Cultured Pearls Colored Gemstones Diamond Council of America ©2016 Cultured Pearls In This Lesson: •A World Apart • Pearl Traditions • Natural Pearls • Cultured Pearls •Value Factors •Product Highlights • Culturing Sales A WORLD APART In Lesson 1 you learned that any kind of gem except diamond is considered a colored gem. Although pearls are included in that broad classification, they really belong to a world apart. Most customers recognize this instinctively, sensing a special appeal about pearls. There are several themes you can use in a sales presenta- tion to evoke or enhance pearl’s separate place in the gem kingdom: • Pearls are born in water. This intuitive contrast with other gems, which are dug from the ground, gives pearls an aura of gentleness, freshness, and fluid grace. • Pearls originate from life. While most gems are minerals produced by inanimate geology, pearls are organic. They come from living beings. Much of pearls’ mystique arises from this connection. • Pearls possess a beauty that’s all their own. Most gems depend on cutting or carving to reveal their charms, but pearls emerge gleaming from their shells. Cultured pearls are born in water and originate from living organisms. They Though certain factors of pearl value are comparable are natural in their beauty and classic to those of other gems, key considerations are unique. as a gem. Colored Gemstones 5 1 Cultured Pearls Cultured pearls are modern forms of a classic gem. They ® combine Nature’s creative power with human art and JA SPC SKILLS If you’re participating in the JA® science. You could even say that cultured pearls show how Sales Professional Certification people can work with the environment to make age-old Program™, this lesson presents infor- mation related to the following Skill beauty available now, and for future generations as well. Areas: In the following pages you’ll explore these themes and PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE • Pearls find information to help customers understand their signifi- • Disclosure natural • History of Jewelry cance. The lesson begins with the romance of pearls. • Designer & Brand Name Jewelry Next, you’ll see how pearls are cultured. You’ll learn about • Custom-manufactured Items factors that affect beauty, quality, and value. You’ll also find SERVICES AND GUARANTEES out how these apply to different types of pearls. Finally, • Store Service Programs you’ll examine ways to guide your customers into the fasci- CUSTOMER SERVICE • Building Customer Relations nating world of pearls. SELLING PROCESS • Customer Needs • Building the Sale •Closing the Sale OPERATIONS • Merchandise Maintenance BUSINESS ETHICS • FTC Guidelines •Trade Practices Lesson Objectives When you have successfully completed Photo courtesy Cathleen Bunt. this lesson, you will be able to: • Describe how cultured pearls are created. • Explain factors that affect pearl beauty, quality, and value. • Discuss the features and benefits of different types of pearls. • Open customers to the possibilities of pearl wardrobing. 2 Colored Gemstones 5 Cultured Pearls PEARL TRADITIONS Since the dawn of history, pearls have been counted among the most beautiful, magical, and valuable of gems. Early hunter -gath- erers probably found pearls during their search for food, making pearls among the first gems treasured by humans. Pearls have also appeared in the folktales, religions, and popular traditions of many cultures. Here are a few examples you might share with customers: • For centuries, many people in Asia believed that pearls began with drops of divine moisture falling from dragons in the sky. When the drops landed in seashells and were Throughout history pearls have been nourished by moonbeams, they grew into pearls. one of the most highly prized and sought after gems. • Pearls have long been seen as religious symbols. In Photo courtesy Japan Pearl Exporters Association. Buddhist art, pearls represent enlightenment. A Christian parable compares the kingdom of heaven to a pearl of great price. According to Islamic tradition, every event – past, present, and future – is recorded on a vast pearl that extends from heaven to earth. • In the ancient Roman world, pearls were the most concentrated form of wealth. Egypt’s queen Cleopatra once bet the Roman general Marc Antony that she could consume the value of a whole nation in one meal. To win the wager she crushed a large pearl, mixed it in glass of wine, and drank it. Because of their appearance and aquatic origins, pearls were associated with the bewitching beauty of the full moon and the life-giving power of water. From these natural links, pearls grew to symbolize purity and love. Ultimately, the rich traditions surrounding pearls made them birthstones for the month of June, as well as designated gems for both the 3rd and 30th wedding anniversaries. (You’ll learn more about birthstones and anniversary gems in Lesson 12.) Cleopatra