Pearls have always been very popular as jewellery. These white orbs are perfect for necklaces or even to stand alone in a medallion. A pearl is formed when a tiny piece of sand is trapped inside a shellfish, such as the oyster or species of mussel. The sand irritates the shellfish and it encases the sand piece with layers over layers.

A pearl that is created like this is called a wild pearl and is very rare and therefore expensive. These pearls are found and discovered by divers who risk their lives trying to dig them out of the sea.

More common is the cultivated pearl, which is most often grown in freshwater. Records show that freshwater specimens were cultivated as early as 700 years ago by the Chinese. Today, cultivated freshwater pearls are very popular as they are the closest to the quality of wild pearls.

Pearls come in many colors, rangin from pale white to black, they may even be brown, silver, cream and pink. The color depends on where it was grown and what shellfish created it.

The price and demand of a pearl depends on several factors:

Lustre is the combination of the inside glow and outer brilliancel. The highest quality pearls will seem more solid and dense, while the lower quality pearl may seem dull and chalky.

The smoothness of the pearl's surface is the second most important factor. A pearl will always have blemishes, as it is grown organically, but the high quality pearl, will only have minute faults, visible only from up close.

The shape is equally important; the roundness of the pearl is a determining factor. It's common for pearls to not be completely round. The rounder, the higher the value.

The color of the pearl is not really a determining factor for a pearl. That is mostly a preference of whomever is the buyer.