A pink pearl is the personification of grace and will add an immediate touch of sophistication to any outfit. These days there are a number of ways that enable you to put a more contemporary twist on wearing classic pearl necklaces. Instead of buying a classic white pearl necklace why not buy a pink pearl necklace instead.
Nearly every pearl you see being sold today is a cultured pearl that can be produced in salt or freshwater. But there are only 2 cultured pearls that are able to produce pink pearls naturally these are the Akoya and South Sea. Both of which mollusks need to live in saltwater.
Any pink pearl necklace made using freshwater pearls will have been dyed after the pearl has been harvested. But although most necklaces today using pink pearls are cultured there are a few more expensive ones where the Caribbean pink pearl is used. These are especially beautiful but can only be produced by the Queen Conch, and only one marketable pearl will be found in every 1,000 shells. As a result, this mollusk has now become a threatened species.
But just because the necklace you have chosen to buy is made using cultured pearls it is important that you care for this item of jewelry. This will help to ensure that such a beautiful item will last for years to come.
However, you may not realize just what is involved when it comes to the creating of a beautiful dark pink pearl necklace. Below we take a look at just what is involved.
How Cultured Pearls Are Made
There are a number of countries around the world that have set up oyster farms in order to produce cultured pearls. Since the early 20th Century the farming of pearls has come a long way and is now a thriving billion dollar industry.
But what you may not realize is that it takes several years in order for a good quality cultured pearl to be created. Each pearl in your pink pearl necklace set will have gone through a number of different processes and steps.
Before work can begin on creating a pearl, juvenile oysters need to be obtained. There are two ways in which this can be achieved. Some may be collected from the wild, whilst others will be produced in hatcheries. This allows careful management of the breeding of such mollusks and helps to ensure that the quality of the oyster being used is high.
In order for a pearl to be created within an oyster, it needs to be persuaded to secrete nacre that forms the pearl. This particular process is known as grafting and is a very important step in the process of creating cultured pearls.
Not only does the person carry out the work need to be highly skilled, they also need to work in a very hygienic environment. All work carried out to produce a cultured pearl is done by an experienced grafting technician.
Once the oyster is of a suitable age for producing pearls they will be provided to the grafting technician. They will then operate on the mollusk so that a nucleus can be inserted into the mollusk. They will also insert a piece of “Saibo” also known as donor mantle tissue into the oyster into the area known as the “Pearl Pocket” as well. This is a very important step in the creation of a pearl and is one of the factors that will end up determining the quality of the pearl produced.
However, in some cases, the oyster may reject the nucleus or it may fall out of the pearl pocket. Should this happen, the oyster may well produce what is known as a beadless cultured pearl. Within the pearl industry, these types of pearls are referred to as Keshi’s.
These kinds exist as a by-product in all kinds of oysters producing pearls. In fact these days you will often find that such pearls, which can also be used in the creation of pink pearl necklace and earrings are being produced from the outset.
Each oyster requires at least 4 years in order to create a cultured pearl, but in some cases, it may take longer. But once the pearl has been harvested it is possible for the pearls to be used another one or two times. Again the process of grafting will need to take place. Should a third pearl be harvested from the same oyster means it will be around 8 to 10 years in age?
However, pearl farmers are very careful about whether they use any oysters again. They will only choose to use such to create pearls if the shape, quality, and luster of the pearl are good.
Should they choose to use the same pearl again then a nucleus that is around the size of the pearl produced will be inserted. As a result of this, each subsequent pearl produced by that oyster will be bigger than the previous ones.
Production of larger pearls for inclusion in a pink pearl necklace may be easier. But the challenge faced is that the quality and luster of the pearls formed within the oyster may not be as high.
Generally, the harvesting of all pearls takes place during colder periods. They do this as the oyster will be secreting much thinner layers of the nacre, and in turn, helps to improve the luster of the pearl.
But How Do We Get A Pink Pearl Necklace
When it comes to the production of pink pearls some can actually be made naturally, whilst others need to be dyed. The two types of mollusks that can produce a natural pink pearl are the Akoya and South Sea varieties. But they won’t have the same dark hue, as you would find with the naturally produced Caribbean pink pearl.
As for the dying of pearls, this happens only to those created in a freshwater environment. This is because they are better able to take the dye. Because they can be dyed more easily it now means we can purchase pearls in a wide array of pearl colours.
The only major flaw with freshwater pearls is that the ones produced are rarely round in shape. This is because the nucleus used to create the pearl is from a donor instead of being a piece of shell. It is a piece of shell that will be grafted into a saltwater mollusk for the creation of a pearl. The one benefit of you choosing to buy a pink pearl necklace created in a freshwater mollusk is that they are far more durable.
Cultured Pearl Quality
As such pearls are created in a controlled environment the rate at which the oysters being used survive is much higher. In turn, this will allow the pearl farmer to produce more good quality authentic pearls than would otherwise be collected by oyster divers.
In fact, according to the American Gem Society, the vast majority of natural pearls to be found in the world’s oceans have now been harvested by divers.
But Why Buy Cultured Pearl Jewelry
Cultured Pink Pearl Necklaces Same Value As Natural Pearls
After the irritant has been placed inside the oyster the rest of the process to create a pearl is completely natural. But unlike in the wild, the oysters on a pearl farm are nurtured and cared for, as the farmer wants nothing more than to have a good crop. With luck and the right sort of care, a farmed oyster will go on to create very good quality pearls that are of the same value as ones created in the wild.
A CUlTURED PINK PEARL NECKLACE COSTS Less
As natural pearls are rare these means they are often very expensive to buy. If you want to buy a natural pink pearl necklace you’ll have to look for a vintage or antique one. If you do find one don’t be surprised to find that they come with a massive price tag.
Although the cost of pink cultured pearl necklace would be a lot less one thing you must remember is that these pearls are real. Too many people see such as fakes and they are not.
A fake pink pearl necklace, of course, is often one that is made using ceramic, glass, plastic or shells. Once the material has been shaped to resemble a pearl they are coated in varnish or another material in the hope that it creates the right sort of luster and iridescence of a real pearl.
The biggest way of telling if the pearls in the necklace you have are fake is that they will be too perfect. They will be perfectly round in shape and the surface of them will have an amazing luster (shine) to it.
But when you look closely at a real even the cultured pearls in your pink pearl necklace will have some kind of imperfection. In most cases, the first thing you’ll notice with a cultured pearl is that they aren’t perfectly round, also they tend to vary in size. Here are Pearlsonly.com even our cultured pearls are of the highest quality possible.
