Interesting Facts About Culture Pearls

The most sought after type of pearls when purchasing pearl jewelry are culture pearls. Most common and popular sizes that are purchased measure 7 and 7 1/2 mm. A young lady might receive a pair of pearl stud earrings as her first piece of pearl jewelry and from there her collection can grow over the years with matching pearl necklace, pearl pendant and pearl ring.

White pearls are the most popular in color, however, cream, black, silver, blue-grey, rose-silver are sought after too.

The rounder the pearl, the more valuable they are. Since culture pearls grow within oysters, it is not as common to find a perfectly round pearl.

While some natural markings occur on the surface of a pearl, too many can diminish its value. You want to avoid purchasing a pearl that has too many bumps or other spots.

If a pearl has a dull or chaulky feature, do not purchase it. You should see your reflection on the surface of the pearl--it should be bright.

Culture pearls include - freshwater, mabe, South Sea, Akoya.

The Four Important "C"s to Consider When Purchasing a Diamond

If you are planning to invest in a quality piece of diamond jewelry, are you aware that there are several things that need to be considered before your final purchase? The four key "C's to consider are: color, clarity, carat and cut.

Cut: How a diamond is cut is vital to its brilliance and reflective factor. Make sure that you are looking at a diamond either in natural sunlight or in an very well lit area. Observe how the light enters the stone and reflects back. When a diamond is cut proportionatley, light entering from the top will reflect from one facet to another and then will bounce outward. A good quality diamond will show a sparkling reflective surface and this is when you see that incredible fire, known as brilliance.

Color: While fancy diamonds (naturally occurring colorful diamonds) are rare, the average consumer purchases the transparent/colorless diamond. Fancy diamonds range in color from red, blue, yellow, pink and purple. These diamonds also command a very high price. Colorless diamonds allow more light through which = more sparkle and fire. The highest rating for such a diamond is D. The most valuable diamonds are rated D to F. The scale rates color down to Z.

Clarity: Is the stone clear or does it have flaws or cloudy areas? It is rare to find a diamond that has no flaws, since most of them do. Small minute crystals are called inclusions. Inclusions affect the beauty and value of a diamond. If there are many inclusions that can be seen with the naked eye, then it is a poor quality stone with less sparkle, while a stone with minute inclusions that can be noticed with a jeweler's loop has more sparkle and value. Diamonds that are perfect are graded as IF = internally flawless, VVS1-VVS2, very very small inclusions, VS1-VS2, very small inclusions, SI1-SI2 - small inclusions, I1,I2, I3-visible numerous inclusions.

Carat - This refers to the weight of the diamond. For example 100 pts = 1 carat, 75 pts = 3/4 carat, 50 pts = 1/2 carat, 25 pts= 1/4 carat.

If you have a set budget, rather invest in quality than size. Down the road, you can always upgrade to a larger diamond, or even add more diamonds if the design allows.

Several years ago one of our customers purchased a beautiful 1/2 carat diamond engagement ring--it was exquisite. On their 5th wedding anniversary, we remodelled the ring by adding smaller diamonds giving the ring a 1 carat total weight in diamonds. It went from 1/2 a carat to a full carat with VVS quality diamonds--not to mention its value on today's market.

Shop around, ask questions and you will make the right choice.