Determining the value of pearl jewelry
When determining the worth of a pearl pendant, jewelers look at many different qualities. Pearl jewelry is judged by its color, flawlessness, luster, size and symmetry. The largest determining factor in the value of a pearl pendant is the luster. Larger pieces of pearl are also more valuable than small pieces, and black pearl is more expensive than white pearl for its rarity.
A perfectly spherical pearl pendant is the rarest and most valuable, but value does not always have to do with beauty when it comes to pearl jewelry. While a perfectly round white pearl is what jewelers will use in pearl earrings, tear-shaped stones are often used for a pearl pendant necklace. Other shapes that may be used for a pearl pendant are button, baroque, pear, oval, ringed and semi-round. Baroque pearl jewelry has a different appeal than more standard shapes because it usually comes in more unique and interesting shapes. Button pearls are slightly flattened round pearls than are often used in single pearl pendant necklaces or pearl earrings where the back half of the pearl is covered. Pear and oval shaped pearl jewelry is most often seen in pearl earrings, pearl pendants necklaces or as a center pearl in a stringed necklace. Many women enjoy stringed pearl jewelry, especially after Jackie O made it famous.
Stringed pearl jewelry usually utilizes semi-round pieces of white pearl. Black pearl is more often used for pearl earrings. Ringed pearl jewelry is characterized by concentric ridges, or rings, around the body of the pearl. Cultivated pearl pendant necklaces, earrings and other types of cultivated pearl jewelry is less valuable than natural pearl jewelry, and imitation pearl earrings are the least expensive. One way jewelers determine whether a pearl pendant is cultivated or natural is by x-raying the pearl. If the grit in the centre of the pearl pendant is a perfect sphere, then it's cultivated.
If the center of the pearl pendant is not perfectly round, the jeweler knows it is real and can give it a higher value. Imitation pearl jewelry is much easier to identify by jewelers. Some imitation pearls earrings, for example, are simply made of mother-of-pearl, coral or conch. Other pearl jewelry is made from glass and coated with a solution of fish scales called essence d'Orient (gross!). Imitation pearl jewelry may look real, but it doesn't have the same weight or smoothness as real pearl jewelry, and its luster will dim quite a bit over a relatively short period of time. The value of a pearl pendant is probably too difficult to determine for the average Joe. Comparing white pearl and black pearl are also slightly different processes. Anyone who has a pearl pendant or pair of pearl earrings should probably go to a jeweler if they are interested in knowing the value of their pearl jewelry.
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