Pearls from Australia. Buy Pearls Wholesale. Introduction Required.


	australian.com

Australian Pearls

- What is Lustre, Colour, Shape, Surface and Size?

A pearl is the accumulation of a slightly translucent material, called nacre or mother-of-pearl, similar to the lining found on the inside of nacreous shells. This is what gives a pearl its unique lustre and iridescence. It takes thousands of very thin layers of this nacre to make a single pearl. It is the composition, structure, thinness and evenness of these microscopically thin, pearly layers that distinguishes a high quality pearl worth thousands of dollars from another worth a great deal less.

Lustre.
Lustre and surface appearance are the most important charactaristics of pearl quality. Similar to the brilliance of a diamond, a lustrous pearl has more than just a shiny, reflective surface.

Grades of Lustre include:- Excellent, Good, Fair and Poor.

Colour.
The colour of a pearl is caused by tthe interaction between incident light and the structrure of the Pearl's nacre. Fine pearls are somewhat irridescent. Colour is affected by a lot of circumstances, from the species fo the host oyster to the quality of the nacre, to the environment in which the pearl is cultured.

Colours range through:- Rose, Silver/White, Cream, Gold, Blue/Gray.

Shape.
A perfectly round pearl is quite rare. Generally, the rounder the pearl, the more expensive it gets.. Off-round, drop, baroque and fancy shaped pearls are becoming more popular.

Common shapes:-
Round - Perfectly spherical.
Drop - Dewdrop shaped.
Button - Look like a flattened sphere.
Circled - Show circular, concave rings on the surface.
Baroque - Asymmetrical or irregular in shape.

Surface.
Nacre quality is important, as is thickness. Blemishes are natural characteristics that do not necessarily diminish the overall beauty of the pearl, but which can significantly affect its value. Surface quality ranges from Clean to Heavily Blemished.

Size.
Size is a question of personal preference, but it has a huge impact on the price of a pearl. A pearl's size is measured by its width in millimetres. Round pearls rarely exceed 20mm in diameter. Baroque and other shapes can reach up to 45 mm.

Your Pearl supplier should be able to advise on all the above as it relates the real value of what you are purchasing.