Shipment:
The shipping costs within Germany are €5 up to a purchase value of €50.
From a purchase value of €50, shipping within Germany is free of charge.
The shipping costs for international purchases are €6 and free of charge for purchases from €100.
Shipping usually takes place on the next working day by DHL or Deutsche Post, but always with proof.
The buyer is responsible for any customs duties incurred when shipping outside the EU. The buyer is responsible for any additional costs incurred as a result.
Cancellation and return:
If you do not like an item, you have the option of returning the goods to us within the statutory cancellation period of 14 days without giving any reason.
Please note that the returned item may only be used as part of a suitability test. The jewellery must not show any signs of wear beyond this level of use upon return and must of course be undamaged. Please do not treat goods with cleaning agents, also see notes on jewellery care!
Some items are labelled with a hygiene seal. If you are not sure whether you want to keep the item, we recommend that you do not remove the seal to avoid any misunderstandings about the condition of the goods.
If possible, use the original packaging for the return and pad the parcel sufficiently with paper or bubble wrap to prevent damage to the items during the return shipment.
You can of course complain about faulty goods within the statutory warranty periods. For exact return modalities, please refer to the general terms and conditions or the cancellation policy.
Special and made-to-measure products as well as items individually modified at the customer's request are excluded from the right of cancellation (§ 312g Abs. Nr. 2 no. 1 BGB).
Return address:
Alexandra Stahn
Neubruchstraße 18F
85774 Unterföhring
Reimbursement
After proper cancellation, your money will be refunded within 14 days. If you pay by Paypal, the amount will be refunded to your Paypal account. If you pay by bank transfer, the money will be transferred back to your bank account.
Care advice for your jewellery
Do not wear during housekeeping
Take off before sleeping
Do not wear while showering
Avoid contact with chemicals
Do not wear while excercising
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Jewellery should never come into contact with chemicals, as they can attack the material and coating or gold plating. Jewellery should therefore be removed when doing housework. Jewellery with precious stones and glass stones should also not be exposed to shocks.
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No piece of jewellery is suitable for being worn while sleeping, showering, exercising or swimming. Sweat, salt water and chlorine can corrode jewellery, especially gold, silver and stainless steel. Unfortunately, this also applies to contact with cosmetics, hairspray and lotions.
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Sensitive gemstones, such as coral, turquoise, kunzite, fluorite or amethysts, should never be exposed to direct sunlight as this can cause them to fade. Real pearls can lose their lustre due to sunlight, make-up and perspiration.
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After wearing your jewellery, it is best to store it in a closed box or casket at a distance to protect it from sunlight, oxidation and moisture.
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Please do not use any harsh, acidic, abrasive or corrosive cleaning agents to clean genuine and costume jewellery. Cleaning tips using toothpaste, denture cleaner or solvents are circulating on the Internet. Please avoid such agents at all costs, as they can cause permanent damage to your jewellery.
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A soapy solution with lukewarm water is best for cleaning dirty jewellery. Place your jewellery in the solution for approx. 10 minutes, then wash it with clear water and dry it with a soft cloth, such as a microfibre cloth, to avoid water stains. Stubborn dirt deposits can be carefully removed with an old, soft toothbrush after soaking.
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Impregnated silver cloths and special silver baths are only suitable for silver jewellery. With gold-plated and gold-plated jewellery, a silver cloth or silver dip can leave permanent damage on the surface.
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Gemstones on an organic basis, as well as rubies and emeralds, do not like aggressive agents such as special immersion baths or ultrasonic baths. These include turquoise, malachite, coral, opals, pearls, lapis lazuli and doublets. They become dull when cleaned harshly and may change colour permanently.
Allergies and skin reactions
If your skin turns discoloured when you wear jewellery, it is not necessarily due to a problem with the quality of the jewellery, but may have other reasons. Here are some possible causes:
It is important to differentiate between a contact allergy to jewellery and a simple skin reaction.
