Heart2Heart Creations
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Heart2Heart Creations
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One Of A Kind Handmade Beaded Jewellery With A
Difference by Heart2Heart Creations.
The pearl, with its outstanding lustre and
mesmerizing iridescence, has been a highly prized and sought after gem. Over the
centuries there have been numerous descriptions and pictures of pearl jewelry in society.
These can be found in the many cultures from China to Greece going as far back as 5,200 years.
Natural Pearls such as Freshwater, Saltwater, Tahitian, Akoya and South Sea to name a few.
5,200 Years Ago Earliest known use of mother-of-pearl in
jewelry is recorded in Egypt, where it was used to make beads and cartouches.
4,000 Years Ago Chinese historical texts begin mentioning pearls. Specifically, freshwater pearls were mentioned to
have been found in the river Hwai. They were described as “not quite round”.
3,000 Years Ago Earliest mention of pearls in India, specifically in
the Rigveda the oldest
of the Vidas.
2,550 Years Ago In Ceylon, which is now known as Sri
Lanka, a King is recorded sending pearls to his father in law in India.
2,500 Years Ago The Atharaveda in India mentions a pearl necklace used
as a Talisman in India. It describes a necklace which would have been made
of 9-11mm pearls. Quite an exquisite Pearl Necklace today, let alone
at that time. Persia was a major source of pearls for Greece. A
pearl necklace from Greece, made of natural pearls and gold 2,300 years ago, was on
display 100 years ago at the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
2,400 Years Ago Oldest known pearl necklace still in
existence comes from a Queen’s tomb in Ancient Persia. This pearl necklace has 3 rows of 72 pearls each
and is known as the Susa necklace.
1,400 Years Ago Filipinos are described selling Chinese pearls in
ancient Chinese
documents.
17th through to the 19th century European royalty regularly wore pearl jewelry in
every possible way. In the 19th century when pictures were becoming
more popular, examples of pearl jewelry can be found constantly among the wealthy. At the end of the 19th century, the ancient pearl
trade ended. Natural pearls would no longer being
traded and sold as they used to, and not long afterwards, the cultured pearl market emerged.
Pearls and Mythology The Egyptians were among the first in recorded
history to prize the pearl in their society. These are exampled through rare paintings
and sculptures from that era. It is said that Cleopatra once swallowed a pearl with a
glass of wine just to prove a point to Marc Antony that she could consume the wealth
of an entire nation in one meal; the value worth thirty million Sesterces (“the price
of a kingdom in one mouthful”). The Chinese are among the first to have recorded the
use of Pearl Jewellery in their text going back as far a 4,000 years. In the
symbolic language of ancient China, pearls represented preciousness and purity. The
imperial house accepted pearls in payment for taxes, and a pearl was placed in the mouths of the deceased who came from wealthy families. In fact they were known to actually
specified Freshwater Pearls from the river of Hwai in a southern province. There is
also documented evidence of Saltwater Pearls from the Sea on the coast of China and the coast of Japan.
The oldest individual pearl to be recorded is the famous “Jomon”, which is a
Japanese pearl dating back to more than 5,500 years old.
What is the difference
between a freshwater pearl or cultured pearl?
Although the traditional source of pearls
has been oysters which live in saltwater, mollusks which live in freshwater lakes and rivers can also produce
pearls. China has harvested freshwater pearls in the
form of Mabe since the 13th century, and is now the world's undisputed leader in freshwater pearl
production. The first record mentioning pearls in China was from 2206
BC. The United States was also a major source of natural freshwater pearls from
the discovery of the New World through the 19th century until over-harvesting and
increasing pollution significantly reduced the number of available pearl-forming mussels. Generally speaking, freshwater pearls are not as round as saltwater pearls, and they do not have the
same sharp lustre and shine as akoya pearls.
However, they appear in a wide variety of shapes and natural colours, and they tend to be less expensive than saltwater pearls.
As freshwater pearls are solid nacre, they
are also quite durable, resisting chipping, wear, and degeneration. With a
total production of 1500 tons in 2006, China holds a monopoly over the pearl industry today.
Although the birth of the Chinese freshwater pearl industry is traced back
to the area around Shanghai, freshwater pearls are now produced in all surrounding
provinces including Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, and Jianxi. Local trade is conducted mainly in the cities
of Zhuji (Shanxiahu), Suzhou, Wuxi, Wenling, and Weitang.
