I love the first one with the amethyst! The colors go so well together. Are those rubies in the 4th photo? Stunning, whatever the stone.
I've always been fascinated with pearls. It goes way, way back. I think maybe it began when I was received a strand of pretend pearls from 'Santa' when he visited a local park.
In middle school we were assigned Steinbeck's
The Pearl, which furthered my curiosity about this gorgeous gem.
For Christmas 1980, when I was 24, my mother gave me a strand of small Biwa pearls, which I wore and treasured for their high luster and orient. I wanted to buy round pearls someday, but then I read the August 1985 issue of
National Geographic, whose well-illustrated article about pearls discussed the industry's concern about decreasing nacre thickness and its negative effect on durability. At that point I sadly resigned myself to settling for high quality imitation pearls and satisfied my pearl cravings with highly readable and richly illustrated volumes like
Pearls: A Natural History.
Now that CFWP are available at such reasonable prices and such high quality, no one who loves pearls needs to do without. They are available at every price-point.
A few days ago I bought my 12 year old daughter her first CFWP pearl set-- 18" 7mm necklace, bracelet, and slightly larger button earrings. White, pretty good luster, some blemishes, off round, but overall a good looking set that she can wear every day, even to school, without worrying about damaging them.
She asked me if they were "good" pearls. I told her that a hundred years ago, before cultured pearls became available, only the wealthy would have owned a natural strand of pearls-- and the majority of naturals would have been imperfect in shape, luster and would have had blemishes. Because CFWP are all nacre, they (and keshi) are the closest thing to those naturals-- so she should wear them with pride.
Gotta start 'em young!
