Real pearls have a bright luster, so they should clearly shine when exposed to light. If the pearl is dull, it's fake. But, this is not the best test to use to determine if a pearl is authentic. Some fake pearls are designed to look just as shiny as real pearls.
Growth conditions can influence the lustre of a pearl, for example, the quicker the nacre is produced, the less translucent it is likely to be. As a result, the nacre may be thick but not lustrous.
Genuine pearls are shinier than fake pearls. You can measure shine in luster, which is the intensity and softness of a pearl's surface, it generally has to do with how bright and clear a pearl looks. Natural pearls have more shine than artificial ones because they're made from natural materials.
High quality pearls will have a strong, bright and clear luster and will shine, almost like the light is coming from within, when light hits them. With lustrous pearls, you can usually see your own reflection.
Cosmetics, sun block, perfume and hairspray all contain chemicals that can dramatically dull the luster of a pearl. The natural acids contained in body oils and perspiration can also damage pearls in the same way.
The luster of good quality pearls is sharp and bright. You should be able to see your reflection clearly on the surface of a pearl. Any pearl that appears too white, dull or chalky, is of low quality.
The gem has to be protected from heating and open fire (due to the fact that pearls contain 2% of water, they can crack and loose their luster). Keep them away from acid attacks, abrasives, exhalations and cosmetics. Mostly jewelers “revive” pearls with weak solutions of hydrochloric acid or acetic acid.
Over time, pearls can become yellowish. When this happens, you can clean your pearls to restore their color and luster. Bear in mind that acid and alkaline chemicals can cause irreparable damage to pearls. This pearl cleaning process should therefore be undertaken with the utmost care.
Polishing is another common practice. Pearls are often gently tumbled with natural materials — anything from slivers of bamboo to ground-up walnut shells to eucalyptus leaves — in an oily medium such as beeswax that smoothes out small imperfections, generating a greater polish and enhancing luster.
Unlike gemstones, pearls are created by a natural process and come out of the mollusk requiring no cutting or polishing.
A natural pearl may show growth lines where concentric layers of nacre have been added. Cultured pearls on the other hand will appear to have a perfectly rounded nucleus that's surrounded by a halo of conchiolin and finally a thin outer layer.
If sweat is allowed to come into contact with your pearls and remain in contact with them over time, it will start to eat away at the nacre and cause the pearls to lose their shine.
Freshwater pearls are cheaper because they are easier to extract, making sea pearls more valued. Why? Sea pearls are larger, more beautiful in shape, luster, smoother surface and, of course, much more expensive than freshwater pearls.
Pearls with particular brand names will also retain (and even increase) their value over the years; vintage Mikimoto Akoya pearls that still have their original clasp, box and papers to establish provenance are very highly sought after today and continue to fetch premium resale values.
The lip determines the pearl color. While the white pearls are also priced by jewelers, the gold pearl variety is the most coveted color. The gold South sea pearl's color can range from creamy white to deep gold, and the darker the color, the more expensive it becomes.
In general, there're 7 factors that affect the pearl value: shape, size, colour, lustre, surface quality, nacre quality and matching. Like the 4Cs of diamond valuation, the pearl's 7 value factors are created by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to standardise pearl grading systems.
Fake pearls made out of glass or resin are essentially worthless compared to the genuine article. Natural pearls are usually far more valuable than their cultured counterparts.
Perhaps the best-loved gems of all time, pearls—both natural and modern cultured pearls—occur in a wide variety of colors. The most familiar colors are white and cream (a light yellowish brown). Black, gray, and silver are also fairly common, but the palette of pearl colors extends to every hue.
After all, pearls have a predicted lifespan of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred years if cared-for properly. All pearls, whether natural or cultured, anorganic, which means that they were composed by a living organism. "That is the very essence of the warmth and softness of their glow".
After wearing pearls, wipe them with a soft cloth to remove any traces of cosmetic products or body sweat. To shine pearls, you can put a few drops of olive oil, coconut oil or monoi oil on the pearls, and then wipe them with a soft cloth to remove the excess oil.
Wetting pearls is never a good idea, as it begins to destroy the jewel. Pearl necklaces are damaged when they get wet, because the water damages both the thread and the pearl .