Although silver is a precious metal, it quickly turns dark in combination with sulphur-containing substances. The same applies to copper, zinc and iron. Copper reacts not only with sulphur, but also with ammonia. Ammonia is found in human sweat and is also often a component of soaps, ointments or creams. The resulting compounds can discolour the skin. Low-alloyed gold (333 or 375) can also darken in colour, as copper and zinc can also be present in the respective alloy.
The tarnishing of metals is therefore primarily caused by sulphur-containing substances that react with the alloy, but which can also be found in cosmetics or human sweat and can be further intensified by eating certain foods such as onions or garlic.
The skin discolouration may also be hormonal or due to the intake of certain medications.
Black dermographism is a darkening of the skin caused by the abrasion of fine metal particles from jewellery. Black pigmentation can be promoted by cosmetics containing zinc oxide, titanium oxide or talcum. However, it is not dangerous.
In the case of a contact allergy, e.g. to nickel, the body's own defence system reacts after contact with nickel-containing objects. Usually after about 12 hours at the earliest, a localised skin inflammation develops on the affected area. Symptoms may include severe itching, burning, pain, redness, swelling, wheals, weeping blisters at the site of contact, and in the case of chronic contact, scaling or thickening of the skin.
Nickel hypersensitivity is the most common allergic skin reaction; it is estimated that at least 65 millions of Europeans are affected.
Nickel is used in almost all everyday metal compounds, such as zips, glasses frames, cooking pots, but also in many jewellery alloys, as it increases the polishability and resistance of the metal alloys.
Pure gold or pure silver is too soft to be used for jewellery production. Nickel is therefore often contained in silver and gold alloys, but also in stainless steel, which is popular as a low-allergenic material.
Therefore, the higher the proportion of gold or silver in a jewellery alloy, the lower the proportion of nickel.
Example: a 925 silver alloy contains 92.5 % pure silver and only 7.5 % other metals, while a 333 gold alloy can only contain 33.3 % pure gold and therefore 66.7 % other base metals.
Many pieces of jewellery that we offer in the genuine jewellery sector are therefore made from 925 sterling silver, which we have electroplated with a 10 µm thick layer of 18 carat gold. The risk of allergies is relatively low.
However, it is theoretically possible to have an allergic reaction to all other metals. We advise you to consult an allergist if you suspect an allergy and to avoid wearing costume jewellery and low-alloy real jewellery.
Size and weight specifications
Sometimes it is difficult for a buyer to tell from a photo in the shop whether the piece of jewellery is the right size or how it looks on the body.
We therefore always try to show the pieces of jewellery with a comparative object, to photograph the earrings on the ear, the necklaces on the jewellery bust, pendants and brooches on the hand.
The weight of the jewellery, especially the earrings, is also intended to give the buyer an impression of whether the earrings can be worn comfortably all day or whether they are opulent evening earrings, for example.
Most customers find earrings weighing up to 8 grams per pair comfortable, while 20 grams per pair or more can be too heavy for some earlobes in the long term.
If you are not sure about the dimensions of a piece of jewellery, it is advisable to check the size on a tape measure or ruler or sketch the dimensions on a piece of paper before buying.
Gemstone treatments
What characterises a perfect gemstone? Magnifying transparency without inclusions, brilliant lustre and a vibrant colour are the keywords that come to mind in this context. However, not every gemstone inherently fulfils these expectations. Nowadays, gemstones can be treated using a variety of methods to improve their appearance in terms of colour and purity. The best-known methods include heating, irradiation, crack filling, coating or vapour deposition, colouring or impregnation.
ow you approach this topic as a customer is an individual decision, which is why we do not want to personally judge the individual methods for treating gemstones and minerals, but primarily explain them. Every buyer should decide for themselves whether to reject treatments for stones on principle or to focus on the piece of jewellery itself and not just the gemstone it contains.
Different treatments
Burning or heating
The firing of gemstones has long been a common process to intensify the colours of gemstones or to reduce their inclusions. Historical carnelian finds prove that stones were exposed to heat over 4000 years ago in order to change their colour. The Romans also changed the colour of onyx by adding sulphur and heat to obtain a deep black tone.
