Pearl Sets - Quality, Care and Copies - Pearl Info and More

Pearls are created inside certain types of mollusks such as mussels and clams, where the same shiny substance that coats the interior surface of the shell (on the shell it's known as mother of pearl, also used in jewelry and accessories) is secreted into a fold of the mollusk and over time accumulates into a pearl. This substance is called nacre and forms upon the pearl, layer upon layer, giving each on its iridescent depth and brightness.

All real pearls form the same way, but started differently.

Natural versus Cultured Pearls

Knowing your pearl lingo is important when buying pearls.

Natural pearls are as they were when first discovered by human beings. All mollusks are capable of creating pearls, but the process is perfectly random. At some point, a piece of nacre falls loose from the inside of the shell and becomes wedged into the mollusk's body. As an irritant, the mollusk tries to relieve the discomfort by coating the irritant with more nacre, rounding off the sharp edges of the core nacre. Over time, this pearl grows in size. Natural pearls may be round, but are more likely to be irregularly shaped due to the nature of the irritant. Natural pearls however are prized for their beauty because they are pearl all the way through, and since this process is harder to predict and produce, natural pearls are an amazing find.

Cultured pearls form a huge international market today because they can mass produce pearls and control size and match many pearls for color. Cultured pearls use the same concept, except that pearl producers introduce an artificial irritant to the mollusk body in order to begin the nacre coating process. Cultured pearls have similar color and brightness to natural pearls, but despite their nacreous body, have an artificial core (which you'll never see unless you break the pearl open). What cultured pearls lacks in naturalness, it makes up for in perceived perfection. Cultured pearls are often perfectly round, and can be matched to other pearls with stunning consistency. Cultured pearls are most likely to approach AAA quality, the highest grading level with less defects and higher luster.

There are two types of pearl grading - The AAA-A scale and the Tahitian Scale. The AAA-A scale is recognized universally and is referenced more often in the U.S. than the Tahitian Scale. The Tahitian Scale is primarily used in the countries that produce pearls in Polynesia and the South Sea. The AAA-A scale is more often used by jewelers to explain quality to consumers.

Both scales feature similar criteria and go from AAA for higher quality pearls to AA to A for the lowest quality pearls.

In the Tahitian system, the top of the grade is A for highest quality pearls, down to D for the lowest quality pearls.

Note: Since A is the bottom of the AAA-A scale and the top of the Tahitian Scale, be sure that your jeweler or salesman explains which scale they are using, and can explain why a pearl gets the grade suggested before purchasing.

Aspects of pearl grading include luster, surface imperfections, shape and roundness.

Some lower quality pearls can hide their imperfections through a high quality setting that turns an occlusion or other error into the setting, while others will be obviously lower quality regardless of how it is set. The luster of a pearl goes a long way to its quality, and high luster translates to a higher grade.

Compared to diamonds or other hard gemstones, pearls are more fragile and more akin to bones or teeth. Although strong and built up in a healthy body, they are subject to breakage and wear when exposed to their new environment and daily stress.

Real pearls need to be carefully cared for, but with good care can last many lifetimes.

Natural body oils from sweat, and unnatural substances like perfume, hairspray and cologne can accumulate on the surface of the pearl and over time, begin to dissolve the pearl's nacre.

Tip: When putting on perfume or hair spray, apply this first, before putting on your pearl jewelry. This will minimize exposure to your jewelry and better prevent coating the surface.

Pearls should be taken care of before being put back in storage. Since pearls will accumulate liquids that will dissolve the nacre, pearls should be cleaned before storage, and then stored in a safe manner.

Tip: Clean the pearls with a damp soft cloth and very mild soap, then dry with another soft cloth. Be careful not to abrade the pearls. They are soft enough that scrubbing, even from a rough towel, can scratch them.

Tip: Store your pearls in a soft pouch that can be tucked away from other jewelry items that might scratch them in your jewelry box.

High quality pearl strands are knotted together (a small knot appears between each pearl) instead of strung together like beads. Pearl knotting is an art in itself, and the smaller the knot, the better the pearl strand. This serves two purposes: One, it keeps the pearls from rubbing against each other and causing scratches, and Two, in the event of a breakage, prevents the pearls from all dropping to the ground.

Tip: If you think your pearls are loose, the string may be damaged or you own pearls are not knotted, take your pearls to a jeweler who has a professional pearl knotter on staff (or who can recommend one elsewhere).

Now that you know how pearls are made in the wild, and what you have to do to buy and care for them, maybe you'd rather have something that takes a little less responsibility.

There are plenty of artificial pearls on the market which have a few benefits. Some artificial pearls are beautifully lustrous and to the untrained eye are indistinguishable from the real thing. They can be made with perfect roundness and no variation in color (unless designed for that purpose), and your friends won't know the difference (unless they are gemologists).

For this reason, crystal and glass pearls are a common alternative. They are far less expensive than high quality pearls and look great. Swarovski is the major crystal pearl producer, but unlike their figurines, you can get a strand of Swarovski crystal pearls for a reasonable price. Finished Swarovski pearl jewelry commands a higher price.

Glass pearls have also come a long way, and if you want a cheap alternative that still looks and shimmers like a pearl, this is a good way to go if you're on a budget. Having a pearl knotter assemble your necklace of glass pearls makes for a piece that will challenge any occasional onlooker to believe that they aren't real freshwater pearls.

Telling Real from Artificial

There are lots of ways to tell pearls apart, some of which are not recommended, such as destroying it. If you have to wreck the pearl to see what it's made of, what's the point?

The best tools for identifying pearls are bright light and a magnifying glass.

Take your pearls outside and hold them up to the sun (this can be done in a store as well if they have a bright enough lamp). A real strand of pearls, even if matched for color, should show slight variations. Glass or crystal pearls will appear to be identical (because they are).

Also, get a jeweler's loop or high quality magnifying glass and examine the surface. Real pearls look rough very close up despite their apparent smoothness from the application of nacre. Faux pearls will look smoother and more uniform in their construction.
If the pearl is drilled for use in earrings, examine the drill hole. Since less than perfect pearls usually turn the errors in towards the setting, real pearls may be discolored, irregular or otherwise "real" in that area. Also, looking into the drill hole may show the telltale rings (like rings on a tree stump) of the many layers of nacre that make up the pearl itself. Faux pearls will not have these errors facing the setting or any sign of layering.