June 2008June Discount: Take 15% off any item on the website or custom order placed before June 15th. Please note most items are one-of-a-kind.
Shopping Opportunity:
I’ll be going to a bead show on June 15th. Call me or send an e-mail if
you’re looking for something in particular. I look forward to hearing
from you!
Gem lore: Click to read about the world’s oldest bead jewelry, found in Israel and Algeria in the 1930s and 40s.
Beautiful Pearls: The pearl is June’s
birthstone. Pearls are said to represent purity, faith, charity,
innocence, integrity, focus, wisdom, spirituality, sincerity, and
fertility. And anyone who’s ever shopped for pearls knows there’s a
wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes.
Here are some fascinating pearl facts:
- Nacre is the organic
substance secreted around an irritant to produce a pearl. Because it is
made of tiny crystals, it allows light to pass through its surface.
This is the reason for that subtle glow you’ve admired on the surface
of a pearl.
- Seawater pearls
come from oysters, and are “encouraged” to do so by inserting a small
round shell bead to stimulate nacre production. Only one pearl will be
produced by each oyster. Known as cultured pearls, it may take as long
as 3 years to grow just one.
- Freshwater pearls
come from mussels, and are also “encouraged” to grow by the insertion
of a small piece of tissue (from another mussel) known as “mantle
tissue.”
- A single mussel can
create a large number of pearls—often 20 or more. And since they are
grown on pearl farms, the sheer number of freshwater pearls makes them
reasonably-priced. For this reason, they are often considered to be of
a poorer quality. To grow freshwater pearls of the highest quality and
size may take 3 to 5 years. They are solid pearls.
- The creation of a pearl
is accomplished in irregular intervals, with the mollusk adding layers
of nacre in fits and starts. The resulting ridges and swirls are
sometimes referred to as a pearl’s fingerprint.
- Pearls occurring
naturally are extremely rare. Perhaps 1 in 10,000 mollusks will create
one, which is why pearls have been so highly valued (and priced)
throughout history.
Hazel
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