Nowadays, the firing temperature is determined individually for each mineral and varies between 300 and 1900 °C. Firing is used for the majority of transparent gemstones on the market and does not have to be specified. Gemstones that are often treated by heating are, for example: Amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, kunzite, morganite, sapphire, smoky quartz, ruby, tanzanite, topaz, tourmaline and zircon.
Burning or heating
In the 1970s, a method was developed to modify yellow and white topaz into blue topaz. The stones are first exposed to both gamma and electron radiation and then fired to stabilise the colour. The first blue topaz created in this way was the colour ‘London Blue’, an intense dark petrol blue. This was followed by the sea blue or turquoise blue ‘Swiss Blue’ and the very popular ‘Sky Blue’. It can be assumed that all blue topazes on the market have been colour-modified in this way, even if some dealers deny this.
Crack filling
Glass-filled rubies first appeared on the market at the turn of the last millennium. Open cracks and chips in faceted stones can be filled with liquid ‘lead glass’ using this special technique. The filling substance is a melt of substances that are used in the synthetic production of gemstones. The solidified melt solidifies in the cracks or cavities of the gemstone. Filling the cracks with lead glass also significantly improves the transparency of the stone. This process is very often used for corundum, i.e. ruby and sapphire, and must be declared. Stones treated in this way should not be exposed to acids and should not be cleaned in an ultrasonic bath.
Coating/ vapour deposition
Quartz, topaz and the gemstone imitation zirconia are particularly frequently refined using physical vapour deposition. In simple terms, this means that the usually colourless base stone is coated with a thin layer of minerals to change its colour. The first PVD crystals were created in the late 1990s, with the initial experiments focussing solely on topaz. Depending on the metals used, attractive colours and reflections are created that do not occur in nature, such as the rainbow mountain crystal or mystic topaz. Stones processed in this way should not be cleaned in an ultrasonic bath or exposed to acids, and sharp objects can scratch the surface seal.
Impregnating / colouring / stabilising
Another method is impregnation, which is carried out by applying wax, natural resin or paraffin. Some minerals tend to chip or scratch or are not very hard. The coating is only applied to the surface and can be colourless or coloured, such as white howlite, which then looks like turquoise. The surface is smoothed, small cracks and fissures or holes are invisibly filled and levelled out. The stone gains lustre and the resistance of softer, more sensitive minerals is increased.
Examples of surface sealing include: Malachite, azurite, calcite, labradorite, charoite, amethyst, peridot, apatite, chrysoberyl, chrysocolla, tourmaline, turquoise, aquamarine, emerald, lapis lazuli, chalcedony, and jade. If the treatment is carried out with colourless oils and resins, it does not have to be declared, unlike when the stone is coloured at the same time.
There is also the stabilisation of stones, often applied to corals, azurites or turquoises with large irregularities or holes. Here, the imperfections are filled with synthetic resin to make the surface less sensitive and easier to grind and polish. The pores are closed by this process in order to achieve a better surface lustre.
The term ‘reconstructed’, which is often used in connection with turquoise and coral, can be somewhat confusing, as large specimens of these minerals can be exorbitantly expensive. Reconstructed means that stones that are not worth cutting have been ground up, then mixed with synthetic resin and created into new creations. For some, it is certainly an affront to call such a stone a gemstone, but it may also be an intelligent way of utilising leftovers.
Synthesis
Cubic Zirconia
Real diamonds are among the most expensive gemstones in the world. Even diamonds weighing just a few carats are often prohibitively expensive. An alternative to real diamonds, which look very similar to diamonds, is cubic zirconia. In addition to zirconium oxide as the main component, calcium or yttrium oxide is also used to produce zirconia. The mixture of coloured pigments, zirconium dioxide and calcium or yttrium oxide is then melted together in a high-temperature furnace at temperatures of around 2,700 °C and later cooled. The result is cubic zirconia crystals.
