Collection: Pearl Jewelry

What makes a pearl a pearl

Every pearl starts as an irritant — something small that got inside a mollusc and wouldn't leave. The animal responds by laying down nacre, layer over layer, for months or years. That nacre is what gives a pearl its depth: light doesn't bounce off the surface so much as sink in a little and come back softer. It's the reason a real pearl looks different from a painted bead, even across a room.

Pearls are the only gemstone formed inside a living creature. Everything else in this shop was pulled out of the ground. That difference is worth knowing when you're choosing one.

Freshwater, saltwater and simulated — the honest version

Freshwater pearls grow in mussels in lakes and rivers, mostly in China. They're genuine pearls, widely available, and come in a huge range of shapes. Most of the natural pearl in this collection is freshwater.

Saltwater pearls — Akoya, Tahitian, South Sea — grow in oysters, take longer, and cost considerably more.

Simulated or faux pearls are glass or resin beads with a pearlescent coating. They are not pearls and this shop never calls them pearls without saying so. Every listing here states which it is, right in the title or the materials section. Simulated pearl is a legitimate choice — it's lighter, more uniform, more affordable, and holds up better to daily knocking about. It just isn't the same thing, and you deserve to know which one you're buying.

Mother of pearl is the nacre lining of the shell itself, cut and shaped. Same material as a pearl, different form.

Shape, and why it changes the price

Pearls are graded largely on how close to a perfect sphere they came out. Round is rarest and priciest. Near-round costs less for a difference most people can't see. Then come oval, button, drop, coin, rice, potato and baroque — each progressively less symmetrical, and progressively cheaper.

The grading measures uniformity, not quality. A potato pearl grew exactly as long, and laid down exactly as much nacre, as a round one. It simply refused to be symmetrical about it. Some of the pieces here are built deliberately around irregular pearls, because the irregular one is usually the interesting one.

Colour

Natural pearl runs white, cream, blush, peach, silver and grey, with an overtone that shifts depending on the light. Peacock pearls flash blue, green and violet against a dark base. Deep black and vivid colours are almost always dyed — that's standard in the trade and not a problem, but it should be disclosed, and it is here.

Caring for pearls

Pearls are soft — around 2.5 to 4.5 on the Mohs scale, well below the quartz they often sit beside. Nacre is organic and dissolves in acid, so no ultrasonic cleaners, no jewellery dips, no vinegar, no bleach. Perfume, hairspray and lotion go on before the pearls do. Wipe with a soft dry cloth after wearing — skin oil is the usual culprit — and store them flat, away from sharp metal that can scratch the surface. Full routine in the jewellery cleaning guide.

June's birthstone

Pearl shares June with moonstone and alexandrite, and it's by far the most worn of the three. Traditionally associated with calm, clarity and steady presence — the piece you put on when you want to feel composed rather than loud. See the full birthstone collection for the other eleven months.

Mystic Soul Jewelry — Canadian small business, Calgary, Alberta, since 2008.