Posts Tagged ‘pearls’
Pearls and Pearl Jewelry
I love pearls and pearl jewelry. Pearls can have unusual shapes (baroque pearls) and neat colors – I think they are all wonderful. A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a mollusk as the result of an irritant. The pearls we treasure are composed of calcium carbonate deposited over that irritant…
Read MoreOne of my Favorites Gemstones – Opal
One of my favorite gemstones is opal. People recognize opals by their characteristic play of rainbow like colors. You need to be careful with opals because opal is a relatively soft (5.5-6.5) stone and they are sensitive to pressure, hard knocks, and heat. Opals are 3-30% water and they can dehydrate if stored under improper…
Read MoreJune has Three Birthstones!
June has Three Birthstones – Pearls are One of Them The month of June has three birthstones – pearls, moonstone, and Alexandrite, each of which is beautiful in its own way. I love pearls of all kinds! Pearls are found in China, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, and Polynesia. Freshwater pearls are very popular today and are also affordable. …
Read MorePearls are the Birthstone for June
Summer’s Almost Here! I am looking forward to summer and some warm weather! June is generally a typical summer month here. The traditional June birthstone is the pearl and there’s a wide range of pearl types to choose from. There are also alternative stones. Moonstone is the most popular alternative stone, but Chalcedony and…
Read MorePearls – Types of Pearls and What makes Pearls Valuable
Pearls start when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within the soft tissue of a live mollusk. The mollusk creates a pearl sac to seal off the irritation and then secretes multiple layers of nacre (calcium carbonate), eventually creating a pearl Ideally, pearls are round and smooth, but many other shapes can occur due to…
Read MoreGemstones I Love – Part 5 – Freshwater Pearls
Pearls are unique! These beautiful creations can be termed organic gems: pearls are formed inside oysters and mussels when a bit of sand or other irritant gets inside the mollusk’s shell. The mollusk secretes layers of a lustrous material called nacre around the foreign object to protect its soft internal surface. As layer after…
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