Hydroquartz is not a mineral of purely natural origin. The process by which hydroquartz is extracted is known as the hydrothermal process. The first experiments took place at the end of the 19th century and became more technically perfect over the years. Hydroquartz crystals are produced in a pressurised steel container. The upper part of this vessel contains cut quartz platelets as nuclei; the bottom of the pressurised vessel contains broken pieces of quartz as a nutrient substance. The temperature in this autoclave is approx. 350 to 400 °C, the pressure is between 100 and 120 MPa. This process simulates the natural crystallisation conditions of natural quartz crystals, which grow by around 1 mm per day in the pressure vessel. Compared to natural crystal growth, which would take centuries to millennia, large, flawless crystals can be grown within a few days. In addition to the size, there are also no limits to the colour spectrum of the synthetic quartz crystals, so that colours can be created that are not part of the repertoire of natural quartz, such as pink, blue or turquoise.
Hydrothermale Quartz
Beadology
Pearls have a hardness of 2.5 to 3.0 on the Mohs hardness scale, so they are comparatively soft gemstones and require special care. Store them separately from other gemstones and metal jewellery to avoid scratches. Never store your pearls in a plastic bag, as plastic can release a chemical that damages their surface. Always apply perfume, hair products and cosmetics before putting on your pearl jewellery, not afterwards. The best way to clean your pearl jewellery is to use a soft cloth, preferably after every time you wear your pearls.
Care
Definition
Pearls are organic gemstones that grow inside the tissue of a living saltwater or freshwater mollusc (either an oyster or a mussel). Natural pearls form when the mussel secretes nacre around an irritant such as a piece of sand or a parasite that has penetrated its shell. Compared to natural pearls formed in this way, cultured pearls are a product of human intervention. Technicians implant a piece of mantle tissue alone (common in freshwater cultured pearls) or with a mother-of-pearl shell pearl (all saltwater pearls) into a host mollusk. The mollusc coats the irritant with mother-of-pearl, just like a natural pearl. Cultured pearls are grown in pearl farms where the pearl oysters are cleaned, protected from predators and finally harvested. Thousands of years of pearl fishing have decimated the natural pearl banks, so that cultured pearls now make up the majority of the pearl trade.
History of cultured pearls
Historical finds of natural pearls from the Persian Gulf can be dated to an age of around 5000 years, and it is also known that divers recovered pearls from the Red Sea as early as 300 BC. During Spanish colonial rule in the 16th century, large quantities of pearls were extracted from the waters off Mexico, Central America and what is now Venezuela. Today, only small quantities of pearls are found in these areas and the high demand for pearls led to their commercial cultivation.
After the first cultured pearl was exhibited by the Japanese Kokichi Mikimoto at the jewellery fair in Paris in 1921, pearl cultivation remained firmly in Japanese hands for around 50 years.
After the initial success of culturing round pearls with the Akoya oyster in the early twentieth century, there was great consumer demand for pearls in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes. Commercial freshwater pearl farming in Japan began around 1935 with the production of pearls on Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. After the Second World War, cultivation was switched from nucleated pearls to pearls without nuclei. The annual production of freshwater pearls in Japan peaked at seven tonnes per year between 1970 and 1980, at the same time as Chinese freshwater pearls slowly entered the market.
In 1962, when the natural resources of the oyster Hyriopsis schlegelii in Lake Biwa were running low, some Japanese freshwater pearl farmers began to move to the Lake Kasumigaura region to establish a new breeding base. Due to the need for more pearl-producing oysters, Hyriopsis schlegelii and Hyriopsis cumingii were crossed to create a Hyriopsis hybrid. This oyster can produce larger and shinier nucleated cultured pearls in a variety of colours. The current annual production of freshwater cultured pearls in Lake Kasumigaura - the second largest lake in Japan - is now more than low at less than 40kg, but Kasumiga pearls are very popular with buyers from Europe and the United States.
When the Chinese professor Xiong Daren began the first experiments with pearl farming and the native pearl mussel in 1962, based on Japanese pearl farming in Lake Biwa, it was not yet possible to foresee the rapid development of pearl farming in China.
