The luster of good quality pearls is sharp and bright. You should be able to see your reflection clearly on the surface of a pearl. Any pearl that appears too white, dull or chalky, is of low quality.
Luster: Of the seven pearl value factors, luster might be the most important. Luster is what gives a natural or cultured pearl its unique beauty. Within a pearl type, when other value factors are equal, the higher the luster, the more valuable the pearl.
The lip determines the pearl color. While the white pearls are also priced by jewelers, the gold pearl variety is the most coveted color. The gold South sea pearl's color can range from creamy white to deep gold, and the darker the color, the more expensive it becomes.
South Sea pearls are often referred to as the Rolls Royce of pearls. They are the largest and most valuable pearls grown today, with average sizes ranging from 10 to 15 millimeters.
A natural pearl may show growth lines where concentric layers of nacre have been added. Cultured pearls on the other hand will appear to have a perfectly rounded nucleus that's surrounded by a halo of conchiolin and finally a thin outer layer.
Genuine pearls are shinier than fake pearls. You can measure shine in luster, which is the intensity and softness of a pearl's surface, it generally has to do with how bright and clear a pearl looks. Natural pearls have more shine than artificial ones because they're made from natural materials.
Perhaps the best-loved gems of all time, pearls—both natural and modern cultured pearls—occur in a wide variety of colors. The most familiar colors are white and cream (a light yellowish brown). Black, gray, and silver are also fairly common, but the palette of pearl colors extends to every hue.
The combination of surface brilliance and a deep-seated glow, the luster of a good-quality cultured pearl should be bright, not dull. You should be able to see your reflection clearly on the surface of a cultured pearl. Any pearl that looks too chalky or dull indicates low quality.
The best quality of pearl is known as Lingha pearl obtained from marine oysters. The duration of formation of pearl is about 7 years. The pearl oyster belongs to genus Pinctada, family pteriidae, and class bivalvia and phylum mollusca.
It's often assumed that because something's old it must be valuable. That's rarely true and certainly not for pearls. Advances in technology and culturing techniques mean you can buy a much better set of pearls for far less money than in grandma's time.
A traditional strand of white pearls can range from $100 (Freshwater pearl necklace) to $10,000 (Akoya pearl necklace). A strand of large, flawless South Sea pearls could even be valued as high as $100,000+ . The truth is there is no simple answer to the question “how much are pearls worth” is…
White and Golden South Sea pearls are the largest and most luxurious of all cultured pearl types on the market today. Often called the “Queen of Pearls”, South Sea pearls feature a gorgeous palette of natural Golden and White colors that shimmer with delicate overtones and are simply unmistakable.
Natural pearls have tiny irregularities and ridges on the surface when examined closely due to the natural formation of the pearl's mother. Even when well-matched, you can always see tiny differences in top-quality cultured pearl necklace. However, if the pearls look identical, then they are probably fake.
Do pearls lose their luster or become dull? It's possible that pearls can lose their shimmer and shine over time, but you can prevent it from happening by learning how to clean your cultured pearl necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings.
The surface of a pearl is soft and is easily damaged. Pearls set in rings and bracelets are more subject to scuffing and scratching than pearls set in brooches, earrings, necklaces or strands.
Real pearls are cold to touch for the first couple of seconds before adjusting to your body temperature. Fake plastic pearls will be room temperature to begin with and you won't feel the coolness when you touch them.
There's no doubt that pearls are one of the most popular and beloved gems in the world. They range in prices from a $100 or less all the way up to thousands and even millions of dollars.
Natural pearls grow in the wild without human intervention. They are very rare, and most natural pearls in the market today are antique. Cultured pearls are grown in pearl farms, and are the direct result of human intervention.
Freshwater pearls are cheaper because they are easier to extract, making sea pearls more valued. Why? Sea pearls are larger, more beautiful in shape, luster, smoother surface and, of course, much more expensive than freshwater pearls.
This simple biological difference between the two mollusks creates a HUGE difference in yearly pearl harvest volume, making saltwater Akoya pearls the rarer of the two, thus more expensive. Recent production figures peg the Akoya pearl harvest from Japan at around 25 tons annually.
selling your pearl jewelry:
However Mother of pearl exists in almost all mollusks, but the chances of a particle entering the shellfish and forming a pearl is much more rare and so pearls are more valuable. For man-made items, pearls are also more valuable than mother-of-pearl because they take much longer to form.
Akoya Pearls: These pearls represent some of the best cultured pearls available today. Known for their metallic luster and perfectly round shape, they are regarded as the classic white pearl. While most Akoya pearls are farmed in Japan, China and Vietnam both produce Akoya pearls as well.