Pearls are cool again
Not so long ago, a lot of people considered pearl jewelry to be a thing of the past, something that was to be found only about the necks of grandmothers and rich women with outdated fashion sense. But these ideas are changing fast. From the catwalk to the red carpet, the Sex and the City movie to the White House, classic pearls are making a comeback. It could be a result of retro fashion coming back in, or that a few of the most up to the minute fashion icons have taken their love for pearls public, but whatever has caused the trend pearls are definitely back with a vengeance.
Great news for anyone who was getting a little tired of so much ‘fake’ jewellery around at the moment and wanting to go for something a bit more classic. But how can you be sure you’re getting the real thing when there are so many imitation pearls out there? And aren’t pearls a bit of an unnecessary expensive frivolity, especially when we’re in the middle of a recession? Well actually, with so many varieties of cultured pearls available to buy, you can pick up a genuine pearl necklace for an affordable price. All you need is to know what sort of pearls you are looking for.
Real celebrity-style big saltwater pearls like those that Michelle Obama is often seen in will be pricey, but there are many varieties of pearl which don’t need to break the bank. Natural pearls are a lot more expensive than cultured pearls, as they are a lot less common and therefore rarer and more highly valued. Cultured freshwater pearls are usually the cheapest variety, they are much more common as they are grown in pearl farms and they come in the largest selection of sizes and colours. Saltwater pearls take longer to cultivate, and usually have a bigger, more regular shape, and it is for this reason they are more sought after. It’s easy to tell rthe difference between real pearls and imitations as the fakes rarely have the same lustre or weight, and are smoother to the touch. Real pearls have a slightly rough texture to them, and it’s highly unusual to find perfectly round pearls, so a string of perfect spheres being sold cheaply is likely a fake!