Pearl Earrings

How Pearls are Formed

Pearls form when an irritant, perhaps a parasite or a grain of sand, becomes stuck in the mantle tissue inside an oyster or mussel. In the case of cultured pearls, a technician or pearl farmer manually inserts the irritant. In an effort to lessen the irritation, the oyster covers the foreign body with nacre, the same substance it uses to coat the inside of its shell. The pearl farmer usually waits two or three years to harvest the pearl, which gives the oyster time to apply many coats of nacre and build up a nice sized pearl.

Pearl Shapes

Although perfectly round pearls are the best known, there are a variety of shapes of pearls that can be used to create pearl earrings.

• Round pearls are spherical. Surprisingly, round pearls are relatively rare because it is difficult to maintain the round shape over the two or three years it takes to form a pearl, especially in freshwater pearls.
• Near round pearls, like they sound, are also spherical in shape, though not perfectly round.
• Ringed pearls have grooves forming rings around them.
• Button pearls are symmetrical, usually oval or circular, and slightly flat. They are often used to make pearl earrings because it is easy to attach a post to the flat surface.
• Oval pearls are symmetrical, smaller at the ends and larger in the middle.
• Drop pearls are teardrop shaped - smaller at one end and larger at the other.
• Baroque pearls are not symmetrical and have a sort of free form shape.
• Semi-baroque pearls have a recognizable shape, such as round or oval, but are not symmetrical.

Pearl Colors

When most people think of pearl earrings, they envison beautiful white, round pearls. Pearls come in all sorts of colors, however. While pearls are often white, they can also be cream, pink, yellow, black, blue, green, brown, lavender, orange, peach and gray.

Pearl Sizes

Pearl earrings are made using pearls of all different sizes, from small, ladylike pearls to bolder, large pearls. Pearl size is usually given in millimeters and refers to the diameter of the pearl. It takes longer for an oyster to form large pearls, and the longer the pearl is in the oyster, the greater chance of it deviating from a spherical shape, so large, round pearls tend to be more costly. Akoya saltwater pearls, the type of pearls that usually hail from Japan, are rarely larger than 10mm. The oysters that create black pearls are larger than Akoya pearl bearing oysters, and it follows that black pearls are larger, sometimes as big as 20mm. South Sea pearls are also larger than Akoya pearls, usually between 13mm and 20mm.

Caring for Pearl Earrings

Living organisms create pearls, hence they are more delicate than other types of gems. They are easily damaged, and the owner must take steps to care for pearl earrings properly and protect them.

• Never store pearls near a heat source like a register, since heat can cause the pearls to become dry and cracked.
• Keep pearl earrings in a small fabric pouch to protect them from the prongs and clasps of other jewelry that might scratch them. These pouches often come with the pearls when they are purchased, or they can be found at jewelry stores or the jewelry department in department stores. Alternatively, they can be wrapped in a bit of fabric.
• Chemicals are harmful to pearls. Pearl earrings should be put on only after perfume, hairspray and other beauty products have been applied. They should not be worn in a swimming pool or hot tub.
• Wipe pearls with a damp cloth to clean them. Do not use ultrasonic cleaners on pearls, nor commercial jewelry cleaners unless they specifically state they are safe for pearls.

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