In the 1970s, the freshwater cultivation of seedless pearls began along the Chang Jiang River in central China to take advantage of the favourable natural environment and abundant freshwater mussel resources. According to statistics from the Japanese Ministry of Finance, about 13 tonnes were exported to Japan in 1980. This far exceeded the total amount produced in Japan (about seven tonnes per year). While in 1967 the harvest of freshwater pearls in China was only 500 kg, in 2010 it was already around 1500 tonnes (2001).
History of cultured pearls
Saltwater cultured pearls are grown in many areas of the world. Akoya cultured pearl farms are mainly found in Japan and China, particularly along the southern coasts of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. South Sea cultured pearls are grown from the north coast of Australia to Indonesia and the south coast of South East Asia, with large farms also in the Philippines. The Gambier Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago, both part of French Polynesia, are two places where the precious black Tahitian pearls are cultivated.
Akoya-Pearls
The Akoya pearl is one of the best-known and most popular types of pearl. The Akoya pearl is the perfect pearl in most people's imagination. It is usually round and white or cream in colour, with a pink overtone and a strong lustre. It is typically smaller than 9.00 mm. Akoya pearls have been commercially cultivated for over 100 years and are named after the pearl oyster of the same name.
Keshi-Pearls
‘Keshi’ is the Japanese word for poppy seed. These pearls were initially created as a by-product of Akoya cultivation. Keshi pearls originally referred to pearls that were created by shedding a pearl nucleus. Initially, these ‘waste products’, which were not appreciated by Japanese growers due to their irregular shape and mostly greyish colour, were sold on to Indian traders, who quickly recognised their potential. However, the term ‘Keshi pearls’ is now used as a generic term for irregular pearls, and Keshi pearls are now also cultivated as a freshwater variety in China. They come in different sizes, shapes and colours. They are often flat and thin, with concavities and texture. As they have no centre, keshi pearls are made entirely of mother-of-pearl.
South Sea pearls
South Sea pearls are among the largest cultured pearls and are usually white or yellow in various shades, often referred to as ‘golden’ in the trade. They are also saltwater pearls and typically range in size from 8.00 mm to 18.00 mm. Although they are most commonly round, they can also come in any other shape. White and gold South Sea pearls are known to have the thickest nacre layers of all cultured saltwater pearl types, averaging between 2.0-4.0 mm thick or more. The lustre of the South Sea pearl is described as satin-like and is softer than that of Japanese Akoya pearls. South Sea pearls radiate a beautiful ‘glow’ that seems to come from within, rather than the harder mirror lustre that Akoya pearls are famous for.
Tahiti Pearls
Tahitian pearls are often referred to as ‘black pearls’, but they actually come in a wide range of dark, cool colours, the most common being greenish-grey. For many buyers, the Tahitian pearl is the queen of pearls. Also true for this type of saltwater pearl, they typically range in size from 8.00 mm to 14.00 mm, and although they are most commonly round, they can also come in any other shape such as baroque, circled or semi-round. Tahitian and South Sea pearls are the most expensive pearls on the market. Tahitian pearls are primarily known for their iridescent natural colours. From pale dove grey to almost deep black base tones, these pearls shimmer with a rainbow of famous overtones (called secondary colours), most commonly peacock, green, pink, aquamarine, silver/steel and copper.
Tahitian pearls traditionally have what is known as a ‘satin’ lustre. The pearl's nacre layers are exceptionally thick, making it harder for light to reflect and refract inside, giving the pearls more lustre than a hard spherical lustre like the Akoya.
Contrary to what their name suggests, Tahitian pearls are not cultivated in Tahiti. These pearls are cultivated in the tropical lagoons and atolls of the French Polynesian island chain by small family or community farms. The harvests are sent to Tahiti for export.
