What's New in Pearls

Freshwater pearls are sweeping the market. That's nothing new. What is new are the new forms that they take.

The cultivation of pearls began in Japan in the 1930s with Mikimoto's introduction of the culturing method. Saltwater mollusks grew or "cultured" the pearls in production that occurred one pearl at a time. Decades later, the Chinese used freshwater mollusks to cultivate pearl production in larger harvests. What makes a larger harvest possible is that a freshwater mollusk can produce several cultured pearls at a time.

Freshwater pearl production brought pearls into the purchasing realm of the ordinary buyer. Larger supply made freshwater pearls affordable. Most of the pearls in jewelry are freshwater pearls, unless specifically labeled as saltwater pearls, also called South Sea pearls or Tahitian black pearls. So, jewelry makers create their designs quite commonly from freshwater pearls.

While the market is now familiar with them, what's new to the pearl market is the incredible size of the freshwater pearls being produced today. It's not unusual to see fine freshwater pearls up to 30 millimeters or more in diameter. "Your mother's pearls" they are not, as our mom's pearls typically ranged from 6-10 millimeters.

Remember, freshwater pearls are produced within a mollusk. The size of the mollusk itself must be able to accommodate the large seed bead, over which the mollusk deposits its nacre. Incomplete or flawed nacre cover can result if the seed bead is too large. But the result of a precisely matched mollusk to the size of the seed bead is a stunningly lustrous, large freshwater pearl!

Such large freshwater pearls are neither perfectly round nor inexpensive. Irregular shapes, called baroque, seem to be the preference of the market for the new and interesting freshwater pearls. Furthermore, these large baroque freshwater pearls approach the cost of perfect rounds of the expensive saltwater pearl varieties.

Particularly appropriate for weddings, large baroque freshwater pearls constitute the favorites of brides-to-be. A nuptial necklace of the large lustrous gems compliments any wedding dress. Be it simple or stunning, a wedding gown "pops" with the addition of pearls, particularly the large freshwater baroques.

Pearl jewelry fashionistas looking to express up-to-the-minute trends in design ought to look for 'large.' White, baroque, 20-30mm freshwater pearls comprise the very latest in fine freshwater pearl jewelry design.