They say that if you want a happy marriage you should wear pearls on your wedding day.
The one thing that comes to mind when thinking about wedding jewellery is pearls. So, how do you go about finding and buying the perfect pearl necklace jewellery.
Pearls come in 4 different types: Tahitian, Akoya, Southsea and Freshwater. Akoya, Tahitian and South Sea pearls come from the sea. The pearls that come from the sea are more valuable due to their rarity.
Akoya pearls are the most popular. The Akoya pearl is the classic round pearl with a mirror like finish.
As with any other gemstones, the value of pearls is determined by their quality.
A pearls quality can be A, AA, AA+, AAA, AAA+. For pearls of the same size, an ‘A’ quality pearl necklace costs only a small fraction of AAA quality pearl necklace.
The quality and value of pearls are based upon six criteria: luster, nacre, surface, colour, shape, size and matching.
Nacre: The pearls nacre thickness is very impoprtant when buying pearls. Nacre is the coating that a pearl oyster produces to cover the pearl’s nucleus. The nacre is the measurement for how long a pearl will last. Pearls that last longer usually havce a nacre thickness over 0.4mm.
Luster and Surface: When a pearl has a reflective surface this is called the luster. Pearls with clean surfaces and high luster are the most desired.
Colour: The colours of pearls really boils down to your own personal choice.
Size: Pearls increase in price the larger they get and when they are over 7mm the price can vary hugely.
Shape: The valuable pearls are the round ones and these coincidentaly happen to be the most desired.
Matching: When buying a pearl necklace jewellery set or similar the matching element refers to how well all the pearls in the jewellery match. The more pearls that match in a piece of jewellery or jewellery set the higher the price will be, down to the difficulty of finding matching pearls.
After you have decided the type, color, size and quality of pearls that you want, think about your budget. Do plenty of research, especially online to make sure you get the perfect pearl jewellery to suit your special occasion.
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