Freshwater pearls
The colour variety of freshwater pearls ranges from white and cream to pastel colours (mainly variations of pink and orange), but some also have multi-coloured or metallic appearances. While they are most commonly found in smaller sizes, in near-round or oval shapes, they can appear in a wide range of sizes and shapes. The smaller pearls are usually non-core cultured, while the larger freshwater pearls are often cultured with a core.
Biwa-Pearls
Due to the consequences of the Second World War, more precise records of production at Lake Biwa have only been available since 1955. In that year, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported 100kg of freshwater cultured pearls. This figure rose to six to seven tonnes in the 1970s, with exports mainly to the Middle East and India. Less than 1% were nucleated pearls, the rest were cultivated without nuclei. The pearl farmers at Lake Biwa initially produced the conventional round or baroque shapes, but also a few others such as cross-shaped, triangular, elongated or triplet shapes. In the meantime, pearl cultivation on Lake Biwa has declined sharply. The natural resources of the Hyriopsis schlegelii oyster have been harvested to exhaustion and there has been no stable supply since around 1982, despite the development of a technique for artificial seed oyster production as early as 1975. The adverse effects of inbreeding, water pollution and ecosystem changes are some of the causes of the poor growth of artificial seed oysters.
Kasumiga-Pearls
Kazuhisa Yanase's aim from 1946 onwards was to cultivate freshwater pearls of around 10 mm in size with a wonderful colour and shape on Lake Kasumigaura. In 1962, after pearl farming in Lake Biwa was in decline, 10 small pearl farms moved to Lake Kasumigaura and began cultivating non-nucleated freshwater pearls (called Kasumiga keshi pearls) using an artificial seedling of the Hyriopsis schlegelii mussel in a laboratory environment.
The nacre thickness of pearls cultured over a long period of time (3.5-4 years) reached 3 mm, which was much thicker than the nacre of Akoya cultured pearls. The size of Kasumiga pearls is typically between 11 and 15 mm. One of the characteristic features of Kasumiga pearls produced by the hybrid mollusc is their colouration. The variety of body colours includes white, pink, purple, yellow, purple-red, orange and brown with an iridescence often referred to as a ‘rainbow’. Preferences for the body colours of these products vary from country to country, with pink and purple colours commanding higher prices. In the US and Europe, the Kasumiga pearl is highly prized for its lustre, variety of colours and size, and supply cannot keep up with demand.
Annual production eventually rose from a few hundred kilograms in the 1970s to more than 750 kg in the 1980s. Today, the annual production of large cultured pearls at Lake Kasumigaura is only less than 40 kg, of which only a small proportion is supplied to the international market.
Edision and Ming-pearls
By the end of the 1980s at the latest, the mass production and favourable price of Chinese freshwater cultured pearls had displaced the Japanese pearl industry.
For decades, the Chinese had been experimenting with the cultivation of freshwater pearls with nuclei. The aim was to harvest very large, round pearls. The road to this goal was long. Although they initially succeeded in cultivating very large pearls, the results were anything but round. Instead, large baroque pearls were produced, which often had a kind of tail and were therefore called fireballs.
It was only after the turn of the last millennium, when the nucleus was no longer implanted in the mantle tissue of the mussel but deep in the organs, that it was finally possible to grow round shapes.
Like Kasumiga pearls, Edison pearls are characterised by incredible natural colours and a metallic lustre. Edison pearls range in size from 12 to 18 mm, with violet and purple shades dominating the colours. Orange and bronze tones also occur. The surfaces usually show a pronounced lustre and only slight growth characteristics.
The name ‘Edison pearls’ was chosen in honour of Thomas Alva Edison, to whom great reverence is still paid in China and Japan.
The breeding process is the same method used in Lake Kasumigaura in Japan. A pierced core of American freshwater nacre is inserted into the inner soft body of the mussel using a special needle, together with a tiny piece of mantle tissue from a donor mussel. In Lake Kasumigaura, a cross between the Chinese freshwater mussel Hyriopsis cumingii and the Japanese Hyriopsis schlegelii, which is also used for the Edison pearl, was developed especially for pearl farming.
