Freshwater and Saltwater Cultured Pearls

Freshwater and Saltwater Cultured Pearls:

Pearls found in mussels in lakes and rivers are called: Freshwater Pearls. The Pearls vary widely in color and size and can be found in many countries but the majority of cultured freshwater pearls are produced in China.

Saltwater Pearls are found in seas and oceans in many countries but basically there are three major types of saltwater cultured pearls:

Akoya: the main oysters producing it are in Japan and China but they grow in other locations around the world. The pearls are mostly white and round. They were the first spherical cultured pearls, introduced early in the twentieth century

Tahitian: the oyster producing it is native to French Polynesia. The pearls farmed in Tahiti and Cook Islands are large in size, have amazing dark colors and beautiful luster.

South Sea: This type of pearls come from one of the world's biggest mollusks producing big and beautiful pearls mostly in silver, white and golden colors. The farms culturing the pearls are located in Australia, Philippines and Indonesia.

Freshwater Cultured Pearls Jewelry Designs

Chocolate color Pearls Elegant Necklace: The exceptional shapes of the pearls create an outstanding design.

White Pearls Elegant Necklace: Unique shapes of Pearls and Mother of Pearl, creating one of a kind design.

http://www.facebook.com/PearlAndGemDesigns

I would appreciate your feedback, Esther

Abalone Mother of Pearl

Abalone is a marine gastropod, classified as a large sea snail that can be found in cold-water rocky shores.

The thick inner layer of the shell is composed of mother-of-pearl, which in many species is highly iridescent. The Mother of Pearl as the pearls found in Abalone show magnificent colors from blue green, purple, pink, orange gold, silver and more.

The Abalone pearls are rare but the Mother of Pearl is available and used beautifully in jewelry.

Abalone Mother of Pearl and Onyx gemstone Necklace :

An outstanding, exceptional design combining amazing pieces of Abalone Mother of Pearl with the glamorous Onyx gemstone.

http://www.facebook.com/PearlAndGemDesigns

I would appreciate your feedback, Esther

Mother of Pearl

Mother of Pearl's natural magnificent colors and beauty makes it very attractive to be used in jewelry and decorative items. In the past it was also popular as buttons.

Mother of pearl is a general term meaning a hard, silvery or iridescent, brilliant internal layer that can be found in several kinds of shells of oysters, mussels, snails and other types of Mollusca. Some of them also produce pearls.

This layer coats the inside of the oyster's shell and is made of the same substance that the pearls are made of.

The color of Mother of Pearl varies with the species producing it and their origin: white, silver, yellow, green, purple, pink, black and more.

Mother of Pearl in my jewelry designs-

Black and White Mother of Pearl with Silver Crystals Elegant Necklace:

An exceptional combination of Mother of Pearl rings with pearls and crystals, creating a beautiful and elegant necklace.

Yellow-Bronze Mother of Pearl and Pearl Necklace:

An original design combining unique shape of yellow Mother of Pearl pieces with small yellow and bronze pearls.

http://www.facebook.com/PearlAndGemDesigns

I would appreciate your feedback, Esther

Cultured and Natural Pearls

A cultured pearl is the magnificent result of human help in the natural pearl formation process. As the natural and accidental formation of pearls almost disappeared by the 1890s, the experiments to culture pearls became serious.

Following the success of these experiments, gem quality cultured pearls have been available since the beginning of the 20^th century.

The unique appearance of all pearls is provided by the Nacre. This pearly substance is produced inside the mollusks and covers the "center" of the pearl with the intention to isolate it.

The center is a foreign body inserted inside the mollusk, either by accident in the case of natural pearls or put in by humans during the process of creating cultured pearls.

Cultured pearls shapes can vary from round to unique irregular shapes. The colors are no longer limited to white and ivory, today an amazing rainbow of colors can be found among cultured pearls. Some colors are natural and some are the result of dyeing techniques acceptable by the industry.

Examples of the different modern shapes and colors of this classy gemstone can be seen in the photos of my handmade jewelry designs included in this post:

Turquoise and Gold big Pearls Necklace: Impressive big cultured pearls dyed in turquoise and gold colors creating an outstanding design.

A Bouquet of Burgundy, Peach and Gold Pearls Pendant: A combination of keshi pearls and small pearls in the center, hanging as a pendant on burgundy color threads. It looks like a beautiful small bouquet of roses creating a unique jewelry that would fit and complement any outfit.

I would appreciate your feedback, Esther

The June Birthstone - The Pearl

The Pearl is considered to be the Gemini birthstone.

