12-13mm Cultured South Sea PearlThroughout history, these noble gems have been connected with intelligence, wealth, purity, romance and mystery.
Pearls are organic gems, created when an oyster covers a foreign object with beautiful layers of nacre - smooth, hard crystalline substance. Layer upon layer of nacre coats the foreign object and hardens, finally forming a pearl.
Pearls are cultured in a variety of sizes, shapes, colors and kinds.
The five factors that determine value are luster (surface brilliance); surface cleanliness (absence of spots, bumps or cracks); shape (the rounder the pearl, the higher its value); color (pearls come in almost every hue of the rainbow, and a few others, too); and size (the standard pearl sold is 7-7.5 millimeters, but these gems can be as small as 1 millimeter or as large as 20 millimeters).
Pearls are soft, ranking only 2.5-4.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness, so they need special care.
Pearls are the birthstone for June. 14K White Gold Earring