Pearls by Angela Carol

Tips for Selecting The Right Pearl Necklace

Pearls are one of the most enduring and classical romantic gifts that a women can ever get from their husband, or boyfriend. And they will suit any type of occasion, and goe with any type of outing. Selecting the perfect pearl necklace can be both fun and tiring at the same time, but when you select the perfect pearl necklace you will feel extremely proud of your accomplishment, and so will your wife or girlfriend.

Here’s some great news, pearls are now much more affordable then they use to be. So listen up men, or women because you are about to learn something very valuable if you are going to be purchasing a pearl necklaces over the next few months. You are not going to want to miss this information.

Alright, so how do you select the perfect pearl necklace for your partner.

There are six different factors that play part in choosing a pearl:

Luster, nacre thickness, shape, surface texture, size and color.

Luster is the transparency of the pearl. If the light will reflect through the pearl it has a high luster. A lower quality pearl will have a dull shine. Basically the pearl that has the deepest luster will be almost transparent. The highest quality pearl is generally the Akoya pearl, and they are the most popular type because they are also the most affordable.

Now nacre thickness, this is the material that actually makes up the pearl. Akoya pearls have a layer of nacre over a mother-of-pearl bead while Freshwater pearls are solid nacre. With Akoya pearls, the thickness of the nacre is directly related to the quality of the pearl and thus the price. Pearls with thicker nacre have a higher luster and are worth more.

The shape and texture of pearls are also very important to selecting the right pearls. The highest quality pearls will be perfectly round and have a smooth surface. If it is a lower quality pearl it maybe round but it will have many imperfections on its surface such as pits or wrinkles.

Colors and overtones also play a part in the value of a pearl. There are light colored pearls which come in different shades of white. There are cream and golden, white with pink or silver overtones. White with pink or silver overtones are much more valuable in Akoya pearls than the others, while gold coloring is more valuable in South Sea pearls. You also want to choose pearls that are evenly matched in color.

Now for the fun part, the size of the pearl and the length of the necklace. The way pearl necklaces are designed is that the largest pearls will be in the center and they will gradually get smaller going towards the clasp. A 7mm to 7.5mm Akoya pearl necklace will have the larger pearls toward the front. The larger the pearls the more valuable they will be. Pearls can come in sizes from 6mm all the way up to 12mm and above. The most common pearl necklace length is 17 to 19 inches, and the most common pearl size is 7 to 7.5mm.

You should first decide on the quality of the pearl, and there are four grades - A, AA, AA+, and AAA quality. Of course AAA is the highest quality. These will have the best of everything in the factors listed above - high luster, excellent roundness, thick nacre and a clean surface. Where as an A grade will have a low luster and many imperfections. Most jewelry stores only carry AA+ and AAA grades. You understand that you will pay more for higher grades, that goes really without saying.

There are some other things that you will need to take into consideration when you are looking to purchase the right pearl necklace with the best quality and that is the type of pearl you want.

There are four types of cultured pearls to choose from, Akoya pearls, black Tahitian pearls, South Sea pearls, or Freshwater pearls. Akoya pearls, Tahitian pearls and South Sea pearls all grow in saltwater, and they are all commonly referred to as saltwater pearls. Freshwater pearls are cultured in Freshwater and are generally solid nacre.

I hope this information is going to help you to select the best possible pearl that you can afford to purchase. There are many sites online that will also guide you with more information as to where you can purchase these pearls of the highest quality.