The largest market for these freshwater pearls is the world's
pearl trading hub, Hong Kong. Freshwater pearls differ from other cultured pearls
in that the great majority are not bead-nucleated.
Freshwater mollusks are nucleated by creating a small incision in the fleshy mantle tissue of a 6 to 12
month old mussel, and inserting a 3mm square piece of mantle tissue from a donor
mussel. Upon insertion the donor (graft) tissue is twisted slightly, rounding out the edges.
What happens after this point still speculation. Some believe that this tissue acts as a
catalyst in producing a pearl sac thus making the 'nucleation' actual 'activation',
others believe the tissue moulds with the host to create a pearl sac, while still others maintain the tissue
is the actual nucleus. Although it is said that a freshwater
mollusk can withstand up to 25 insertions per valve, it is not common industry practice
to perform only 12-16 insertions in either valve, for a total production of 24-32 pearls.
The mollusks are then returned to their freshwater environment where they
are tended for 2-6 years. The resulting pearls are of solid nacre, but without a
bead nucleus to guide the growth process the pearls are rarely perfect round.
In recent years the Chinese have been able to take the art of culturing freshwater
pearls to new levels. Although rare, some freshwater pearl production exhibits
lustre equivalent to high grade akoya, round shape with less than a percentage point of
deviation, colors as exotic as Tahitian, and size as large as South Sea.
Although grades in these category represent much less than 1/10th of 1 percent of
total production, due to the enormous production of freshwater pearls there is a
marketable quantity. The first being the industry shift from the
Cockscomb pearl mussel (Cristaria plicata) to the Triangle shell (Hyriopsis cumingii)
in the middle 1990's. The Cockscomb was responsible for the low quality
rice-crispy pearls of the 1970's and 1980's. Another shift in quality can be attributed
to the lower number of grafts inserted into either valve. This number has
dropped by an average of 5 per side in the last decade. The turn of the century
brought another wave of quality and exotic pearl colours in the form of mussel hybridization. The Japanese have a distinguished history of
culturing freshwater pearls as well.
Lake Biwa was once world renowned for producing
high-quality freshwater pearls produced by the Hyriopsis schlegeli
(Biwa pearly mussel) mussel. However, in the mid 1970's pearl farming all but came to a
halt due to pollution in this lake that was once synonymous with freshwater pearls. The Japanese tried once again to farm
freshwater pearls in Lake Kasumigaura in the last decade, utilizing a bead-nucleated
hybrid mussel (Hyriopsis Schlegeli anadonata/plicata hybrid mussels). The resulting pearls have been quite large and unique. The Kasumiga pearl industry had a very short
life span, however, with production ceasing in 2006.
Pearl Farming
Freshwater Pearl Farm Freshwater mollusks are generally
nucleated using a piece of mantle tissue only, without a bead. The pearl
develops around the mantle tissue, which can over time deteriorate, leaving a pearl that is composed almost entirely of nacre.
After nucleating, the oysters are provided a few weeks to
recover from the surgery. During this time, some of the oysters may reject and expel
the implanted nuclei; others may become sick or even die. Most, however, will recover fully.
The oysters are placed in cages or nets and moved into the oyster bed,
where they will be tended as the pearls develop. Depending on the type of
oyster, this process can require anywhere from a few additional months to several more years!
All the while that the pearls are developing inside the oysters, the pearl
farmers pay close attention to water conditions, weather, and other factors which can
influence both the health of the oyster and the development of the pearl.
Various oysters, for example, require various levels of water temperature to thrive and produce the best pearls.
The farmers will often raise or lower the oyster cages in the
water to help control the temperature -- lowering the cages to cooler depths when
the weather is warm, or raising them nearer the surface warmth when the weather
is cool. The cages are often lowered in storms as well, to keep the
oysters as safe as possible from surface turbulence. Water pollution is
also a continuing concern, and pearl farmers take numerous steps to insure the cleanliness of the water in which
their oysters live. After the pearls have been allowed to develop
fully, they must be harvested. The pearls are extracted from the oysters,
then washed, dried, and sorted into general categories. Sometimes
the pearls are polished by tumbling them in salt and water. The pearls are then sold to jewellers,
manufacturers, and pearl dealers.
Original Designs - Handmade Freshwater Pearl Necklaces With A Difference.
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