Different cultures all over the world attribute special properties to this special gemstone. It is believed the pearl has natural properties associated with friendship, integrity, calmness and focus, providing protection, good health and longevity.

No doubt this is a stone worthwhile having.

Traditionally a pearl jewelry is given as a gift at many different occasions- from new born baby girls, girls coming of age ceremonies (communions, bat-mitzvahs), graduations, brides, new mothers, birthdays, marriage anniversaries (1^st, 3^rd, 12^th and 30 years per country) and many more.

The Necklace presented above is an example of a unique combination of different shapes of pearls creating triple raw of Gold and Black Pearls Extravaganza

How to take care of Pearls

Pearls are more delicate than other gemstones and precious metals. To keep the pearls bright and lustrous, special care is recommended.

Chemical elements in cosmetics, soaps, hair products and perfume may dull the luster of a pearl. Take them off while washing, showering or swimming.

.Pearls should be put on last, after make-up, hair products and perfum

After they are worn, they must be kept away from hard or sharp jewelry items that could scratch them.

It would be best to keep them in soft pouch or cloth bags. Pearls should be taken out and worn regularly to keep them moist and exposed to humidity.

To demonstrate the importance and the results of careful handling of pearls, Please look at the Unconventional shapes of white freshwater cultured pearls Necklace above. The luster of the white pearls is clearly evident and that's the way our pearl jewelry should look like.

I would appreciate your feedback, Esther

Turquoise Motifs Gemstones Necklace

The Turquoise colour is one of the most complementing and popular colours women love to wear.

This design combines many types of gemstones with turquoise motifs creating a necklace that would look unique and outstanding with any outfit.

Shell beads are the center pieces, they can come in a wide variety of sizes and colours. Shell products can be found more and more as they are fashioned into different shapes and are added to jewelry designs.

The freshwater cultured pearls have an interesting shape and between the pearls there are Apatite gemstones. The Apatite is a mineral found in many types of Rock.

The transparent beads are made of glass with special coating that creates the rainbow colour shine.

I would appreciate your feedback, Esther

Ocean colours Mother of Pearl Necklace

This unique necklace combines Abalone Mother of Pearl pieces with different shapes of black cultured pearls. The amazing green ocean colours give the necklace its rich and modern design.

"Abalone" is a common name for a group of sea animals. Their shell is composed of Mother of Pearl with wonderful colours as we can see here.

I would appreciate your feedback, Esther

Mother of Pearl Flower with rainbow colours pearl pendant

The center of this impressive flower is filled with keshi pearls in rainbow colours, creating an outstanding piece of jewelry. It looks wonderful both on a T-Shirt as well as on an elegant dress.

Mother of Pearl is the substance forming the inside of shells. The type of animal and the environment it lives in will determine the colour and form of the shell.

I would appreciate your feedback, Esther

Milk and Honey Pearl Bouquet Necklace

Let's welcome the summer with a delicate bouquet pendant of freshwater keshi pearls with the sunny colors of white and gold. Thinking about summer events, such as weddings, birthdays, vacations and many more, this unique design would complement all of them: a bridal gown, an elegant dress or a business suit, and would also upgrade any casual outfit.

Keshi Pearls are non-nucleated pearls. They are usually small but can also be found in various sizes.

I would appreciate your feedback, Esther

Guest Artist - Dorly Weitzen

My name is Dorly Weitzen and I live in sunny Israel.
I'm married and I have 3 adorable sons.
I'm a Linguist and fluent in 7 languages.
I grew up in a family of artists and art collectors, and I've been creating ever since I can remember myself.
I love painting, jewelry designing, scrapbooking, altered art and mixed media art. And chocolate, of course.
I have a constant urge to create something new every day.
It sure is better than maintaining what already exist!

Here are several examples of my art works, using pearls as a non-traditional decoration of gift boxes and greeting cards.
(You can enlarge each photo by clicking on it).
Pearls found in Seashells, at the depth of the ocean, inspired me to create this Pearls From The Ocean Card.


















Pearls also coordinate well with natural motifs, such as the dragonfly seen in this Spread Your Wings Dragonfly Card.















Pearls can be used as embellishments for gift boxes, as in this Like a Fish in Water Box, which was filled up with coffee bars. Yummy!

















Pearls are so versatile in shapes and colors, therefore they have endless possibilities of uses in various art works.
They can be combined with other materials or stand on their own, their beauty always glamorous and eye-catching.
I hope you enjoyed this short tour into my world, which gave you a taste of my creations.
You're welcome to visit my blog for more detailed photos and explanations.
Thanks for stopping by,
Dorly Weitzen