a treasure.” The bigger the pearl is, the harder its production is, and as a result, the more valuable it is.

7. The colors of pearls are so various that they are also an important determinant for their values. Especially those with the same level, the color became very important in the pricing. For example, black pearls are usually more valuable. People in different areas have different preference to the color. For example, American people like pink pearls; Japanese people like golden pearls; and Chinese people prefer the bright white pearls.

8. The soft and elegant luster of pearls is the emblem of their noble disposition, which is the so-called “luster of pearls and gems”. However, this is not at all a gaudy luster, but gives us a kind of dignified and compatible feeling. Luster reflected in different perspective is different. As a result, the luster of the pearl is also a determinant for its value.

Seawater cultured pearls are produced by manually inserting nucleuses to the grown-up mollusks, such as white lipped oyster, black lipped oyster or pinctada martensii dunker, and then putting them in the sea water to be cultured for more than one year. In the natural habitat, they will form nacreous overlying layers over the nucleuses day by day and month by month according to their biological characteristics. Cultured pearls are hard, smooth, round and of bright color. Generally speaking, pearls with longer culturing periods, bigger nucleuses, and thicker overlying layers are good. Pearls produced by white lipped oysters are of the best quality. Top level pearls are those which are still shinning and glossy when put in shades or in dark.