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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.
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Buying <a href="http://www.lpearls.com">pearl jewelry</a> 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. <a href="http://www.lpearls.com">Cultured pearls</a> 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 <a href="http://www.lpearls.com">natural pearls</a> 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.
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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.
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Transport is a major contributor to festivals' carbon emissions, accounting for 68% of the sector's total – equivalent to around 57,000 tonnes of CO2. That makes a 10% cut harder for Lovebox, which is held in Victoria Park in east London, because 80-90% of people already travel to the site on foot or by public transport. With many of Bestival's visitors driving to its site in a country park on the Isle of Wight, there is much more scope for cuts. "We will be looking to make emissions cuts in audience travel by creating incentives to use public transport," said Rob da Bank, a pearl jewelry DJ and Bestival's promoter. Bestival will also encourage car-sharing and run more stages using solar power and local biofuels. It is also planning to increase recycling and composting of waste. Glastonbury is also planning to change visitors' travel habits. "We're trying to to encourage people to car-share or travel by coach and rail because we're a greenfield festival and transport is the biggest part of our carbon footprint," said Lucy Brooking-Clark, its sustainability coordinator. The festival, which will be 40 years old next year, is also looking at anaerobic digesters that could turn food waste and sewage from both the festival and the farm which hosts it into a source of renewable electricity. Brooking-Clark said Glastonbury was still deciding whether to sign up to 10:10. But cajoling festival visitors out of their cars may not be easy. A report this year by Julie's Bicycle, a wholesale pearl jewelry non-profit organisation that advises the music industry on reducing its carbon emissions, warns that awareness of public transport options and transport's environmental impacts is "not sufficient motivation to change travel behaviour without incentives and disincentives". Ben Challis, co-founder of A Greener Festival, which audited the environmental impact of 37 festivals this year, said transport was the key. "Electricity use, waste and the emissions from bands travelling are important, but the biggest footprint for any greenfield festival is travel by festival-goers. The problem in the pearl jewelry wholesale UK is a lack of proper public transport infrastructure," he said. Bestival was rated as "outstanding" last year by A Greener Festival for its efforts on sustainability. A Liberal Democrat motion calling on the government to commit to a 10% cut in emissions from the public sector was narrowly defeated in the Commons last week.
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Bestival, on the Isle of Wight, will ask its visitors to come by public transport or share cars. Photograph: David Pearson/Rex Features Nearly 100,000 music fans at two of the UK's biggest summer music festivals will be cheered to know that next year's pop-fuelled hedonism will come with a shrunken carbon footprint. The Lovebox festival in London and freshwater pearl Bestival on the Isle of Wight have both promised to join the 10:10 climate change campaign and cut their carbon emissions by 10%. Glastonbury – said to be Europe's largest music festival, with a crowd of 177,000 – is also considering coming on board. The campaign, launched on 1 September, encourages people and organisations to cut their carbon footprints by 10% during 2010. It has nearly 38,000 individuals and more than 1,200 companies signed up, including Tottenham Hotspur football club, Adidas, Pret A Manger, Microsoft UK and O2 as well as 56 councils representing 10 million constituents. Franny Armstrong, director of the eco-documentary The Age of Stupid and founder of 10:10, welcomed the festivals' decision. "It's brilliant news that the big festivals will be cutting their emissions next year. Perhaps they could also agree to 10% less mud?" she said. 10:10 hopes to sign up all the freshwater pearl jewelry major festivals by next summer. Tom Findlay, one half of the dance music duo Groove Armada, which runs Lovebox, said the festival had always promoted social causes. "I was very fired up by the whole notion of the 10:10 campaign," he said. "You feel so powerless sometimes. I think it's important that people are empowered to feel that at home you can make a difference." The festival has already started working out how to cut its emissions. "A lot of it is just enormous practical common sense," he said. "There is no one fundamentally brilliant idea to pearl jewelry wholesale solve it." One idea is to improve transport logistics so that fewer trucks travel to the site. Lovebox is also looking into using solar-powered stages and water fountains to cut the number of water bottles used. Other major recruits to the 10:10 campaign recently include the National Union of Teachers, the British High Commission in Nairobi, the British Embassy in Kuwait and the UK's largest sports charity, the Football Foundation.
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