Mabe Pearl 

Oh, those lovely blisters...

A mabe pearl is a half-spherical cultured pearl grown on the inside shell of a mollusk (the pearl oyster Pteria penguin), as opposed to inside a mollusk's body. Mabe pearls do not form naturally, rather, their growth is artificially induced. The pearl farmer attaches a plastic hemisphere onto the inside of a mollusk's shell until its nucleus is covered with a sufficient amount of nacre (see here). Then the pearl is cut away from the inner shell, and the cavity filled with a substance such as epoxy resin and backed by a mother-of-pearl plate. Mabe pearls are sometimes referred to as blister pearls.

The term Mabe is possibly a word used in the Ryukyuan Japanese (Amami) dialect.

Pearls are grown when faced with a foreign body, a small parasite or a grain of sand, and the secreting organ of the shell (the mantle) isolates the intruder by forming a layer of mother-of-pearl. It was by observing this reaction that the Japanese perfected their pearl-culture techniques which are now used throughout French Polynesia. The probably most valuable pearls (among the fully round ones) are the salt-water (ocean) Akoya pearls. Like everything valuable, pearls have also been falsified and tons of so-called "costume jewelry pearls" are circulating around. I am for "less is more." One doesn't have to have a truckload of these lovely pearls, but what you buy or receive as gift, should be the real thing. Although many people believe that freshwater (FW) pearls are not as highly valued as salt-water pearls, there are very close-to-perfect round highly valued freshwater pearl items with thick nacre and excellent luster available which may, under circumstances, outperform salt water pearls regarding the price.

Visit Classic Treasures 

Classic Treasures Home Page

We are dedicated to providing women with quality new and vintage apparel by brands like Vittadini, Viccaro, Brahmin, Orlandi, Ferragamo, Trussardi, Biasia, Gucci, Fendi, Falor, Berge, Marie Antoinette, Talbots, Buchman, Escada, Esprit, MAXX, Hype, Kors. Find the matching silk scarf and jewelry! NEW AT CLASSIC TREASURES: Men's apparel from Ralph Lauren, Nautica, Geoffrey Beene, Izod, Greg Nornman, Tasso Elba, and many more brands. All our mens's wear is new with tags.

Classic Treasures Haute Couture & Jewelry 

We give return customer discounts on our website Classic Treasures. You'll receive 15% off your total as return buyer, and 10% as a first time buyer of your pruchase! Just enter the matching coupon code during checkout (see explanation in the FAQ). I accept PayPal payments; however, you may also use Google Checkout at your convenience.

http://www.classiquetreasures.org

You'll receive all your pearl jewelry in a tasteful 100% silk brocade drawstring pouch for safe keeping.

RSS to Classic Treasures 

Thanks to PRESTO STORES, an RSS feed is now available to our store Classic Treasures! Just visit http://www.classiquetreasures.org there you can subscribe to Classic Treasures' RSS feed. At the top of any item listing, you will see the orange square box which is a clickable link! This will keep you up-to-date on our new listings!

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CHECK OUT BIG CRUMBS AND EARN MONEY! :O) 

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Pearl Books 

Pearls: A Natural History

by: Neil H. Landman, Paula Mikkelsen

Amazon Price: (as of 11/23/2008)

The Book of the Pearl: The History, Art, Science and Industry of the Queen of Gems

by: George Frederick Kunz, Charles Hugh Stevenson

Amazon Price: (as of 11/23/2008)

Simply Pearls: Designs for Creating Perfect Pearl Jewelry

by: Nancy Alden

Amazon Price: $15.61 (as of 11/23/2008)

Jewelry & Gems the Buying Guide: How to Buy Diamonds, Pearls, Colored Gemstones, Gold & Jewelry With Confidence And Knowledge (Jewelry and Gems the Buying Guide)

by: Antoinette L. Matlins, Antonio C. Bonanno

Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 11/23/2008)

Pearl Buying Guide: How to Evaluate, Identify and Select Pearls & Pearl Jewelry

by: Renee Newman

Amazon Price: $14.96 (as of 11/23/2008)

Visit my recently created lenses! 

Amaryllis

This lens is about our eBay store Amaryllis Express and of course, the flower known as Amaryllis! We also have another on-line store named Classic Treasures, with hundreds of other items that aren't even listed elsewhere! Although the selection varies, you will find many of the following brand names...

Imari Porcelain Japan

This lens is one in a series of lenses I will write about Asian Antiques, especially Japanese and Chinese Art. I always admired the intricate beauty of old Japanese porcelain and earthenware. In this lens I will introduce the reader to the Imari style, which is probably the easiest to recognize.

Kutani Porcelain Japan

This lens is about one of my favorite Japanese Antique porcelain styles named KUTANI. I hope you'll enjoy reading about it! It is not only beautiful and highly valuable, but also rich in historical and Artistic content.

Satsuma Porceain Japan

This lens is about Japanese Satsuma porcelain, one in a series of lenses I will write about Asian Antique ware. I have been admiring Satsuma porcelain since I was little, and never left out an opportunity in my travels to visit the museums exhibitions which included Japanese Art.

Herend Porcelain Hungary

If you have read my other lens about the Monarch, by now it should be no secret for you that I love orange butterflies. Herend Fortuna porcelain is satisfying two needs of mine, (1) that of aesthetics, and (2) that of surrounding myself with orange butterflies.

