| |
by Julie Lee of Julie's Jewelry Design, LLC.
Cultured pearls are precious jewels and should be treated as such. They're
also the products of living creatures. Cultured pearls are formed when an
irritant is introduced into a mollusk. The mollusk secretes a substance
called nacre which covers the irritant and produces the pearl. Nacre gives
pearls the rainbow of colors and luster that makes these gemstones so
treasured, but its delicate nature also makes pearls particularly
susceptible to damage. For this reason you should be extra careful with your
cultured pearl jewelry.
- Apply cosmetics, hair sprays and perfume before putting on any pearl
jewelry. When you remove the jewelry, wipe it carefully with a soft cloth
to remove any traces of these substances.
- You can also wash your pearl jewelry with mild soap and water. Do not
clean cultured pearls with any chemicals, abrasives or solvents. These
substances can damage your pearls.
- Do not toss your cultured pearl jewelry carelessly into a purse, bag
or jewel box. A pearl's surface is soft and can be scratched by hard metal
edges or by the harder gemstones of other jewelry pieces.
- Place cultured pearl jewelry in a chamois bag or wrap them in tissue
when putting them away.
- Cosmetics, perspiration, oils and ordinary wear weaken and stretch the
threads on which the pearls are strung. Bring your pearls back to your
jeweler for restringing once a year. Make certain the pearls are strung
with a knot between each pearl. This will prevent loss of pearls if the
string should break.
Julie Lee is a web designer and founder of
Julie's Jewelry Design, LLC. Julie's Jewels is a
Texas based retail jewelry company specializing in high quality, affordable
jewelry pieces created to be treasured for a lifetime.
If anyone would like to republish the above article, please
email me your request and where it will reside, and I'll send you a
short bio you can use with it for your site.
|
