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The holiday season is coming up – parties to attend and we start the search for accessories to go with that basic black dress. With the re-emergence of the flapper look – helped by style guru Eric Daman of Gossip Girls – pearls are back.
Flapper Look
When a decent strand of faux pearls can run you $250 or more, it’s time to look at investing in the real thing. Pearls are one of those investment pieces that every woman should have in their jewelry wardrobe. Every time you wear your pearls, you will feel so much more glamorous just because of the way the pearls feel.
So to get some advice, I went to my favorite Chicago Couture Jewelry Designer and consultant Julie Liu. Pearls can be a bit of a mystery, so Julie broke it down for me.
To start, there are saltwater and freshwater pearls. Saltwater pearls are the more expensive. With saltwater pearls, a bead is inserted into the oyster, then the oyster does its work creating the “nacre” (oyster layer) around the bead and voila, you have a pearl.
There are 3 different types of saltwater pearls available:
Pearls from TZEN Boutique
South Sea – from gold to gray to silver, these are the large pearls you see. The oysters are larger in the south sea (from China to Australia) and so the nacre gets thicker on these pearls. Since the nacre is really the pearl, these are the most expensive running $10K – $30K per strand.
Akoya – originally harvested in Japan. They are created in cooler waters so the oysters are smaller and the nacre is thinner. But these are the pearls with the highest luster – the ones that reflect almost like a mirror. These run $7K – $15K depending on quality and clasp used on the strand.
Freshwater – the most affordable pearls. They are mass-produced, but they are not a lesser quality. The difference with freshwater pearls is that they are all “nacre,” no bead is inserted. There is donor tissue from another oyster to create the foreign material to start the process of building the pearl. Since there isn’t a bead, it is difficult to achieve a “round” pearl in freshwater. So the highest quality freshwater pearls are the ones that are almost perfectly round and have a high luster. The natural colors of these are white, pink, lavender, and peach. They can also be dyed and found in browns, purples, etc. These run from $30 to $3000 depending on size and luster.
Once you narrow down the category of pearls you are ready for, make sure to get some input on which look best on your skin tone. This is where Julie really is a master.
And don’t forget, you can always put these on your holiday wish list.
All prices are based on a 17 – 18 inch strands and are available at www.tzenboutique.com.
