- The Color and Luster of Pearls
Most often pearls are white in their coloring, however occasionally there are pearls found that are various hues of pink and cream shades as well as various shades blue, green, purple, yellow brown and black.
The most distinguished pearls are Pearls of the South Seas because of their silky silvery shades of color and the largeness of their size.
Freshwater pearls offer you a delightful reflective character in their various luster of rainbow colors. Natural pearls are most often found in an assortment of color shades such as cream, pale pinks and lavenders, bronze, off-white and gray. Coral pearls are rare occurrences when searching for colorful pearls.
It is essential when you are shopping for fine pearl jewelry to choose pearls that feature a color which is evenly distributed abundantly over the entire pearl. A pearl is considered to be a valuable and appealing when there is a bare minimum of surface blemishes.
- Light Refraction and Luster
Pearls are graded by their value of quality by the soft iridescence of the refraction of light cause by the numerous layers of nacre. The luster is the shine of reflectivity on the surface of a pearl or the pearls orient.
A highly distinct range of color is displayed when there are numerous even layers of nacre on a pearl. The luster of a pearl is influenced by the quality of the nacre on cultured pearls. Long period of time during cultivation causes a thicker layering of nacre on a pearl.
Luster is the term that is used to express the quantity of light that is reflected on the surface of a pearl. Luster is the extreme mirror like reflection of light and the distinction of the glow of a pearl. Luster is the inner light of a pearl.
The reflections of high luster pearls are likened to that of a mirror with a high distinctive characteristic in various areas of dark and light.
While gazing at the surface of a pearl that features a good luster, you can see our reflection on the surface of the pearl. The higher quality of the luster of a pearl will present a more obvious reflection on its surface. Pearls of lower luster appear to be chalky and or dull, since they provide poor reflective qualities.
Natural pearls are produced entirely of nacre; however the majority of cultured pearls are produced by artificially introducing a bead nucleus into its core.
The surface of a pearl may range from clean to blemished. There are virtually no flaws on clean pearls and they are extremely valuable and rare. Blemished pearls are categorized by any type of bumps, spots or abrasions.
Blemishes are fractures or cracks present on the surface of a pearl. These are damaging blemishes that cause a pearl to be judged as an inferior pearl. Another point to keep in mind is that any damage such as cracking or chipping near the drilled hole of a pearl are blemishes that can possibly become even larger.
The fashionable luster of a pearl depends upon the refraction and reflection of light which comes from the translucent layers of a pearl as well as the finer proportions of the various layering of nacre that becomes thinner and more abundant in its inner layers.
The shining iridescence which pearls will display is brought on by the successive overlapping layers of each individual layer of nacre on a pearl. This is what clarifies the light that that illuminates from the surface of a pearl.
- Complimenting Your Skin Tone with Shiny Silky Pearls of Color
You can enhance your features in skin tone by choosing the right color of pearl
* Cream colors of pearls are those which can compliment almost any skin tone.
* Pearls that feature tones of silver are most flattering to those who have darker and olive skin tones.
* Pearls with overtones of rose coloring compliment those with fair skin tones.
© 2009 Sara Valor
