 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
THE SILVER LADY II
| STERLING SILVER JEWELRY AND FRESHWATER CULTURED PEARLS Sold at conferences, events, fundraisers, meetings, home parties and private engagements |
| phone - (513) 793-8119 fax - (513) 793-8119 (call first) email - TheSilverLadyII@yahoo.com Cincinnati, Ohio |
Many thousands of years ago, long before written history, human beings probably discovered the first pearl while searching
the seashore for food. Throughout history, the pearl, with its warm inner glow and shimmering iridescence, has been one of
the most highly prized and sought-after gems. Countless references to the pearl can be found in the religions and mythology
of cultures from the earliest times. The ancient Egyptians prized pearls so much they were buried with them. Cleopatra
reportedly dissolved a single pearl in a glass of wine and drank it, simply to win a wager with Mark Antony that she could
consume the wealth of an entire nation in just one meal.
In ancient Rome, pearls were considered the ultimate symbol of wealth and social standing. The Greeks held the pearl in
high esteem for both its unrivaled beauty and its association with love and marriage. During the Dark Ages, while fair
maidens of nobility cherished delicate pearl necklaces, gallant knights often wore pearls into battle. They believed the magic
of these lustrous gems would protect them from harm. The Renaissance saw the royal courts of Europe awash in pearls.
Because pearls were so highly regarded, a number of European countries actually passed laws forbidding anyone but the
nobility to wear them.
During the European expansion into the New World, the discovery of pearls in Central American waters added to the
wealth of Europe. Unfortunately, greed and lust for the sea-grown gems resulted in the depletion of virtually all the
American pearl oyster populations by the 17th century. Until the early 1900's, natural pearls were accessible only to the
rich and famous. In 1916, famed French jeweler Jacques Cartier bought his landmark store on New York's famous Fifth
Avenue -- by trading two pearl necklaces for the valuable property. But today, with the advent of pearl cultivation, pearls
are available and affordable to all.
How Pearls Form In Oysters
The birth of a pearl is truly a miraculous event. Unlike gemstones or precious metals that must be mined from the earth,
pearls are grown by live oysters far below the surface of the sea. Gemstones must be cut and polished to bring out their
beauty. But pearls need no such treatment to reveal their loveliness. They are born from oysters complete -- with a
shimmering iridescence, lustre and soft inner glow unlike any other gem on earth.
A natural pearl begins its life as a foreign object, such as a parasite or piece of shell that accidentally lodges itself in an
oyster's soft inner body where it cannot be expelled. To ease this irritant, the oyster's body takes defensive action. The
oyster begins to secrete a smooth, hard crystalline substance around the irritant in order to protect itself. This substance is
called "nacre." As long as the irritant remains within its body, the oyster will continue to secrete nacre around it, layer upon
layer. Over time, the irritant will be completely encased by the silky crystalline coatings. And the result, ultimately, is the
lovely and lustrous gem called a pearl. How something so wondrous emerges from an oyster's way of protecting itself is
one of nature's loveliest surprises. For the nacre is not just a soothing substance. It is composed of microscopic crystals of
calcium carbonate, aligned perfectly with one another, so that light passing along the axis of one crystal is reflected and
refracted by another to produce a rainbow of light and color.
Cultured pearls share the same properties as natural pearls. Oysters form cultured pearls in an almost identical fashion. The
only difference is a person carefully implants the irritant in the oyster, rather than leaving it to chance. We then step aside
and let nature create its miracle. How pearls are cultivated and harvested early on, pearl cultivation depended entirely on
wild oysters. Later you'll learn that, in some cases, the same applies today. But modern pearl cultivation has become more
selective.
How Pearls Are Processed For Market
Saltwater cultured pearls can never be a mass-produced, factory-like product. The whims of unpredictable Mother Nature
do not allow it. Millions of oysters are nucleated every year, but only a small proportion live to produce fine-quality
cultured pearls. Many oysters don't survive the nucleating process, others are weak and fall prey to disease. Heavy rains
may flood the bays with fresh water, reducing their salinity, and killing the oysters. Sometimes, certain species of
phytoplankton undergo explosive growth, creating the dreaded "red tide," which exhausts the oxygen in the water, and
suffocates the oysters. Then there are typhoons, the attacks of predators and parasites, lack of sufficient nutrients in the
water.
On average, only 50 percent of nucleated oysters survive to bear pearls, and of them, only 20 percent bear
pearls that are marketable. The rest are simply too imperfect, too flawed to be called jewels. And so, a perfect
pearl is truly a rare event, blessed by Nature. Less than 5 percent of nucleated oysters yield pearls of such
perfect shape, lustre and color as to be considered fine gem quality.
These are the precious treasures of pearl cultivation, the rare prizes of any jewelry collection. After harvesting,
gem quality pearls must be sorted. Because no two pearls are ever exactly alike, sorting pearls is an extremely
difficult and time-consuming effort performed by experts. Each pearl must be sorted by size, shape, color and
lustre, so it is handled hundreds of times. After sorting, the pearls are drilled with great care and precision. An
inexperienced operator can split or ruin pearls with careless handling. A hole drilled even slightly off-center can
ruin a necklace or other piece of jewelry that depends upon the symmetry of its assembly of pearls. Finally, it's
time for matching and stringing. This can be even more difficult than sorting, because now experts must
compare pearls that are similar in size, shape, lustre and color -- looking for nearly exact matches. The art of
assembling pearls into a necklace, a pair of earrings or other jewelry calls for refined skills in matching. Only
highly-trained experts with years of experience can perform this task. To find 47 pearls for a perfectly matched
16-inch necklace, a pearl processor must cull through more than 10,000 pearls.
the seashore for food. Throughout history, the pearl, with its warm inner glow and shimmering iridescence, has been one of
the most highly prized and sought-after gems. Countless references to the pearl can be found in the religions and mythology
of cultures from the earliest times. The ancient Egyptians prized pearls so much they were buried with them. Cleopatra
reportedly dissolved a single pearl in a glass of wine and drank it, simply to win a wager with Mark Antony that she could
consume the wealth of an entire nation in just one meal.
