If talked about jewelry, I'm surly that peal is one of the first jewel that many people love it. Pearl is the most popular jewel and it is the only one jewel that occur from the creature.
Pearl can divided to 2 kinds are
saltwater pearl and
freshwater pearl. They are sometime look quite similar but come from different sources. The saltwater pearl grow within pearl oyster which live in ocean. They are usually cultivated in protected lagoon. While natural freshwater cultured pearl grow within many species of freshwater mussels which live in lake, pond, and river. These pearl also occur in hotter and colder climates more temperate areas. Many countries are export the freshwater pearl, nonetheless the most of freshwater cultured pearls which sold today come from China.
Many people think that the real pearl have to be round shape only and others shape are artificial pearl. In fact, there is one kind of pearl that is irregular shape called
"Baroque Pearl". Cultured freshwater pearls are most commonly baroque, because freshwater pearls are mantle-tissue nucleated instead of bead nucleated. Thus the baroque pearl is rarely perfectly rounded and can appear in oval shape. The most of artificial pearl is make from plastic, glass, or resin that sometime look similar the real pearl. However there are many way to proved it such as
"The Tooth Test" by rub the surface of the pearl over the teeth. If it is the real pearl, a gritty or bumpy feeling against the teeth. On the other hand, if it is the artificial pearl, would feel smooth against the teeth. By the way some article says the tooth test is not reliable. The other one easily way to check the pearl is
"Sun Test", by taking the pearl out into the sun or holding it under very bright indoor lighting. The real pearl won't be perfectly matched under the sun or variations in their orient and color, conversely the artificial pearl is perfectly matched for color and overtone.
Commonly we can find just the white pearl, pink pearl, and black pearl in the shop or market, but actually there are many colors of pearl such as blue, champagne, green, purple, and other tints colors. The reason that these colors of pearls are rarely to find is they can be found only from the ocean. So it may take years to collect them enough for make just one necklace or jewelry.
Picture Credit:
http://www.mbase.com.au/Products/CL4languageanddatabase/tabid/282/Default.aspx
http://villacoragems.com/whitebaroquepearlnecklace.aspx
http://applesofgold.com/jewelryblog/tag/south-sea-pearl-necklace/
