Pearl Birthstone & Gemstone – November - Planet – Jupiter

Birthstone –November

Planet – Jupiter

ABOUT

Pearl on Moh’s Scale of hardness measures 2.5 to 4.5. Pearls like corals are organic and come in all pastel shades from white to pink, lavender, grey, gold, off white, black, green, blue, cream etc. The basic shapes found in pearl are: round, semi round, button, pear, drop, oval, baroque and ringed. Once considered the most precious gem of all due to the difficulty and rarity of its birth, the value of pearls has reduced considerably due to the harvesting of pearls.

COMPOSITION

Pearls are created by oysters, mussels and clams and are born underwater. The oysters produce nacre as a defence mechanism against any grain or particle that enters it. To protect itself it secretes layers and layers of nacre that in time turns into what we call a Pearl. There are two types of pearls today, freshwater and saltwater, both are cultivated. The difference in lustre comes from the quality of nacre produced.

SOURCE

There are four major types of pearls; Akoya of China and Japan– mostly in shades of white, South Sea Pearls of the Pacific, Australia, Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar – are most expensive and come in darker shades of silver, golden, cream and champagne. Fresh water pearls come from rivers and ponds found in Russia, Europe and North America – shades of white, pink and lavender. Tahitian pearls are found in the Tahiti Islands of French Polynesia- most colourful shades of black, green, blue, grey, peacock, cherry, aubergine, silver, chocolate and sky blue.

La Peregrina

FAME

“The Hope Pearl” that also adorns the hope diamond is a baroque pearl with a crown designed on it and was owned by Henry Phillip Hope, a gem and art collector. One of the greatest symmetrical pearls is one from the collectibles of Elizabeth Taylor called “La Peregrina”. The “Abernathy Pearl” is one of the rare pearls graded as perfect.

Shop Now