Pearls

Brides Say "I do" to cultured pearl wedding jewelry.

Every bride needs something old, new, borrowed, and blue... and plenty of cultured pearls to wear.

Pearls have adorned brides throughout history. Ancient Greeks believed that cultured pearls would promote marital bliss and prevent newlywed brides from crying. And still today, cultured pearls grace the necks, ears, wrists, and fingers of modern brides - look at the bridal magazines!

Cultured pearl necklaces, drop earrings, and cuff bracelets are among today's bridal favorites. With the variety of cultured pearls available, you can look unique and elegant for your wedding day.

It takes over 800,000 oyster hours to grow the cultured pearls that make up a high quality strand.

A pearl farmer must meticulously sort through almost 10,000 pearls in order to collect the 47 matched pearls that will make up a high quality necklace. All the pearls in an assembled strand must match in terms of luster, shape, color, and size.

Japanese Akoya pearls are the most difficult to grow due to the low survival rates of the host oysters. Less than 5 in 10 will survive the nucleation process. Of the survivors, about 40% will successfully encircle the shell nucleus irritant with nacre. Overall, less than 5% of all pearl output can be considered "high quality."

The ancients believed that pearls contained magical properties that would promote health, wealth, and long life.

Pearls are one of the earliest known gems to be coveted by man. Long before diamonds and gold were discovered and mined, pearls already were highly prized and traded - more than 5,000 years ago.

During the crusades, dashing knights wore pearls into battle, believing that this sea born gem would protect them from harm and misfortune.