Almost every woman loves pearls. They exude timeless elegance. Pearl jewelry gives a woman the look of grandeur and the shimmering white of the pearls against the body feels awesome. Purity is compared to a pearl, because of the flawless whiteness of the pearl.

You would have bought cultured pearls for yourself or for a family member or friends, but do you know what exactly a cultured pearl is? There is also a wrong notion that a cultured pearl is an artificial pearl.

When something like a parasite or some organic matter gets implanted in an oyster or mollusk, a pearl is formed. These are called natural pearls as they are formed by nature. A cultured pearl is something that has the intervention of humans. A pearl farmer inserts a similar object into the oyster or mollusk and the pearl that is thus formed is called a cultured pearl. The rest of the process remains the same. The only difference being implanting the organic matter into the oyster.

The size of the pearl, either natural or cultured depends on the length of time it remains in the oyster. The larger the size, the more valuable is the pearl. All these cultured pearls are grown on pearl farms.

Cultured pearls are very valuable jewels in today’s world. No jewelry box looks complete without cultured pearl jewelry. Just like natural pearls, each cultured pearl is different from one another.

The value of the cultured pearl depends on the color, size, shape, and luster. The brightness and luster of the cultured pearl speaks volumes about the quality. A cultured pearl should be flawless without any marks on it. It should be round without any dents. The roundness of the cultured pearl determines the price.

Cultured pearls are found in various colors, white, black, rose, cream, blue, yellow, green, mauve, gray, and lavender. The Indian rose-colored pearl is very famous and most-liked. The color of the pearl is determined by the oyster or mollusk and their environment. Think of the rainbow and you will find all those colors in cultured pearls.

Did you know that pearl is the birthstone of people born under the Gemini star sign. Mystical powers and healing ability is associated with pearls.

There are several types of cultured pears, like Oriental pearls that are saltwater pearls and freshwater pearls that come from freshwater mollusks or oysters. Freshwater cultured pearls are less expensive and are more affordable for people on a budget. Cultured pearls are not as durable as gemstones. They need to be handled and stored with a lot of care. You should keep them away from humidity or dryness. Do not spray perfumes or let your cultured pearls come in touch with your makeup. That is the reason why they say, cultured pearls should be the last jewelry to be worn when dressing up. After removing them, it would do them good to wipe clean with a clean and soft cloth before storing the cultured pearls in a soft velvet pouch. Cultured pearls make perfect gifts for loved ones. All sorts of jewelry is made with cultured pearls, from plain pearl strands to pearls set in gold or other precious metals, or in combination with other precious gemstones. Cultured pearls give beauty to any jewelry they are set in. Pearls look extremely elegant on elderly women too and give them a dignified and sophisticated look, more than any other metal can. A plain strand of expensive pearls can be a lovely and thoughtful gift.

Diamonds are extremely expensive stones used as jewelry by royalties and rich people. Diamonds are judged based on 4 Cs – Color, Carat, Clarity and Cut.

Natural colored diamonds, especially the clear and near colorless ones, are very expensive. To make the beauty of diamonds reach a wider market, jewelers are marketing colored diamonds which are still visually appealing but a lot cheaper in price.

Gemologists have found a way to manipulate diamonds of less quality to alter their colors to create fancy diamonds for sale. This color manipulation process can be achieved by a process called irradiation – a treatment with very high heat to alter colors. Many natural diamonds that are of inferior quality due to blemished color are turned into fancy colored diamonds of vivid yellows, blues, purples, greens, reds and other colors.

When the color of the treated diamonds becomes more intense than the Z grading of diamond, they become categorized into fancy colored diamonds. Some colored diamonds’ prices can even surpass that of natural near colorless diamonds especially if the color intensity is very and the color output is rare.

In nature, there are several naturally formed colored diamonds. Most of these are very rare while some are one of a kind.

Fancy Yellow Diamonds get their color from nitrogen impurities. One of the largest fancy yellow diamonds is the Tiffany Diamond which was founding in South Africa. The Tiffany Diamond weighed 287.42 carats when it was found in 1878.

Pink Diamonds are rare and they owe their color to the irregular patterns which cause very tiny imperfections within the structure. There is only one source of rare pink diamonds which is the Argyle Mine in Australia.

Chameleon Diamonds are also very rare. They can change hue from grayish blue or olive green to yellowish green depending on the lighting conditions. When exposed to heat up to 250º C), the color can change to yellowish green or when exposed to direct sunlight, olive green. These changes are temporary.

Green diamonds are mostly found in South Central Africa. These diamonds have been exposed to gamma and neutron radiation for millions of years to get their hue. The Ocean Green Diamond and the Dresden Green Diamond have pure and intense hues.

The Red Diamond is the rarest kind among the colored diamonds. The first discovered Red Diamond is the 1 carat Halpen Red found in the 18th century. Around the world today, there are only fewer than 20 known natural red diamond specimens. The most famous Red Diamond is the Hancock Red Diamond found in Brazil which weighed only 0.95 carats. It was old for $926,000 at an auction. Other famous Red Diamonds are Moussaieff Diamond which weighed 13.90 carats and De Young which weighed 5.03 carats. Red Diamonds in the market today may reach up to $1 million per carat.

Brown diamonds are the cheapest among the colored diamonds. They are very popular nowadays because more people are buying them due to their affordability.