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Pearl Jewelry - The Story of Pearl Hunters
As long as pearl jewelry have been known to people, they have been a highly sought commodity for their beauty. It's only in recent times however that the industry has taken the hunt for the perfect pearl to a whole different level. Today, the shiny orbs that we see on in display in jewelry stores have actually almost always been grown in farms.
That's a far cry from the dangerous extraction and collection methods used before the invention of modern technology. In the past, not more than 100 years ago, the only way to retrieve pearls was by diving in lakes, floods and the ocean to pick them up, one at the time. The unfortunate divers who'se job it was to do this, were often poor and lured by the relative large sums they could get. The diver would sometimes have to dive as deep as 100 feet on one single breath of air. In order to preserve air and to stay submerged the longest, the divers would hold on to heavy stones on the way down.
Naturally, this dangerous activity was reserved for the desperate or the powerless - in many cases slaves or extremely poor peasents. Today, this method is all but obsolete in most places of the world. The cheaper cultured pearls have become popular and are many times the only pearls available to the consumer.
There are however still a few isolated areas that practice this old art of pearl diving. Some of the finest natural pearl speciments come from the gulf of Bahrain. Here, divers still risk their health to retrieve what are considered the top of the crop in the world. In fact, Bahrain wants no part of the sale of cultured pearls, banned from trade. Bahrain is one of the few places on earth that does an active job in trying to preserve the natural habitat and waters from pollution.
It's an interesting story and one that continues to fascinate buyers around the world. Somehow, the beauty of the pearl grows when it's been retrieved from the depth of the ocean.
Buying Pearl Jewelry Without Being Ripped Off
Buying pearl jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you're considering a gift of pearl jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here's some information to help you get the best quality pearl jewelry for your money, whether you're shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online.
Pearls
Natural or real pearls are made by oysters and other mollusks. Cultured pearls also are grown by mollusks, but with human intervention; that is, an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass, plastic, or organic materials.
Because natural pearls are very rare, most pearls used in jewelry are either cultured or imitation pearls. Cultured pearls, because they are made by oysters or mollusks, usually are more expensive than imitation pears. A cultured pearl's value is largely based on its size, usually stated in millimeters, and the quality of its nacre coating, which give it luster. Jewelers should tell your if the pearls are cultured or imitation. Some black, bronze, gold, purple, blue and orange pearls, whether natural or cultured, occur that way in nature; some, however, are dyed through various processes. Jewelers should tell you whether the colored pearls are naturally colored, dyed or irradiated.
Clams, oysters, mussels and many other mollusks with limy shells are known to produce pearls. But very few kinds yield gem pearls of jeweler's quality. The pearl is an abnormal growth of mother-of-pearl, or nacre, imbedded in the soft bodies of these shellfish. It is built up, layer upon layer, in the same way as nacre is added to the lining of the growing shell and always has the same color and luster. For example, over the country, hundreds of good-sized pearls are found each year in the oysters we eat. Unfortunately these have no commercial value regardless of whether they have been cooked or not because they are dull opaque white or purple like the shell of the parent oyster. In recent times almost all pearls of gem quality come from the oriental pearl oyster which has a bright shimmering translucent nacre.
A pearl starts growing when some irritating foreign substance such as a sand grain, bit of mud, parasite or other object becomes lodged in the shell-producing gland called the mantle. Pearls formed in the soft flesh where nacre can be added on all sides are most likely to be spherical and the most highly prized. By far the great majority are flattened or variously distorted and have little value. Size, color, luster and freedom from flaws are other essential qualities. Unlike other gems, such as diamonds, pearls have an average life of only about 50 years. In time the small amount of water in a pearl's make-up is lost and its surface cracks. Because they are mostly lime, necklaces which are worn often are injured by the acid secretions of the human skin.
Buying Pearl Jewelry Without Being Ripped Off
Buying pearl jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you're considering a gift of pearl jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here's some information to help you get the best quality pearl jewelry for your money, whether you're shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online.
Pearls
Natural or real pearls are made by oysters and other mollusks. Cultured pearls also are grown by mollusks, but with human intervention; that is, an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass, plastic, or organic materials.
Because natural pearls are very rare, most pearls used in jewelry are either cultured or imitation pearls. Cultured pearls, because they are made by oysters or mollusks, usually are more expensive than imitation pears. A cultured pearl's value is largely based on its size, usually stated in millimeters, and the quality of its nacre coating, which give it luster. Jewelers should tell your if the pearls are cultured or imitation. Some black, bronze, gold, purple, blue and orange pearls, whether natural or cultured, occur that way in nature; some, however, are dyed through various processes. Jewelers should tell you whether the colored pearls are naturally colored, dyed or irradiated.
Clams, oysters, mussels and many other mollusks with limy shells are known to produce pearls. But very few kinds yield gem pearls of jeweler's quality. The pearl is an abnormal growth of mother-of-pearl, or nacre, imbedded in the soft bodies of these shellfish. It is built up, layer upon layer, in the same way as nacre is added to the lining of the growing shell and always has the same color and luster. For example, over the country, hundreds of good-sized pearls are found each year in the oysters we eat. Unfortunately these have no commercial value regardless of whether they have been cooked or not because they are dull opaque white or purple like the shell of the parent oyster. In recent times almost all pearls of gem quality come from the oriental pearl oyster which has a bright shimmering translucent nacre.
