In 1915 Mikimoto perfected the round cultured pearl. Mikimoto cultured pearls were introduced into the LONDON market in 1921 and the price of cultured pearls not long after this, soon began to drop.
The smaller the nucleus of a cultured pearl in relation to the size of the final pearl, the better the quality of cultured pearls. This aspect about cultured pearls is not widely known.
A cultured pearl is a variety of pearl that has been created by a mollusk in the same manner as a wild (natural) pearl except the process is stimulated by human intervention. Natural round pearls are very rare and extremely valuable, and becoming more and more rare and valuable due to environmental degradation on our marine environments.
The value of cultured pearls depends on a number of factors. When valuing pearls, one of the first things you will notice, is not related to the pearls themselves, you look to see if the pearls have small knots between each pearl. If the pearls are knotted this will indicate you may indeed have a quality strand of cultured pearls in your hands. Other Non-pearl clues:
- is there are signature on the clasp? - are the pearls still in their original box? This indicated the pearls are in good condition and have been cared for and loved.
Then there are the pearl clues themselves, there are a number of important factors involved here.
Please see the following links for more info on cultured pearls.
