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The formation of pearls

Natural pearls: The bead-like particles produced by the endocrine action of the organism in its natural state in the body of mother-of-pearl mollusks are called natural pearls.

Pearls (cultured pearls): In mother-of-pearl mollusks, pearls produced by artificial intervention to promote the endocrine action of the organism are called cultured pearls, or pearls for short.

Famous production areas: Persian Gulf waters west of Iran and east of Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Burma, the Philippines and Australia.

Classification of pearls

Natural pearls and cultured pearls are classified according to the way they are grown.

According to the growing waters, saltwater pearls and freshwater pearls can be classified, so there are saltwater cultured pearls and freshwater cultured pearls, natural saltwater pearls and natural freshwater pearls

According to the presence or absence of nuclei, there are nucleated cultured pearls and non-nucleated cultured pearls

According to the presence or absence of nuclei, they can be classified into free cultured pearls and nucleated cultured pearls

General characteristics of pearls

Chemical composition: CaCO₃ (calcium carbonate) 91.6%, H₂O (water) 4%, organic matter 4%, other 0.4%

Density: 2.61~2.85 g/cm²

Refractive index: 1.490~1.685

Luster: pearl luster

Solubility: blistering with hydrochloric acid

Color: white, pink, light yellow, light green, light blue, brown, lavender, gray and black.

Structural features: pearls can be divided into two main parts: the nucleus and the pearl layer from the inside to the outside.
The innermost layer is the nucleus, and the pearl layer is a crystalline body of keratin and calcium carbonate formed on the surface of the nucleus or foreign body by mother-of-pearl secretions in the process of culturing or growth. Natural pearls and freshwater nucleated cultured pearls generally have a thick layer, while nucleated pearls have a relatively thin layer.

Simple identification of pearls

Smooth and round, with a pearly luster.The pearls are hard and do not break easily.

The pearls are flexible and bounce back to a height of about 37 cm when dropped on a glass plate at a height of 70 cm.

Take 3-5 pearls and put them in a clean glass test tube with an appropriate amount of acetone, hold the test tube and shake it for two minutes, the luster of the pearls will not change.

Care of pearls
In the pearl daily wear storage maintenance methods have the following points of attention.

1.anti-hard object friction, scratching

The surface hardness of pearls is low, so they should not be exposed to coarse structured fabrics and hard objects for a long time.

For example: avoid mixing with other jewelry, do not use toothpaste scrubbing.

2.anti-collision, fall

The pearl layer is a laminar structure, gravity collision, etc., may cause the interlayer structure loose, or even the surface layer off.

3.Corrosion prevention

The composition of the pearl layer is organic calcium carbonate, easy to react with acids and other chemical reactions, so daily wear pearl jewelry should avoid contact with cosmetics, perfume, dye and any other chemicals.

For example, perfume, hairspray, nail polish, vinegar, orange juice, bleach, sulfuric acid and correction fluid, etc. Do not wear pearl jewelry in the shower, doing housework. They should not be placed in cosmetic powder boxes to prevent the pearl surface from being damaged and losing its luster.

During the summer sweating season, after wearing pearls, you should gently wipe the surface of the pearls with a soft wet towel to clean the sweat and keep them after drying in order to maintain the luster of the pearls.

4.Prevent water loss

Pearls should not be exposed to high temperature and sunlight for a long time, which will affect the water of the pearls and reduce the luster.

5.Fixed pearls

Pearl necklace, should pay attention to fixing the pearls, you can tie a knot between each bead, to avoid friction damage between the pearls, while preventing the string line break, to avoid all fall.

6.Wipe with a flannel cloth

When not wearing, do not forget to wipe the surface of the pearls with a flannel cloth to clean the dust, sweat or grease left on the surface of the pearls before putting them in the jewelry box. In case of dirty or dry conditions, wipe the surface with a flannel cloth dipped in a little distilled water (pure water) and keep it after drying.

It is more important to know pearls than to love them.

Background

Baroque pearls are a class of pearls that have no regular pattern of varying shapes and unevenness, and although they vary in form, they are some of the most amazing treasures nature has given us. No baroque is flawless, and it is the uniqueness of their shapes and colors that make baroque pearls a unique aesthetic representation of this disciplined world.

