What are cultured pearls?

Cultured Pearl Earrings

A pearl is a gem that is produced inside an oyster from the sea or a river-borne mollusk. A small foreign object becomes lodged within the tissue of the mollusk and if it can't be repelled it irritates the oyster. In order to prevent further discomfort the mollusk secretes a white substance called nacre around the irritant. Over time this lustrous coating becomes thicker and thicker and its pearly appearance can produce a rainbow of reflected colour which is highly prized.

Natural pearls are very rare and extremely valuable. Today virtually all pearls are sold as 'cultured' which means that humans have helped nature by inserting the 'irritant' which is in the form of a mother-of-pearl bead. Kokichi Mikimoto was one of the pioneers who helped to develop the modern cultured pearl industry and by the early 1900's he patented the technique of culturing spherical pearls thereby creating the successful cultured pearl industry we have today.

However beware! Pearl imitations can be found in the market and some of these pearls can be quite convincing. One of the easiest tests to establish if a pearl is real or fake is the 'tooth test'. If you very gently run a genuine pearl along the edge of your teeth it will feel mildly abrasive. By contrast an imitation pearl feels very smooth and plastic.

In future blogs we will be looking at the most important factors that affect the quality and value of cultured pearls.

47th Bangkok Gems & Jewellery Fair

Paul & Wendy dining out with Kik & May

Wendy & I were fortunate enough to be able to attend the 47th Bangkok Gems & Jewellery Fair in Thailand last week. This major exhibition attracts specialist gemstone dealers from around the globe and is an important means of sourcing excellent gemstones for our new designs this coming season. It is also an opportunity to see the latest unique collections by the world's leading jewellery designers and attend fashion shows, design awards and multimedia lectures and presentations. Much can be gained by attending this important event.

Over the years we have established very useful contacts with several important gemstone suppliers in Bangkok and we were looking forward to seeing Kik and May again who are featured in the photograph above. After meeting with them at the Gemstone Fair, they kindly invited us out to dinner at a local Bangkok restaurant where we enjoyed the most memorable meal in sumptuous, traditional Thai surroundings.

I am pleased to say that, during our trip to Thailand, we managed to source several extremely good gemstones including an impressive black opal from Lightning Ridge, several stunning blue opals for our new silver opal bracelet, earrings and pendant designs, a parcel of fine quality white sapphires for our unique collection of white sapphire rings, an aquamarine for a private commission and several unusual semi precious gemstones to add to our growing collection.

Importantly we also came away with a good idea of the latest trends in fashion jewellery which are becoming bolder and more extravagant this year. Watch out for our new designs which we hope to launch at the Badminton Horse Trials on 21 April this year!

Blue Opal Jewellery Designs

While we were in Japan last year we discovered that pearls are not the only things that can be cultured!

Cultured blue opals with vivid flashes of colour.

The Japanese have also learnt how to 'culture' the most beautiful fiery, blue opals using a form of quartz called silica and zirconium oxide. You see natural opal is basically a type of quartz known as 'silica' and it's the unique geological structure of this silica that makes it become an opal. The finest, vivid blue opals have a silica structure that makes them diffract light in a way that produces flashes of vibrant colours. Natural blue opals of this quality and colour can demand very high prices indeed. However the Japanese cultured opals, whilst displaying the same magnificent colours of a natural opal, are far more affordable. We are pleased to include them in a range of unique silver jewellery we are planning to launch in the Spring.

The method of culturing these lovely blue opals was originally invented by a Frenchman called Pierre Gilson in 1974. It takes over a year to grow them using this procedure. The resulting opals have all the properties of natural opal apart from the presence of water. The advantage of Gilson's opal is that it tends not to crack in the way that natural opal does when it loses its water due to extreme temperature changes. The Japanese cultured opals which we discovered during our visit, are initially grown in the same way as those by Gilson but are then impregnated with polymer as a stabilizer ensuring that the silica structure is completely cemented together and the vivid play of colour in the opal is permanent. This created gem has fiery blue opal colours and flashes of turquoise which are truly breathtaking!

Technical Info

Gem Type: Polymer stabilised opal

Cut: Cabochon

Colour : Light blue with turquoise flashes.

Clarity : VVS Fine quality

Treatment : Lab Created AAA Gem Grade

Hardness : 4-5 (Mohs)

Specific Gravity : 1.89

Heat Resistance : 130 degree

Diving for Pearls in Japan

Mikimoto & the story of cultured pearls ...

Diving for Pearls

During our recent trip to Japan in search of Japanese 'Akoya' pearls for some of our new cultured pearl jewellery designs, I snapped this shot of an 'Ama' diving for pearls off Toba's Mikimoto Pearl Island - formerly known as Ojima Island.

These women, who brave the cold waters to a depth of 10 meters or more in search of oysters and abolone, wear white in order to scare of the sharks! It is customary for women to carry out the diving as they are reputed to have the ability to hold their breath longer and cope better with the cold water than men. Having retrieved a prized abolone the Ama returns to the surface and tosses it into a wooden bucket attached to her by a long rope. One can hear an eery whistle-like sound as the Ama controls her breathing by slowly exhaling as she resurfaces - this is called "Isobue".

