Pearl Value and Pearl Colors

The value of a pearl depends greatly on its luster, shape, and texture of the pearls skin. The skin has to be wrinkle free, with no scratches or spots. The larger the pearl the more valuable the pearl is in accordance to the luster, shape, and texture of the pearls skin.

Pearls used to be discovered by divers. The divers would go down to the bottom of the sea, and pick up oysters that they thought might contain pearls. The demand for pearls has greatly increased and now machines are used to scrape up everything from the sea floor. These days even the small oysters are opened and the tiny pearls taken from them. These small oysters are not given the chance to mature, and neither is the pearl within. The demand for pearls keeps going higher and higher, but the amount of large pearls discovered is on a downward spiral.

Drilled pearls are basically the only ones found on the European market today. Europe is the worlds’ second best source of supplies for pearls. The drilled pearls are old pearls that were accumulated and collected for centuries by pearl loving princes of India. New pearls are never drilled, because the gems are desired for other purposes besides necklaces, and the hole drilled will cause the pearl to dry up and weigh less. Older pearls were always drilled so that they could be strung up and carried with greater security by their owner. Most of the pearls on the market today are drilled. This shows how dependant we are on old pearl collections. Until about one hundred years ago large collections of pearls were lured away from their owners by large prices offered.

The skin of the oriental pearl is formed like an onions.’ A very skilled worker can sometimes remove the bad outer layer of skin in turn producing a smaller pearl of good skin. Peeling the pearls skin is rarely done in America. Fresh water pearls cannot be skinned, they are not formed in layers, they are formed in sections.

Pearls can greatly vary in color. Pearls of pure white or white with a rose tint, with good luster, are the most valuable of the regular colors. Of the fancy colors black pearls and pink pearls are very valuable. Button pearls have one flat side, and baroque pearls are of odd or irregular shapes.

Pearls can be injured by being scratched, or by being exposed to acids. Pearls are not harmed by fresh water. Fine pearls should always be wiped off and stored in a cotton cloth when not in use. Pearls should also be restrung quite often.