Perhaps a rebellion against traditional classicism, in 17th century Europe these pearls were highly sought after by the royalty and nobility of the European courts.
《Het meisje met de parel》

Baroque pearls can be seen on many paintings of that period. We can feel that the aristocrats' love for Baroque pearls. In addition, the nobles' love for Baroque pearls was also reflected in their daily clothes, as Baroque pearls were gorgeous and had a colorful and noble style. The aristocrats made brooches and earrings out of whole baroque pearls. The royal family even made the baroque pearls into luxurious crowns.

Since then baroque pearls have become very popular.
Baroque pearls come in a variety of colors and shapes, with the following common shapes, such as petal baroque, cloud baroque, button-shaped, striped, and teardrop-shaped.

Formation
Shaped pearls are formed when some shellfish in the ocean or freshwater rivers are stimulated by the friction of foreign objects that enter (or are artificially placed in) their bodies and secrete pearling fluid to wrap up the foreign objects in layers and form the beads. There are more than 70 species of mussels that can form pearls in nature, but there are only a few mussels that produce many stars and are famous for their quality, such as the horse mussel, white butterfly mussel, black butterfly mussel, penguin mussel, abalone mussel, rattlesnake mussel, and freshwater mussels such as the triangular sail mussel and the pleated crown mussel. So baroque pearls are usually nucleated and irregularly grown, and are often worth a lot of money after being designed by designers.

Selection.
First of all, generally look at the size, for round pearls generally look at the diameter, while baroque pearls need to look at the overall size to judge, generally other conditions are similar, the larger the overall pearl, the higher the price. In terms of shape, depending on the individual, the same baroque pearl has a different value, so it depends on the individual. The color white is the most classic, but more unusual natural colors are becoming more popular, and pearl luster and iridescent pearls add color to the baroque pearls.
After that we also need to look at the degree of imperfection of the pearl, the less imperfections on the surface of the pearl the better the quality, the more and more obvious the surface features of the pearl, the more it will affect its solidity and seriously reduce its value. But it is very important to recognize the flaws correctly for baroque pearls, because it is more important to know the pearls than to love them.

As you can see, imperfection is the hallmark of a Baroque pearl.
When you receive a baroque pearl, you may find that it has the following characteristics
1. Natural missing holes. This is a normal phenomenon. Since pearls are naturally grown and raised, it is inevitable that some imperfections will occur in their growth. If you want a flawless baroque pearl, the price starts at $1000.

（Note：It is a baroque pearl of near perfect size and color, with thick layers of pearl skin purple through gold and green, but still cannot hide from the imperfections of missing holes. But this does not detract from her beauty.)

2 Growth pattern. Again, natural pearls are the result of no human intervention. It is the different growth patterns that make the distinctive Baroque pearls 1. Just as there are no two identical leaf patterns in the world, there are no two identical Baroque pearls in the world. Each pearl you purchase is an isolated piece, a work of art by nature.

(Note: These wrinkled skins are the growth lines of baroque pearls, which are one of the most distinctive features of baroque pearls.)

3 Slightly peeling: Since baroque pearls are born naturally from pearl mussels, the surface of the pearls may not be covered with pearly matter secreted by the mussels in a particularly uniform manner. If the nacre is thin somewhere on the surface of the pearl, it will produce a slight peeling phenomenon. There is no need to worry, it does not affect the wearer. In addition, pearls bought back from improper maintenance and worn for too long can produce a situation where the nacre is washed away by the body, in which case the pearl will also peel slightly.

To our customers.
1. Baroque pearls are famous precisely for their uniqueness and for the artistic fragmentation they carry in themselves, so please understand Baroque pearls carefully before you buy them. The beauty of a Baroque pearl belongs only to those who can accept its imperfection.

2. The natural imperfections of Baroque pearls are a characteristic of the product and are not part of the quality of the product.

3. If you like baroque pearls, you must be an independent woman/man with a strong free will, who wants to be free and creative. When you wear Baroque jewelry from olamaison, you will be more dazzling and beautiful.