PEARL MONDAY

I love pearls! There is something about the way they feel on your skin, with their cool smoothness and delicate beauty. They look fantastic paired with metal! I love the silver/ blue coin pearls with silver or copper and the copper look stunning paired with copper or brass metal. The yin and yang that I love so much! Rough and smooth, elegant and organic, dressy and casual are the styles I love. Timeless Beauty!

Pearls are considered organic gems, created when an oyster covers a foreign object with beautiful layers of nacre. Long ago pearls were important financial assets, comparable in price to real estate, as thousands of oysters had to be searched for just one pearl. They were rare because they were created only by chance.

Today pearls are cultured by man.(thank goodness or I would never be able to touch them) Shell beads are placed inside an oyster and the pearl is returned to the water. When the pearls are later harvested they oyster has covered the bead with layers of narce. Most of the cultured pearls are produced in Japan. In the warm waters of the South Pacific, larger oysters produce South Sea cultured pearls and Tahitian black cultured pearls which are larger in size. Freshwater pearls are cultured in mussels, mostly in china.

To test pearls take the pearl and rub it gently against the edge of a tooth. Cultured and natural pearls will feel slightly rough, like fine sand paper against the edge of a tooth. Imitations will feel as smooth as glass because the surface is molded or painted on a smooth bead (i also notice they don't have that same cool feeling in my hand). I use only real pearls, they come in such a lovely variety of colors, shapes and sizes, and go with designs so beautifully and effortlessly. So while Metal is my first love when I need to connect to the earth's natural beauty and resources, I find myself picking up my box of pearls. Or when I am not sure what stone or how to finish a piece pearls seem to be what I reach for!