In this post, we discuss pearls for designer pearl jewelry. For many years, Jewelry Olga designs and creates designer pearl jewelry. Due to various reasons, we prefer working with cultured freshwater pearls brought from China. We do this not by chance. Among different types of pearls, for years, cultured freshwater pearls have become very popular and searched for. The advantages of these pearls are obvious:
- Chinese cultured freshwater pearls are real pearls
- Majority of these pearls are pure nacre
- Thus, the pearls will last for generations
- These pearls come in a palette of many, often amazing natural colors
- They come in different shapes, including rounds
- Pearls come in various sizes, up to 16 mm and more
- We may compare them with more expensive saltwater cultured pearls
- These pearls look much better than low-quality saltwater pearls
- They cost less than the latter.
As you can see, this list is pretty impressive and convincing. Chinese cultured freshwater pearls are famous for their palette of colors: white and silvery, gold, pink, apricot and peach, mauve and lavender… Don’t forget that these colors are natural. By the way, black freshwater cultured pearls do not exist. Pearls are dyed in order to get this color.
Color in freshwater pearls
I am often asked about the factors affecting the color of freshwater cultured pearls. We may mention various reasons for why the pearls have different colors. First, the pearl color depends on a mussel species and, thus, the color of the shell where the pearls are formed. Moreover, it is the quality of the water, i.e. the presence of certain chemical elements present, in which the mussels stay in the culturing process. And, of course, know-hows of the Chinese pearl farmers do the miracles.
One more factor that makes the Chinese freshwater pearls so popular. They may have very different, sometimes, incredible shapes. Could you imagine that a pearl may have a shape of a diamond, a heart or a star! Or a coin. When you look at such pearls, it is hard to believe that this is a real pearl! Not once, a customer asks me how these pearls are made meaning that, in his understanding, someone has given such an unusual shape to a pearl.
It is well-known that the roundness of a pearl is one of its most important value factors. However, freshwater cultured pearls having interesting irregular or baroque shapes are popular and searched for as well. Our pearl jewelry designers enjoy working with freshwater pearls having irregular shapes or baroque pearls. Their unthinkable and even whimsical shapes may be a source of inspiration prompting remarkable pearl jewelry designs. We mix pearls having different shapes and colors creating unique pieces of designer pearl jewelry .
