The world is your oyster!

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  The world is your oyster

1. You are in a position to take the opportunities that life has to offer.

Choose languageAfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBanglaBasqueBelarusianBosnianBulgarianBurmeseCatalanCebuanoChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanKurdishKyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianNepaliNorwegianNyanjaPashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScottish GaelicSerbianShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSouthern SothoSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshWestern FrisianXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu.

This is a really strong statement. Almost the cry of a great warrior. Yet the pearl inside the oyster is so fresh, delicate and an absolute mesmerizing beauty to behold. The formation of a pearl is really a wondrous thing
I also think that Pearls have been used to represent women coming of age. They are symbols and demarcations of their stages in life. In some society and cultural circles, young girls received small pearls for their first pair earrings, followed by gifts marking sweet 16, 21, and marriage. Later gifts are used to demonstrate the power and wealth of the woman's husband and position, or place in society.

The "Crown", and "Jackie" are great examples of movies that demonstrate this.  

The Crown shows how paramount pearls were to the image of the Queen, and The Queen Mom. A daily ritual putting on pearls. In Jackie, it was if she was putting on a costume and stepping into a role when she, put on her perfume, fastened her pearls, (put on her gloves) and greeted the public.   

To understand the basics of pearls, how they occur, and are formed, provides a basis for the classification and valuation of these gems.

Make no mistake, Pearls are the King of Gems. Pearls were discovered long before Rubies, Sapphires, Emerald and Diamonds. Pearls are talked about in the Bible, 5,757 years ago.  

There is even an old law that states "you must not charge a premium when you sell two items that match instead of one by itself". Unless the matched pair is so rare, and hard to find and that it might take a long period of time and incur a great expense to match the pair. You can see how this directly relates to pearl earrings! The bible talks about pearls being that rare items that is it so very difficult to find a naturally occurring matched pair.  

NATURAL VERSUS CULTURED PEARLS

Pearls are formed when a foreign matter is introduced into the inside of the bivalve.  The species protects itself by isolating the irritant and coats it with a protective layer to protect the oyster from damage. Calcium carbonate is the material that is deposited on the irritant. It is gathered by the organism from the waters that it lives in. The layers of this material are built up and we collectively called these layers the nacre of the pearl.

Each variety of bivalves, grow for different periods of time, produce different types of pearls, colours, sizes and shapes in pearls.  

Naturally occurring pearls are very rare. Natural pearl beds, were over farmed and natural pearls became extremely rare.     

To read more information on this topic I refer you to Pure Pearls web site that has excellent information on Natural Pearls.

CULTURED PEARLS

In the early 1900's when natural pearls started to disappear experimentation began where by the bivalves were implanted with seeds and irritants introduced into the pearls. The challenge was to not kill the bivalve when inseminating it and removing the pearl, when it is mature.  

Below is a collection of three cultured pearls that are matched in colour.  All are golden pearls from South Seas, salt water pearls.  

Later I am going to continue, talking about, Mikimoto Pearls and Majorica Pearls which sound so similar, could not be more different. After that we will start the exciting journey of lusting after strands of pearls. How to choose a strand of pearls, worthy of a Kings Ransom....

-Jerell