Kokichi Mikimoto was the eldest of five children and was expected to take over his father's noodle shop but instead his fascination with pearls grew as he watched the pearl divers of Ise in his home town. By the age of 30 he and his wife took out a loan to to research the possibility of finding a way to make oysters produce pearls on demand. His early attempts failed but his wife remained steadfast and, despite near bankruptcy, encouraged him to persevere with his dream.

Mikimoto found he was not the only one trying to discover the secret to culturing pearls. A biologist, Tokishi Nishikawa, and a carpenter, Tatsuhei Mise, had discovered a method with the help of a Bristish marine biologist. It was found that in order to culture pearls it was necessary to implant a piece of oyster membrane together with a nucleus of shell into the oyster's body causing the tissue to form a pearl sac. This sac then secretes a 'nacre' around the irritant shell thus resulting in a pearl.

Mikimoto held three patents relating to this technique for culturing pearls but once he bought the rights to the Mise-Nishikawa method in 1916 he became the leading authority in the field and his business grew. He opened stores in Tokyo's prestigious Ginza district and further shops followed in London, Paris and New York.

"I would like to adorn the necks of all the women of the world with pearls" - Kokichi Mikimoto

Kokichi Mikimoto became known as the 'Pearl King' and at one time declared the largest personal income in Japan. Yet he lived his last years in a very modest four room house on Mikimoto Pearl Island - a small wizened man wearing a brown kimono and black bowler hat!

Cultured Pearl Jewellery

Silver Charms for Bracelets

... a history of the silver charm bracelet!

The wearing of charms has been popular for centuries. Indeed the ancient Egyptians wore charms to ward off evil spirits and even today some charms are seen as a means of avoiding bad luck. It was probably Queen Victoria who initially started the fashion amongst the European nobility during the 19th Century. The charm bracelet remained popular in the 20th Century too and I am sure many of us recall our mother or grandmother collecting silver or gold charms to remember countries they had visited on holiday or to commemorate important occasions or 'milestones' in their lives.

The 21st Century saw the introduction of a new type of charm bracelet known as the European charm bracelet. It has become increasingly popular not only in Europe but also North America. Unlike the traditional charm bracelet, these charms are attached in a different way to the bracelet. These new silver charms are bead-like and made from silver (or silver with murano glass, enamel etc), and each one has a hole through the centre so that they become interchangeable - making it possible to create a unique a distinctive look!

There are a number of successful brand names associated with the manufacture of these popular silver charms for bracelets, including Pandora charm bracelets, Chamilia and Trollbeads. A new dimension has been added to the concept by Paul Wright Jewellery who are currently designing and creating a new range of silver daisy charms to add to their unique collection of silver daisy jewellery. Their sterling silver, bead charm bracelets are compatible with those created by Pandora, Chamilia and other leading brands and so the charm beads are interchangeable between charm bracelets on all the different makes available on the market.

As the proposed new silver daisy charms are still on the 'drawing board' collectors will have to wait a few weeks before being able to purchase the stunning new silver charm beads. So those looking for more interesting silver charms for bracelets or necklaces should keep an eye on the website link below!

SILVER CHARMS FOR BRACELETS

Visiting Fieldfares to Stratford-upon-Avon

... view from our kitchen window at the start of 2010!

The Visiting Fieldfare

I snapped this shot of a visiting Fieldfare, perched on our frozen birdbath outside the kitchen window, just as the snow began to gently settle! An ornamental crabapple tree - the "Malus" - still laden at this time of year with over-ripe bunches of bright red crabapples, had attracted flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares to our garden in Stratford-upon-Avon. Neither variety of bird are native to Britain and the Fieldfare has certainly never been known to breed here. They are both visitors from countries in northern Europe and migrate here in the winter.

Flocks of Fieldfares can sometimes be seen flying overhead in loose formation and can usually be identified by their chattering call, "chack-chack". The Fieldfare is easily identified by its blue-grey head and rump, no doubt giving rise to one of its country names .. 'blue-back'. Over the last few days we have delighted in watching these birds from our kitchen window as they feasted untiringly on the fruit that our crabapple tree provided. At one time we counted about 15 Fieldfares, 20 Redwings, two Blackbirds and a large Wood-Pigeon all sharing our 'more than adequate' wild fruit tree and eventually devouring all but the very last of the red crabapples ... just out of reach on the flimsiest of its outstretched branches!

The hustle and bustle of our summer jewellery shows has given way to a quiet time of reflection and contemplation during the current winter months. Thought must be given to new jewellery designs and new opportunities that a new year will bring - a time of inspiration! So I take a moment to wish our friends and customers a very happy New Year and every success for 2010. Of course in order to achieve 'success' one needs to define the word. And so I offer you Ralph Waldo Emmerson’s definition, which was recently given to me by a good friend, and which I feel deserves our consideration:

To laugh often and much.
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children.
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends.
To appreciate beauty.
To find good in people.
To leave the world a better place,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch,
or a redeemed social condition.
To know that one person breathed easier, because you lived.
This is to have succeeded!

Like the visiting Fieldfares in our garden, it is time to move on and seek new opportunities ... wherever we may find them. Happy New Year to all! We look forward to seeing you again soon and we wish you every success in 2010!