Today, pearls still embody the meanings they’ve possessed for thou- sands of years. The science and magic of culturing have added new dimen- sions, too. Though you probably have only cultured pearls in your show- cases, let’s look at the original inspirations. Colored Gemstones 5 3 Cultured Pearls NATURAL PEARLS Natural pearls are produced by about two dozen kinds of mollusks, including oysters, mussels, and other shellfish. (Pearl oysters, however , are more closely related to scallops than to common edible oysters). The process of natural pearl formation usually begins when an irritant of some kind accidentally enters the mollusk’s shell. Many people think a grain of sand is responsible, but the “trigger” is more often a tiny worm, crab, or fish. As a defensive response, the mollusk coats the invader with layer after layer of nacre (NAY-ker). This is composed mostly of microscopic calcium carbonate crystals which accumulate like overlapping shingles. Nacre is Natural pearls are similar to the inner lining of the mollusk’s shell, more commonly known as produced by several mother-of-pearl. Besides protecting the mollusk, nacre is responsible for dozen kinds of mollusks. pearl’s distinctive beauty. Natural pearls were once found in significant quantities around the world. They came from saltwater bodies such as seas and oceans, and also from the freshwaters of streams, rivers, and lakes. The most famous source of natural saltwater pearls was the Persian Gulf. This locale was fished commercially before 300 BC. The pearls found there were called “Oriental” pearls and have often been mentioned in literature and history. Much later, Columbus and the explorers who followed him discovered salt- Throughout history, the best known water pearls in the New World. In the 1800s, new kinds of natural source of natural salt-water pearls was the Persian Gulf. saltwater pearls were recovered as by-products of fishing for mother-of-pearl shell in Australia and French Polynesia. Natural freshwater pearls were available treasures, too. The emperors of China decked them- selves in pearls from the rivers of their kingdom. Freshwater pearls were also found in much of Europe and America. Old European laws decreed them to be royal property . Native tribes prized those from the waters of the country that became the United States. Over the centuries, natural saltwater pearls gradually disappeared. Chinese sources became depleted almost 2,000 years ago. Most American saltwater pearls were gone by the 1600s, and their freshwater kin followed in the 1800s. After more than 20 centuries, the flow of pearls from the Persian Gulf dropped to a trickle in the early 1900s. In most cases the cause was overfishing, but in modern times, pollution became a factor as well. 4 Colored Gemstones 5 Cultured Pearls Natural pearls are still found in limited numbers at a few locations. You’re most likely Cultured Pearls to see them in antique stores and estate auctions. (You may not recognize them because it takes X-ray testing to tell the difference between natural and cultured pearls.) For the most part, Natural It takes x-ray to tell the Pearls difference between natural natural pearl’s ancient place in the gem kingdom and cultured pearls. has been taken over by the cultured pearl. CONCH AND MELO PEARLS he Queen conch (kahnk) is a large snail-like mollusk that Tinhabits parts of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, from Bermuda to South America. Famous for its ornate shell, this animal also produces the gems known as conch pearls. The finest conch pearls are delicate rose to deep orangish “salmon” pink. They have a porcelain look, with a silky sheen and a surface patterning that’s described as “flame structure”. Similar pearls come from other sea snails called Melo, which Conch Pearl. live in coastal waters of Southeast Asia. These are golden Photo courtesy Tino Hammid. yellow to amber orange in color, with similar sheen and patterning. Both types occur in other colors as well. Conch and Melo pearls are made of calcium carbonate. They form inside a mollusk, and are as rare as natural pearls. Many dealers and gemologists, however, say they aren’t true pearls because they don’t have a nacre coating with the shingle-like structure. In schol- arly publications they’re often called “calcareous concre- tions” or “non-nacreous pearls”. They can be very beau- tiful, though – and amazingly expensive. At a 1999 jewelry auction in Hong Kong, a single Melo pearl sold for almost $500,000. Now, THAT’S appreciation of nature’s rarity! Queen conch shell Colored Gemstones 5 5 Cultured Pearls CULTURED PEARLS Natural pearls form without human help of any kind. Creating a cultured pearl, on the other hand, involves human intervention and care. It’ s important to make this difference clear to customers. You might say cultured pearls depend on the same life processes, but people play a role in their formation and growth.