In ancient Rome, pearls were considered the ultimate symbol of wealth and social standing. The Greeks held the pearl in
high esteem for both its unrivaled beauty and its association with love and marriage. During the Dark Ages, while fair
maidens of nobility cherished delicate pearl necklaces, gallant knights often wore pearls into battle. They believed the magic
of these lustrous gems would protect them from harm. The Renaissance saw the royal courts of Europe awash in pearls.
Because pearls were so highly regarded, a number of European countries actually passed laws forbidding anyone but the
nobility to wear them.
During the European expansion into the New World, the discovery of pearls in Central American waters added to the
wealth of Europe. Unfortunately, greed and lust for the sea-grown gems resulted in the depletion of virtually all the
American pearl oyster populations by the 17th century. Until the early 1900's, natural pearls were accessible only to the
rich and famous. In 1916, famed French jeweler Jacques Cartier bought his landmark store on New York's famous Fifth
Avenue -- by trading two pearl necklaces for the valuable property. But today, with the advent of pearl cultivation, pearls
are available and affordable to all.
How Pearls Form In Oysters
The birth of a pearl is truly a miraculous event. Unlike gemstones or precious metals that must be mined from the earth,
pearls are grown by live oysters far below the surface of the sea. Gemstones must be cut and polished to bring out their
beauty. But pearls need no such treatment to reveal their loveliness. They are born from oysters complete -- with a
shimmering iridescence, lustre and soft inner glow unlike any other gem on earth.
A natural pearl begins its life as a foreign object, such as a parasite or piece of shell that accidentally lodges itself in an
oyster's soft inner body where it cannot be expelled. To ease this irritant, the oyster's body takes defensive action. The
oyster begins to secrete a smooth, hard crystalline substance around the irritant in order to protect itself. This substance is
called "nacre." As long as the irritant remains within its body, the oyster will continue to secrete nacre around it, layer upon
layer. Over time, the irritant will be completely encased by the silky crystalline coatings. And the result, ultimately, is the
lovely and lustrous gem called a pearl. How something so wondrous emerges from an oyster's way of protecting itself is
one of nature's loveliest surprises. For the nacre is not just a soothing substance. It is composed of microscopic crystals of
calcium carbonate, aligned perfectly with one another, so that light passing along the axis of one crystal is reflected and
refracted by another to produce a rainbow of light and color.
Cultured pearls share the same properties as natural pearls. Oysters form cultured pearls in an almost identical fashion. The
only difference is a person carefully implants the irritant in the oyster, rather than leaving it to chance. We then step aside
and let nature create its miracle. How pearls are cultivated and harvested early on, pearl cultivation depended entirely on
wild oysters. Later you'll learn that, in some cases, the same applies today. But modern pearl cultivation has become more
selective.
How Pearls Are Processed For Market
Saltwater cultured pearls can never be a mass-produced, factory-like product. The whims of unpredictable Mother Nature
do not allow it. Millions of oysters are nucleated every year, but only a small proportion live to produce fine-quality
cultured pearls. Many oysters don't survive the nucleating process, others are weak and fall prey to disease. Heavy rains
may flood the bays with fresh water, reducing their salinity, and killing the oysters. Sometimes, certain species of
phytoplankton undergo explosive growth, creating the dreaded "red tide," which exhausts the oxygen in the water, and
suffocates the oysters. Then there are typhoons, the attacks of predators and parasites, lack of sufficient nutrients in the
water.
On average, only 50 percent of nucleated oysters survive to bear pearls, and of them, only 20 percent bear
pearls that are marketable. The rest are simply too imperfect, too flawed to be called jewels. And so, a perfect
pearl is truly a rare event, blessed by Nature. Less than 5 percent of nucleated oysters yield pearls of such
perfect shape, lustre and color as to be considered fine gem quality.
These are the precious treasures of pearl cultivation, the rare prizes of any jewelry collection. After harvesting,
gem quality pearls must be sorted. Because no two pearls are ever exactly alike, sorting pearls is an extremely
difficult and time-consuming effort performed by experts. Each pearl must be sorted by size, shape, color and
lustre, so it is handled hundreds of times. After sorting, the pearls are drilled with great care and precision. An
inexperienced operator can split or ruin pearls with careless handling. A hole drilled even slightly off-center can
ruin a necklace or other piece of jewelry that depends upon the symmetry of its assembly of pearls. Finally, it's
time for matching and stringing. This can be even more difficult than sorting, because now experts must
compare pearls that are similar in size, shape, lustre and color -- looking for nearly exact matches. The art of
assembling pearls into a necklace, a pair of earrings or other jewelry calls for refined skills in matching. Only
highly-trained experts with years of experience can perform this task. To find 47 pearls for a perfectly matched
16-inch necklace, a pearl processor must cull through more than 10,000 pearls.
HISTORY OF PEARLS
LEARN MORE ABOUT TAXCO
Cobblestone streets ...
Red tiled roofs ...
Old world style ...
Silver capitol of the world ...
it's Taxco!
Red tiled roofs ...
Old world style ...
Silver capitol of the world ...
it's Taxco!
LEARN MORE ABOUT PEARLS