Quality characteristics of cultured pearls
It is often difficult for inexperienced people to judge the quality of cultured pearls. They are too similar at first glance. In addition, many interested parties often do not know how the value of a pearl is really measured and how different types of pearls can be distinguished.
The five most important criteria for evaluating each type of pearl are Size, shape, colour, surface and lustre. The value of a pearl is only ever determined by the sum of all the quality characteristics.
Size:
As a rule, the larger a pearl is, the higher the valuation. Large pearls are rare in nature. The majority of cultured pearl harvests consist of pearls under 10.0 mm. Natural pearls in very large sizes are an absolute rarity.
Shape:
The rounder the pearl, the higher the valuation, the more perfect the shape of a pearl, the rarer and more valuable it is. However, many pearl connoisseurs enjoy the unique speciality of baroque pearls.
Baroque pearls are unround, drop-shaped and asymmetrical and are graded according to their symmetry.
Colour:
While many buyers still prefer the classic white pearl, pearls in every colour of the rainbow are now also very popular.
Coloured pearls such as black Tahitian pearls or golden South Sea pearls are valued according to the depth and saturation of their colour. The stronger the colour tone, the rarer and more valuable the pearl. Certain overtones or exotic body colours fetch top prices at auctions.
Surface:
The more even and pure the surface of the pearl is, the higher its rating. Pearls that have a flawless surface without inclusions such as pinholes, grooves, pale spots and wrinkles are valued much higher than pearls with multiple flaws.
However, as pearls are a natural product, there will always be some form of blemish, even if it is not visible to the naked eye.
Lustre:
the more intense the lustre of a pearl, the higher the rating. Luster measures the rate of reflection (how sharp and detailed it is) on the surface of a pearl and the amount of light that is reflected on the pearls. Pearls without a high lustre can look chalky and dull. Basically, the brighter, sharper and more reflective the lustre of a pearl, the more valuable it is.
Graduation of round Akoya and freshwater cultured pearls
Authentication
The question often arises: How can you distinguish a ‘real pearl’ (cultured pearl or natural pearl) from an imitation with simple means?
Every ‘real’ pearl has a very individual surface structure, comparable to a person's fingerprint. In nature, no two pearls are identical. Every single pearl is unique.
Even with an untrained eye, the imitation can usually be recognised by the drill channel of the pearl's thread hole. While the drill channel of a natural or cultured pearl is smooth and sharp-edged, the hole of the mussel seed pearl (left in the picture) shows ‘fraying’ because the coating applied to the pearl is easily damaged during drilling. Another sign is the perfection and uniformity of the imitations, which cannot be found in nature.
We would not recommend the so-called ‘friction test’ on teeth or rubbing the pearls against each other, as a layman can also cause damage.
Imitation pearls / Shell pearls
Mussel seed pearls are made from the shells of pearl oysters. A mother-of-pearl pearl is usually used as the core, but sometimes the raw material is ground and then industrially moulded using synthetic resin, for example. In either case, the blank is then coated in a special process and subsequently polished. Shell beads can be produced in any shape, size and colour. In this way, a wide variety of natural and cultured pearls can be simulated. The aim is usually to make them look like precious Tahitian and South Sea pearls. In this context, they are often confusingly offered as MK pearls, South Sea shell pearls or under similar names, suggesting to the buyer that they are precious pearls.
Shell pearls are more robust and do not require as much care as real pearls. Sweat, perfume or cleaning agents are less likely to damage them. For someone who wants perfect, absolutely identical pearls at a reasonable price, they may be the right choice.
Our values
For around ten years, our aim has been to offer high-quality, timeless but individual jewellery in the fashion and genuine jewellery segment at reasonable prices.
The majority of the goods offered here in the shop are produced in our own workshop in small editions or as individual pieces.
If your favourite piece is out of stock or if you have a special request for a custom-made piece, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Other necklace or bracelet lengths, clasps etc. are generally not a problem and can be taken into account before dispatch if required.
Larger quantities of some items can also be produced for resellers on request.