The story of black pearls

Pearl jewellery is without doubt the most popular choice for wedding jewellery. Pearl has always been known as the ultimate symbol for beauty, purity and elegance. Pearls have been loved by women for as long as fashion existed. For the longest time, only white pearls were appreciated and sought after, however starting from the first part of the 20th century, black pearl jewellery came into fashion, people slowly started to appreciate its mysterious multi-colour overtone and unique beauty. The start of the story was very interesting: a smart merchandiser positioned black pearls firmly in the highest class jewellery, selling them only fitted with diamonds and gold for very high prices. This has helped to turn people’s perception around black pearls and seemingly effortlessly, black pearls climbed straight to the top of the market niche. In most wedding jewellery collection, pearl necklace and pearl earrings set are the popular choice, while many ladies add in for pearl brooches and tiara as well. Pearl ring is a less likely choice for engagement ring, however they are extremely popular just as special treats.

'Edith' black pearl necklace by carla pearls

We are very lucky to live in a time that so many resources are made available to everyone. Even the choice of affordable pearl jewellery – which are much cheaper than 100 years ago thanks to pearl culturing. In fact the price difference is astonishing. Pearls used to be an extreme form of luxury only for the upper class. Today most women can afford to treat herself with a few items of freshwater pearls. Better still, the birth of faux pearl jewellery introduced the ‘pearl look’ to even more people and occasions. Today a lot of fashion clothes are designed with rich adornment of faux pearls, offering a classy look without customers having to break their purses. Of course, real pearl lovers would still go for real pearls, and they are affordable anyway. It is easy to tell the difference between the two: fake pearl jewellery are much shinier than real pearls and the feel to the skin is also different – fake pearl jewellery do not have the natural warmth and tenderness that comes with real pearls. Teenagers and younger women with less financial means, are big buyers of fake pearl jewellery. In fact there’s a subtle different between ‘fake pearl jewellery’ and ‘faux pearl jewellery’. The nuance is that, fake pearl jewellery are made of pastic – beads that are coated with a shiny pearl like agent. These pearls usually have a slippery surface which feel marble like and much lighter. Faux pearls, or stimulation pearls, on the other hand, are actually made with ‘whipped up’ oyster shell powder. These pearl products are a middle point between fake pearls and real pearls, as they are made of the same material as real pearls, but not naturally grown out of living oysters. Faux pearls are a popular alternative to real pearls in large sizes – they stay similar prices in sizes up to 15mm while freshwater pearl prices increase double or even triple, for each increased millimetre in size.