A pearl starts growing when some irritating foreign substance such as a sand grain, bit of mud, parasite or other object becomes lodged in the shell-producing gland called the mantle. Pearls formed in the soft flesh where nacre can be added on all sides are most likely to be spherical and the most highly prized. By far the great majority are flattened or variously distorted and have little value. Size, color, luster and freedom from flaws are other essential qualities. Unlike other gems, such as diamonds, pearls have an average life of only about 50 years. In time the small amount of water in a pearl's make-up is lost and its surface cracks. Because they are mostly lime, necklaces which are worn often are injured by the acid secretions of the human skin.
Peephole driving
s snow and temperatures start to fall, it’s “peephole driving” season in the USA.
Many Americans have done it: gone outside to an ice-covered vehicle on shell pearl jewelry a cold winter’s morning, chipped just enough ice off the windshield to see through and driven away.
Peephole driving dramatically reduces a driver’s field of vision, and it increases the likelihood that snow or ice can become dislodged and hit another vehicle or a pedestrian, according to police and safety advocates.
“Everybody is in such a hurry to get where they’ve got to wholesale coral jewelry go, they don’t want to take the time to completely defrost their windows,” says Sgt. Scott Kristiansen of the Buffalo Grove Police Department in suburban Chicago. “That puts everybody at risk.
“Reasonable people who would never think of leaving their driveway with worn tires or bad brakes will routinely drive their children to school after scraping just a small peephole with which to see out of the vehicle,” says Kristiansen, a 26-year veteran in the village of about 42,000 northwest of pearl jewelry wholesale Chicago.
New Jersey strengthened
In Illinois and some other states, police can cite drivers for obstruction of a window or obstructed vision. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, drivers can be cited if cultured pearl jewelry their failure to remove snow or ice causes injury or property damage.
New Jersey strengthened its law last week. Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, signed legislation requiring drivers to “make all reasonable efforts” to remove snow or ice from the roof, hood, trunk and windshield. For truckers, the law applies to the cab, the top of a trailer or semi-trailer and the top of a freight container. Drivers who fail to comply face a $25-$75 fine.
“There are many stories of innocent drivers who have died or been seriously injured because of ice or snow dislodged from a truck or car,” says Republican state Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, a sponsor of the law. “Finally, common-sense legislation that protects drivers by requiring the wish pearl oyster removal of potential flying debris is now law.”
There are no reliable statistics on the number of people hurt or killed because of peephole driving, says David Weinstein, spokesman for AAA clubs of New Jersey. “Often the driver doesn’t know what happened and drives away,” he says. “Or they do know what happened and know they’re culpable and drive away.”
Technical Trooper Tim McCool of the Kansas Highway Patrol says he’s seen peephole driving increase in his 27-year career as people grow more impatient. He estimates that freshwater pearl jewelry peephole drivers have 2%-3% of the normal field of vision. As winter looms, the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles advises, “Peephole driving is an invitation to disaster.”
Messages seeking
Marni Phillips filed for divorce Sept. 14, according to court records.
In 1998, Steve Phillips admitted having sex with pearl jewelry a Mets employee, who sued for sexual harassment. That case was settled out of court. Phillips was fired by the Mets in 2003.
Messages seeking comment were left Sunday for Phillips and Hundley.
ESPN has been troubled by a series of sterling silver jewelry workplace issues involving alleged misconduct by its television personalities.
In 2006, baseball analyst Harold Reynolds was fired after a female intern complained about what he called a “brief and innocuous hug.” Reynolds sued and settled with the network last year.
Last year, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a makeup artist who accused hosts Jay Crawford and sports writer Woody Paige of groping and propositioning her on the set of the wholesale coral jewelry now-defunct show “Cold Pizza.”
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Baseball analyst Steve
Baseball analyst Steve Phillips was fired by ESPN on Sunday night, less than a week after he admitted having an affair with a production assistant at the cable network. And freshwater pearl pendant an ESPN spokesman says the sports network also has fired the production assistant.
Spokesman Mike Soltys said Monday that Brooke Hundley, 22, was fired. He declined to say when she was fired or why. Hundley did not immediately return a phone message, and no one answered the door at her home in Bristol on Monday.
A representative for Phillips announced the freshwater pearl necklace former New York Mets general manager was entering a treatment facility “to address his personal issues.”
Phillips’ acknowledgment Wednesday of his relationship with 22-year-old Brooke Hundley was splashed across the New York tabloids for days, embarrassing the Bristol, Conn.-based sports giant.
“Steve Phillips is no longer working for ESPN,” network spokesman Josh Krulewitz said in a statement. “His ability to be an effective representative for ESPN has been significantly and akoya loose pearl irreparably damaged, and it became evident it was time to part ways.”
Phillips had taken a leave of absence after the affair became public. Krulewitz declined comment when asked Sunday night about Hundley’s status with the company.
According to a police report filed
Steve Lefkowitz, Phillips’ representative, said in an e-mail that his client “is voluntarily admitting himself to an inpatient treatment facility to address his personal issues, and informed ESPN of his plans Friday.”
According to a police report filed in akoya pearl jewelry Wilton, Conn., Hundley began calling Phillips’ wife, Marni, on Aug. 5 after he broke off the affair and sent her a letter graphically describing their relationship and the 46-year-old Phillips’ birthmarks.
Marni Phillips called police Aug. 19 when she came home to find Hundley in her driveway. “I knew instinctively that this was the woman Steve was involved with freswhater pearl necklace and I was terrified,” she wrote in a statement to police.
Hundley also contacted Phillips’ 16-year-old son through his Facebook account, according to the police report.
“This woman has clearly displayed erratic behavior and delusional tendencies,” Steve Phillips said in a statement to police.
Phillips signed a statement to police that he would not press charges. The wholesale coral jewelry status of the police investigation was unclear Sunday. The report indicated a detective planned to interview Hundley this week when she returned from vacation.
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