 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
THE SILVERLADY II
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.
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 Silverlady II Cincinnati, Ohio (513) 793-8119 2008 Copyright