Oscar de la Renta

This lens is about my all time favorite fashion designer Oscar de la Renta. He understands feminine elegance and female beauty like only a few others in the fashion industry.

Classic Treasures and Amaryllis Express

It is my pleasure to introduce you to my on-line store Classic Treasures! While the name doesn't sound unique at all, in this case, the choice of name is accurately describing the items offered. If you enjoy classically elegant clothing, handbags and Artisan jewelry, pearl and gemstone necklaces...

Meissner Porcelain Dresden Germany

This lens is about the Meissner porcelain, an admired European antique, that came to being more or less by coincidence. Wouldn't it be for the almost obsessive collection lust of August the Strong, Elector of Saxony (1694-1733) who believed it was his royal duty to amass a collection of Art...

Blanc de Chine

Blanc de Chine also known as Dehua or Monochrome porcelain is called so because it involves items without colorful details, made in one color only which is usually white (blanc = white in French). Cherished by Chinese and Western connoisseurs des Arts for more than 300 years, blanc de Chine...

Albatross

This lens is about the largest living bird on Earth, the Albatross. If you are passionate about the Environment and Nature WITHOUT being radical or fanatic in your thinking (such as spray-painting fur-coats, or rejecting membership applications to animal lovers' clubs / groups from people who enjoy fur and leather items) you're welcome to join my Squidoo group Nature and Environment.

Sequoia Tree

See the huge dark thing behind the little green tree on the picture? That's a Giant Seqouia Sempervirens! (Shh, the little tree is about 24 feet tall). Fossil findings prove that the ancestors of redwood trees were wide-spread on Earth up to a time point sometime 175 million years ago.

Sevres porcelain

In this lens I will decribe the origin, the history and the characetristics of Sèvres Porcelain. Sevres porcelain was known for centuries in France as the Porcelain of the Kings and the King of Porcelains [Le Roi des Porcelains et Le Porcelain des Roix]. The first soft paste porcelain...

Mouse Dee of Malaysia, Borneo and Palawan

I wanted to write about this fascinating creature, the Mouse Deer, for a long time now. It is an animal barely larger than a rabbit, and it looks so funny with its large ears, pointed nose, mustache and slender long legs, supporting a rather chubby body!

Bernstein Zimmer: The Amber Room

This lens describes the famous Bernstein Zimmer as the Amber Room is called in German. Information about the mysterious disappearance of this masterpiece of Art, as well as a despription of the new, restored version of the room is provided. What a mysterious story!

Monarch Butterfly

Among all butterflies, orange ones fascinate me the most. Ever since I was a small child, I loved spending time in the meadows during summer, which were richly covered in wild flowers, and attracted various butterflies! Today, as a grown-up, this fascination is still alive. While I have many favorites,...

Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren, the probably most famous Italian actress of the 20th century, was born September 20, 1934 in Rome, Italy as Sofia Villani Scicolone. Her parents, an aspiring actress and an established engineer, never married.

Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she grew up in the East Falls section, the third of four children to John Brendan Kelly, Sr., also known as Jack Kelly, and Margaret Katherine Majer Kelly.

George Clooney

In all of the interviews I have seen with George Clooney, he strikes me as a very intelligent, down-to-Earth, fun person who somehow managed to remain natural like your next door neighbor. Although now mostly dedicated to directing and producing, he is a kind of Hollywood personality I think we need to keep an eye on.

Richard Gere

Richard Tiffany Gere (born August 31, 1949) is a famous American actor. He first was discovered during the 1980s, after appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including An Officer and a Gentleman; and again during the 1990s and 2000s, when he starred in the movies Pretty Woman, Primal Fear, and Chicago for which he won a Golden Globe award as Best Actor. Mr. Gere is a buddhist.

Marilyn Monroe

This lens is about the most famous, most beautiful, and talented film star Marilyn Monroe.

Tiffany Design

Tiffany design stained glass and leaded glass lamps, window panes and the biography of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Frida Kahlo

The probably most famous and most controversial Mexican painter of the 20th century, Frida Kahlo is today thought of as a classic treasure in Mexican folk Art.

Guide to buying pearls 

Pearl Guide

Pearls have been known and valued in many cultures throughout history. As far back as 2300 BC, Chinese records indicate that pearls were prized possessions of (and gifts to) royalty. Ancients Hindu texts from India also repeatedly refer to pearls, stating in one place that the god Krishna discovered the first pearl. In ancient Egypt, mother-of-pearl was used for decorative purposes as far back as 4000 BC, although the use of actual pearls did not come until much later -- perhaps the 5th century BC.

Going a well desrved vacation or second honey-moon? 

$810 from Miami: flight + 3 nights hotel

$828 from Tampa: flight + 3 nights hotel

$848 from Fort Lauderdale: flight + 3 nights hotel

$876 from Orlando: flight + 3 nights hotel

$880 from San Francisco: flight + 3 nights hotel

$894 from Boston: flight + 3 nights hotel

$918 from Detroit: flight + 3 nights hotel

$946 from Denver: flight + 3 nights hotel

$962 from Washington DC: flight + 3 nights hotel

$967 from Washington DC: flight + 3 nights hotel

$976 from Baltimore: flight + 3 nights hotel

$976 from Atlanta: flight + 3 nights hotel

$986 from San Antonio: flight + 3 nights hotel

$993 from Houston: flight + 3 nights hotel

$998 from Salt Lake City: flight + 3 nights hotel

My Fancy Guest Book 

Please leave behind at lest a paw-print...Thanks! :o)