Pearl Baby and Children's Jewellery

 

Categories of pearls

 

Because I am frequently asked questions about pearls, whether they are "real," are they polished, where do they come from etc. I thought I'd post a little information including this comparison chart.

What are "freshwater" pearls? Only two types of pearl exist in the world. These are the saltwater and freshwater varieties, and either type can be natural or cultured. Freshwater pearls are cultivated in mussels rather than oysters, and most of the world’s supply are farmed in the lakes, rivers and ponds of China. They're easier to grow than salt water pearls. One freshwater mussel can grow multiples of pearls at the one time, compared to salt water oysters that usually produce only one pearl.

What are "cultured" pearls and why are they so expensive? From Wikipedia: A cultured pearl is a pearl created by a pearl farmer under controlled conditions. Cultured pearls can be farmed using two very different groups of bivalve mollusk: the freshwater river mussels, and the saltwater pearl oysters.

Cultured freshwater pearls are pearls that are farmed and created using freshwater mussels. These pearls are produced in Japan and the United States on a limited scale, but are now almost exclusively produced in China.

The truth is, cultured pearls can take many years to form and can command some pretty amazing prices.

Pearls are a natural formation created by the mollusc when an "irritant" is place in the shell. Over time, the outer coating forms over the irritant, which ultimately becomes the pearl.

Pearls are popular for adult jewellery as well as baby jewellery and children's jewellery.  Pearls look beautiful on baby's perfect skin.  Currently we stock pearl baby bracelets, pearl children's bracelets, children's pearl earrings, including pearl screw back earrings. We also stock childrens' pearl necklaces.

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