Pearl Necklace

Often natural pearls and cultured pearls come to mind when looking for a pearl necklace. Both natural and cultured pearls are identical when it comes to formation of pearls. Both types of pearls are comprised of nacre layers. Natural pearls are formed when a small foreign object, such as a parasite or a grain of sand enters in the gonad or mantle tissue of a mollusk or oyster. In case of a cultured pearl necklace this mantle tissue is implanted surgically. After that the process of formation of pearls is the same. In a defensive response to the irritant, the mollusk secretes nacre as a smooth, protective coating around the irritant and with multiple concentric layers of nacre, eventually pearl is formed and can be formed into a pearl necklace.

The principle difference between a natural and a cultured pearl necklace is the thickness of nacre. Premature harvesting leads to thinner nacre and pearl farms constantly try to get the best quality cultured pearls every harvesting season. Since natural pearls are rarity now, all types of pearl necklace use cultured pearls and cultured pearl necklace is made with various types of pearls such as freshwater pearls, akoya pearls, Tahitian pearls, South sea pearls. A cultured pearl necklace comes in various necklace lengths, sizes and colors. Pearl luster and the quality of any cultured pearl necklace are paramount and priced accordingly.

Freshwater pearls used in a cultured pearl necklace are grown in mollusks that live in freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers rather than in the sea. Freshwater pearls are produced in mussels and saltwater pearls that are commonly known as akoya pearls are produced in oysters. China and Japan are the major producers of these cultured pearls and pearl necklaces. Tahitian pearls come from Tahitian island and its neighboring areas. Pearl necklaces with south sea pearls are grown mainly in Australia and Indonesia.

The pearl necklace usually comes in various styles, one of which is the bib and is made up of several strands of pearls in various lengths. The Collar pearl necklace is made up of multiple strands of pearls which are worn on the neck higher than usual. There is also the choker. It is quite similar to a collar pearl necklace but worn lower on the neck. Usually it is just 14 to 16 inches long. The princess type of pearl necklace on the other hand is the most common length for a pearl necklace. It is worn such that it lies slightly below the neck. The matinee type of pearl necklace is worn mostly during the semi-formal occasions. It matches very well with suits and dresses. The opera pearl necklace is the one used for formal occasions like the evening gowns. It usually falls below the bust line. The last type of pearl necklace is the rope which is the longest among all pearl necklaces. It can be worn by doubling or knotting it. There are rope pearl necklaces with multiple clasps used to shorten the strands.

The pearls of a pearl necklace usually have four grading when it comes to quality. It is called as A, AA, AAA, and the AAA+ quality. The pearls with AAA and AAA+ grading of quality are the highest quality. The quality and value of pearls are based upon six criteria: luster, nacre, surface, color, shape, size and matching. For a pearl necklace or bracelet, matching refers to the ways in which all of the pearls are similar. It is difficult to find enough identical pearls to make a well-matched pearl necklace; therefore such a necklace commands a top price.

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